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On July 12 we drove to Denver International Airport to pick up our granddaughter Grace Tayler to travel with us until July 22. Grace is the fifth granddaughter to join us on our adventures traveling the country. We wait until their 13th birthday to celebrate this "Right of Passage". Grace has some experience traveling but this was her first solo airline flight from Sacramento without an adult. Her flight was delayed a few hours getting into Denver but it still was early enough to have dinner with her Uncle Erik at his house in Thornton, Colorado. On Sunday, July 13 we attended church then drove south to Colorado Springs for the next two days. We arrived at the Norris Penrose Event Center after a big rodeo event and found an RV site with water and 50A electrical service. The weather in Colorado since we arrived has been in the high 80's and low 90's, so we needed electrical power for the air conditioner to work. We went to our friend Kim Robinson's new home and met her husband Dave Sheets. They were married last May and we enjoyed visiting and catching up. On Monday, July 14 we drove up to Manitou Springs to catch the COG Train to the top of Pikes Peak. The Cog has been climbing Pikes Peak since 1891. They are proud to be one of the most unique experiences in the country. Recognized as the world’s highest cog railroad, The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway is an important part of the heritage of the Western United States. Taking this journey is like walking the footsteps of history, and now the adventure is even more iconic and inspiring. The weather at the top of Pikes Peak was snow and 55ºF Pikes Peak, known as America’s Mountain, is the star attraction but the journey along the way is full of show-stopping moments. We will never forget this 3.5 hour round trip journey and our first glimpse of the Summit. The next day, before leaving Colorado Springs, we had scheduled a Segway tour of the Garden of the Gods. The area now known as Garden of the Gods was first called Red Rock Corral by the Europeans. In August 1859, two surveyors who helped to found Colorado City explored the site. One of the surveyors, Melancthon S. Beach, suggested it would be a "capital place for a beer garden". His companion, the young Rufus Cable, awestruck by the impressive rock formations, exclaimed, "Beer garden! Why, it is a fit place for the Gods to assemble. We will call it the Garden of the Gods." However, an 1893 issue of the Colorado Transcript reported that Helen Hunt Jackson assigned the name "the Garden of the Gods": Pike Peak is just over Karen's right shoulder. Completely different weather! Our last stop before the end of the tour was for photo with the "Praying Hands" as our background. We explored this beautiful park the fun and easy way on a Segway tour with our tour guide Bobcat. We learned about the ancient history of the park’s red rock formations and got to see how natural shapes like Kissing Camels and Praying Hands got their names. We covered about 5 1/2 miles on our Segway "chariots", much more ground than by walking and had a blast!

After a breakfast stop at Ken and Dales Restaurant in Alliance, Nebraska we continued on to the Riverside Campground in Scottsbluff, Nebraska for two nights. This break in our trip was to explore two prominent National Monuments that played an important role in the historic westward expansion of settlers and are located in this somewhat remote part of Nebraska. Visible for miles, Chimney Rock was more than a wonder of nature. It was also a significant landmark in measuring the emigrants' progress west. This natural feature was a "grand and splendid object" to emigrants who had never seen the geology of the American West. As they traveled alongside the North Platte River, they peered eagerly ahead for their first view of the rock. It was mentioned in more emigrant diaries than any other landmark on the Oregon Trail! Designated in 1956, the site is jointly administered by the city of Bayard, the Nebraska State Historical Society, and the National Park Service. Scotts Bluff National Monument is located west of the City of Gering in western Nebraska, United States. This National Park Service site protects over 3,000 acres of historic overland trail remnants, mixed-grass prairie, rugged badlands, towering bluffs and riparian area along the North Platte River. The park boasts over 100,000 annual visitors. This feature of Scott's Bluff is referred to as the "Gibraltar of Nebraska". The monument's north bluff is named after Hiram Scott, who was a clerk for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company and died near the bluff in 1828. The bluff served as an important landmark on the Oregon Trail, California Trail and Pony Express Trail, and was visible at a distance from the Mormon Trail. Over 250,000 westward emigrants passed by Scotts Bluff between 1843 and 1869. It was the second-most referred to landmark on the Emigrant Trails in pioneer journals and diaries. Ruts in the trail from the thousands of wagons that traveled this route still exist to this day. The Park Service built a road to the top of Scott's Bluff that provides an impressive and expansive 360º view. Fur traders, missionaries, and military expeditions began regular trips past Scotts Bluff during the 1830s. Beginning in 1841, multitudes of settlers passed by Scotts Bluff on their way west along the Great Platte River Road to Oregon, and later California and Utah. All these groups used the bluff as a major landmark for navigation. Although a natural gap existed between South Bluff and Scotts Bluff, the area was not easily traversed. So initially the Oregon Trail passed to the south of the Scotts Bluff area at Robidoux Pass and the Mormon Trail passed to the north of the bluff, on the other side of the North Platte River. In the early 1850s a road was constructed in the gap, which later became known as Mitchell Pass. Beginning in 1851, this new passage became the preferred route of the Oregon and California Trails; although the Mormon Trail continued to pass the bluff only at a distance. Who built the road through Mitchell Pass about 1850 is unknown, although one possibility includes soldiers from Fort Laramie. Many emigrants preferred this route rather than trying to traverse the badlands on the north side of the bluffs or detouring south to the older trail at Robidoux Pass. Use of the Emigrant Trail tapered off in 1869 after the trail was superseded by the completion of the transcontinental railroad. From the town of Scottsbluff, Nebraska we drove to Cheyenne, Wyoming and then south to the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont, Colorado. The campground operates on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations are not accepted so we didn't know what to expect. As it turned out, the campground had plenty of sites available with both water and 5oA electrical connections. Restroom and shower facilities are open to all paid campers. At $35 a night we decided this would be our base for the next two days.

Classy Nomad's dispersed site was level and off the dirt road. Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, Nomad View Dispersed Camping was our home after Pierre, South Dakota. The dirt road entrance was off Hwy 240 just south of Wall, SD. We enter where the two radio towers are located and followed the rim road to a level spot down from a small steep hill. The dispersed site rules state that you can only camp in designated camping spots away from the rim's edge. Spots are spacious. We had views of the grasslands/Badlands looking east. We enjoyed pulling our chairs up to the edge of the wall and taking in the views that first night after we got set up for the next two days. Later we would experience some unsettled weather the first night and early morning in the Badlands that included strong winds, gusting to 50 mph, thunder and lightning with torrential rain. The next day we drove the Hwy 240 to through the Badlands to the Cedar Park Visitors Center and Park Headquarters; we took a few brief hikes before returning to get the whole Badlands experience...beautiful desolation. Our spectacular July 7 sunrise and the approaching weather. We departed early on July 7 because of some reported incoming thunderstorms we wanted to avoid. The ground around our trailer got wet enough for us to be concerned about getting stuck, so we made it an early day. The lighting early in the morning and the clouds in the sky made for some beautiful landscape photographs. At 6 AM we had Hwy 240 all to ourselves with the weather behind us. We traveled into the Badlands on Hwy 240 before turning south down a dirt road towards the abandoned town of Conata to Hwy 44. Our route south would take us through some of the more remote parts of the Badlands in the southwest corner and Wounded Knee, South Dakota crossing the border and into the panhandle of Nebraska. Our first stop in Nebraska was to visit Carhenge, a replica of England's Stonehenge located near the city of Alliance, Nebraska, in the High Plains region of the United States. Instead of being built with large standing stones, as is the case with the original Stonehenge, Carhenge is formed from vintage American automobiles, all covered with gray spray paint. Built by Jim Reinders, it was dedicated at the June 1987 summer solstice. In 2006, a visitor center was constructed to serve the site. Carhenge was conceived in 1982 by Jim Reinders as a memorial to his father, who once lived on the farm now containing Carhenge. While living in England, he studied the structure of Stonehenge, which helped him to copy the structure's shape, proportions, and size. It was built in 1987 by Reinders and a crew of approximately 35 family members, and dedicated at the Summer Solstice. Other automobile sculptures were subsequently added to the location of Carhenge, which is now known as the Car Art Reserve.

With our last RVICS project behind us we began our travels south on Friday, June 27 to Aberdeen, South Dakota to visit with Hamp and Marilee Keahey. They were on our team during the February RVICS project in Texas. It was great to see them, do some local sightseeing, meet some of their family, share meals, play games, attend their church and just hang out with them. As of the 2020 census, Aberdeen's population was 28,495, making it the third-most populous city in the state. It is the home of Northern State University and Storybook Land. According to their website, "Storybook Land is a one-of-a-kind destination that transports you to a world of imagination and fun. Your entire family will love the life size characters and interactive scenes pulled right from the pages of nursery rhymes. The Land of Oz portrays the well-known characters and settings of the popular story "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". Take a stroll down the Yellow Brick Road as you immerse yourself with Dorothy and her friends as you make your way to the Wizards Balloon. Take a ride on the Storybook Land Express Train, Humpty Dumpty Roller Coaster or the Wizards Balloon ride. Explore one of South Dakota's first inclusive playgrounds that offers children of all ability levels the gift of play. Admission is FREE!" From Aberdeen, we traveled on Monday, June 30 to see a rather unusual sight in the middle of the Great Plains. St. Anthony of Padua Church is a historic Catholic church in Hoven, South Dakota within the Diocese of Sioux Falls. Nicknamed "the Cathedral of the Prairie" (though it has never technically been a cathedral), it is noted for its ornate Romanesque and Gothic Revival architecture, the cost and scale of which are unusual for a small rural town. It wa s added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as St. Bernard's Catholic Church. This beautiful church is located in Hoven , a town in Potter County , South Dakota , United States. The population was 379 at the 2020 census . During our stop in Hoven we made lunch in the RV before continuing on. The area, then part of Dakota Territory, was settled around 1883 by German immigrants, and the parish of St. Bernard was established to serve them. The first church, a wooden structure, was completed in 1888, and replaced by another in 1893. The second wooden church was destroyed, along with much of the town, by a windstorm in 1917. Longtime pastor Msgr. Anthony Helmbrecht took the opportunity to construct a brick church inspired by those in his childhood of Bavaria. By the time construction was completed in 1921, Helmbrecht had raised $500,000, enough to build a church with a capacity of 1,200 and decorate it richly. The church's interior paintings and plaster work were extensively restored in the 1980s, mainly at the hands of local volunteers who trained in various restoration techniques and contributed some 20,000 hours of labor. The church continues to rely heavily on volunteers for upkeep. Beautiful stained glass windows depicting the ascension and birth of Christ adorn the church. From Hoven it was another hour to our next campground for the next two days. Left Tailrace Campground at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Big Bend Project, sits on the shores of Lake Francis Case on the Missouri River below Big Bend Dam. Just upstream of Left Tailrace is Lake Sharpe, a popular recreation destination in the Great Plains that was created by the completion of Big Bend Dam in 1966. Big Bend Dam is a major embankment rolled-earth dam on the Missouri River in Central South Dakota creating Lake Sharpe. The dam was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of the Pick-Sloan Plan for Missouri watershed development authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1944. Construction began in 1959 and the embankment was completed in July 1963. Power generation began at the facility in 1964 and the entire complex was completed in 1966 at a total cost of $107 million. The hydroelectric plant generates 493,300 kilowatts of electricity at maximum capacity, with an annual production of 969 million kilowatt hours, and meets peak-hour demand for power within the Missouri River Basin. Today, approximately 80,000 acres of public lands and water provide a variety of benefits to the public including flood control, recreation, conservation of natural resources, fish and wildlife habitat, irrigation, and hydropower production. Another great U.S. Army Corps of Engineers facility; this one on the Missouri River in South Dakota. It is possible to view many types of wildlife on the Missouri River at Lake Sharpe. Tribal bison herds can be seen grazing the lake area's grasslands north of the towns of Fort Thompson and Lower Brule. The shoreline areas of the lake also offer excellent waterfowl, upland game birds and big game hunting opportunities. Big game animals include whitetail and mule deer, elk, bison, coyotes and wild turkeys. Waterfowl and upland game birds include ducks, geese, pheasants, prairie chickens, and grouse. Hunting regulations are established and enforced by the State of South Dakota and the Lower Brule and Crow Creek Tribes. The weather has been approaching 100º F, so having electrical hook-ups is a must for our air conditioners. Based on the weather and the upcoming 4th of July we decided to head to Pierre, South Dakota for the next three days rather than disperse camping in the South Dakota Badlands. Pierre (/pɪər/ PEER) is the capital city of the U.S. state of South Dakota and the county seat of Hughes County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 14,091. Pierre is the eleventh-most populous city of South Dakota, and the second-least populous U.S. state capital (after Montpelier, Vermont). Founded in 1880 on the Missouri River, the city was selected to be the state capital when South Dakota was admitted as a state in 1889. Near the center of the state, the then-new settlement was across the river from the settlement of Fort Pierre, and near what became an important railroad crossing of the River. We found a great city park with electricity next to the Missouri River just a mile from the Pierre Capital building. Open year-round and located on the southern edge of Griffin Park next to the scenic Missouri River, Griffin Park Campground features 16 parking spaces that can accommodate all sizes of camping vehicles. Renovated in 2004, each camping pad is built of asphalt chips, has electrical hookups, and is defined by the use of parking blocks. Picnic tables are nearby. A camper dump station is located at the west end of the campground. Potable water is available at the dump station to fill holding tanks between April and November. There are showers, bathrooms, and a storm shelter near the campground, all open from May through October. The city does not take reservations for the campground. It is on a first-come, first-served basis. Campers are asked to fill out reservation cards and deposit them with the required fees in the lock box at the site. Parks staff visit the campground regularly throughout the year. There is a wonderful city pool and water park within walking distance, so Karen can get in her lap swims. At noon on July 4th we went down to the river bank to see a B-1 bomber fly-by. On the 4th of July we viewed the parade in Fort Pierre across the river and later Karen went to the evening rodeo with our RV neighbor Betty from Tennessee. That evening we enjoyed the fireworks from our campsite.

This image was taken of a funnel cloud just south and west of our location near Jamestown, North Dakota. A complex storm system wreaked havoc in parts of North Dakota, northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin, with tornadoes, large hail and strong wind gusts late Friday night (June 20th) into early Saturday morning. Wind gusts measuring 95 to 100 MPH were reported according to the weather service. Friday evening around 10 PM, Adam had all the campers and staff shelter in "the Rock", the utility building on campus with the best tornado protection. We had tornado warnings throughout the remainder of the evening and early morning, so the campers spent the night there instead of returning to their cabins. Cooperstown Bible Camp sustained downed trees and power was lost until Sunday afternoon. The trunk landed between two golf carts just outside the door into the "Rock". At first light the damage to the camp was profound. Just outside the main entrance to "the Rock" was a large, tall pine tree that fell towards the building. The top just slightly damaged the roof and rain gutters. The massive trunk landed between two parked golf carts. Split the trunk of this tree like a popsicle stick. Mike was up on the roof after we removed the tree and started covering the damage with a tarp in anticipation of more rain . The "Nazareth" boy's cabin, took a direct hit from a fallen tree along with the maintenance shop. Saturday morning I led a team made up of four camp staffers in removing the tangled tree debris from the roof. Along with multiple trees down throughout the camp we also lost two power lines downed in the storm. One of the trucks parked near the "Lodge" took a tree limb through the windshield. We thank God that no one here in the camp was hurt. Evidence our Heavenly Father's protection is all around the camp. As for us, we had no damage to our trailer or truck from this extensive wind event, even with our location near a line of trees. There is plenty of tree damage near our site from the wind, even though we didn't experience a "tornado" making landfall. Karen and I played a round of disc golf through the camp and got a first hand survey of the number of trees damaged and downed by the storm. It looks like our last week in camp will involve cleaning up and repairing the damage caused by the storm. Please join us in praying for many hands to clear the downed trees as a new group of campers will arrive Monday afternoon.

Monday was a non-working day for me due to a severe cold that zapped all the energy out of me. I spent the majority of the morning and afternoon sleeping in my trailer recliner. I started feeling crummy on Saturday evening and took it easy on Father's Day hoping to bounce back before the beginning of the work week. On Tuesday I started feeling better but still wasn't 100%. I thought: let's try to get out and pace myself. Adam, the Camp Director, but together a "punch list" of projects to work on which included some more woodworking. Karen spent all day Monday and part of Tuesday sanding and sealing some wooden wainscoating in the Ludvig Lodge while I was laid up. Moving slowly, I started on my next woodworking project. The camp has a shortage of portable seating and with the remaining wood from the bunk bed railing project, he was hoping I could build some additional benches. While Karen was working in Ludvig Lodge I put one of the previously built benches in the back of my truck and drove to the maintenance shop to use it as a model for the new benches. I disassembled part of the bench to use the component parts as an exemplar and template for the new bench parts. The design is simple but very stout. Four feet wide, these benches can hold 3 youth or two adults. They are built with a moderate reclining back rail and are remarkably comfortable. They each require about three and a half 2x6x8' boards to complete and are light enough to be moved by one adult. Because of some complex angle cuts, I decided to just use my skill saw and skip using the shop's table saw and chop saw. After tracing out the parts I started cutting and assembling the parts together. I was able to build three benches by the end of the day. Karen joined me in the afternoon and started sanding them down. Wednesday morning we continued building, sanding and sealing the new benches. We only have enough remaining materials for two more completed benches. Adam was so happy with the results he will be driving into Jamestown over the weekend to secure some more materials so we can keep up the production into next week. I'm loving working with wood and power tools...augh...augh...augh...augh! The goal is to build enough benches for the shooting range, archery range and ropes course. If we get enough built while we're here, they will add additional seating around some of the other campfire rings by the cabin complexes.

The Alliance Paradigm fifth wheel features a pull-out storage compartment hidden behind the fireplace, providing convenient and discreet storage space. This innovative design allows owners to maximize space utilization while maintaining a clean and stylish living area. The storage compartment is designed for smooth operation, with a simple mechanism for opening and closing. Unfortunately, the Avenue model (which we have) doesn't have this feature despite a large empty space behind the heater. I discovered this space in our fifth wheel after removing the heater to access the wiring when upgrading our CD/radio. The problem was how to access this area in our rig without the drawer feature of the Paradigm. I started researching the possibility of adding a storage door to the outside of the trailer slide in order to access the space opposite the fireplace appliance. YouTube has been a great resource for many of the modifications I have made in the past, so it was the first place I turned to for information. After viewing a couple of videos it appeared to be a do-able project. My first step was to remove the fireplace appliance and move the electrical outlet mounted on the back wall to a more favorable location. A large wiring bundle for the TV, radio and speakers comes into that space and needed to be moved. I zip tied the loose wires and mounted the outlet to the shelf bottom above the fireplace appliance. The next step was a bit tricky. How far above the compartment floor would be the best place to cut the hole in the slide? After taking some measurements on the inside and outside of the space I determined the best location and door size. I wanted to be conservative with the size and opted for a 12 inch by 36 inch horizontal storage door which I ordered from Amazon. When the door arrived last week I inspected it and used the shipping container to cut out a cardboard template of the door. I marked the middle of the template and attached it to the inside of the fireplace slide wall compartment. This allowed me an opportunity to double check the location on either side of the future door opening. At this point I'm trying to think of what else I need to do before cutting through the trailer wall. I know that once I cut through that wall, I've "crossed the Rubicon". My first thought was to drill a small hole through the inside wall in the center of the mounted template. Once that was done I took the template to the outside and aligned it with the hole to level and mark the exterior wall for cutting. Everything looked good so I started cutting through the fiberglass siding with my Dewalt oscillating saw. No turning back now! The key to the process was moving slowly and letting the saw do the work through the exterior fiberglass, foam insulation layer and thin interior plywood backing. With the cutting completed I removed the cut out and clean up the edges for a test fit of the new storage door assembly. Voilà, a near perfect fit! Just a little more finish work needed to add some wood framing between the fiberglass and plywood to hold the door frame in with screws, some butyl tape to hold the insulation, and silicon caulk around the exterior edges. Mission accomplished! The new storage space will now hold all our E-bike accessories which we used to keep in the back seat of the truck in a large plastic box We now have an empty back seat! There's even room for our fishing gear in our new compartment..

Because there are no other RVICS couples at camp, Karen and I are teamed up to work the next three weeks together on our assignments. Adam, Cooperstown Bible Camp Director, needed some bunk bed safety rails built before the first campers arrive on June 16, so we started on Monday morning cutting 2x6x8 boards into the three component parts we would need to construct the attachment. I set up a jig to stop the 8 foot board at 18 inches before making my first cut. Slide the board over, cut again and the second support is cut. The remaining length is our 5 foot rail. The camp has a portable chop-saw I set up to cut the eight foot board into two 18 inch supports and one 5 foot rail. After cutting the rails, Karen used an electric router to trim all the edges and round them off. I adjusted the chop-saw to cut a 45º angle on the top and bottom ends on the outside of the vertical support. These also would be routered so all the edges were rounded smooth. Following the cutting and routering of all the pieces, Karen began the process of using an orbital sander to smooth over all the surfaces before the assembly would begin. Karen is really enjoying working with all the new tools. She was initially reticent but after a brief demo she was all in. While Karen is sanding the component parts I started the assembly of the bunk bed rails for 36 upper bunks. With the bunk bed rails assembled, Karen began applying a wood sealer to protect the wood. All of this has been accomplished in the first three days of our first week in camp. Adam, the Camp Director, is thrilled with the progress we're making. Because the camp's insurance carrier has required these rails on the upper bunks before campers arrive, this is an important deadline and it is our priority project.. We work from 9:00 until lunch at 12:30. The camp staff is doing training and another organization, Children's Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), is also using the camp facilities while we are here. That means the camp's kitchen is providing meals for everyone including us, saving on our meal prep. At 1:30 we return to our job site and continue until 4:00. A six hour work day for both of us and we feel it by the time we get back to the trailer. A shower and a nap before dinner has become my routine the last three days. Thursday, June 12 was installation day for the new bunk bed safety railings. We were able to finish 3 and a half girl's cabins and one of the two boys cabins before running out of the dry, completed rail assemblies. Karen and I would align the rails after I measured their location on the top bunk. We used clamps to hold them on the frame and checked the height. Once the rails were ready for mounting Karen would drill the pilot holes and I would follow up with the wood screw fasteners. The installation process was completed in about three hours. We still have nine more rails to install next Monday. They are in the cargo trailer drying over the weekend. All in all, this was a productive and successful first week of camp in the books!

We are currently at Cooperstown Bible Camp, an RVICS project. This camp was originally founded because of a burden the Saron Evangelical Free Church and its pastor, the Rev. Ludvig R. Lunde, had for sharing the good news of the Gospel with others whom the church members were not reaching through their church services. Having experienced the saving power of the Gospel in their midst, the members wanted to share it with others around them. The Saron Church had its beginning on March 7, 1895 when the need for a church home for their growing families was realized. The name chosen was Sarons Frimenighed, which was later changed to Saron Evangelical Free Church. Twenty-two members were received into this fellowship. Rev. Lunde purchased a truck and had a body built suitable to carry and seat several people and a small organ. One side of the truck could be folded out and used as a platform, from which services were conducted in neighboring towns and farmsteads. This venture led Pastor Lunde and the people to see the need for providing further Bible study, in order that people might be rooted and grounded in the Word. In a subsequent trade, Rev. Lunde acquired a large tent, in which to hold public services. A small tract of land, used at that time for a picnic area by local groups, was purchased and became the present Bible camp property. In the spring of 1925, the planks from the local lumber yard were used for seats. Gasoline lanterns hung from the center tent-supporting poles. A smaller tent was erected where ice cream and pop were sold. With these preparations, the first Cooperstown Bible Camp service was held on June 21, 1925. A total of 37 Evangelical Free churches form the foundation of the association and actively supply the members to serve on the camp board. The pastors of these churches are actively involved in the camp program and growth. For the next 3 weeks, we are working with Adam Glombowski, Executive Director and Alicia Glombowski, C3 Store and Office Manager of Cooperstown Bible Camp until June 24. Karen and I are the only RVICS team members on campus. Monday, June 9 is our first day of scheduled work and we are going to be constructing 36 upper bunk bed side rails required by the camp's insurance carrier. Adam has all the raw materials available on site so come Monday morning we will start the project. This camp is located southeast of Cooperstown, a city in Griggs County, North Dakota. It is the county seat of Griggs County. The population was 983 at the 2020 census. Cooperstown was founded in 1882. The city is named for R. C. Cooper, a bonanza farmer who built the first wood-frame house in the area in 1880. Prior to Cooper's arrival, most settlers or the era lived in sod houses, covered wagons, tents, or log cabins (especially near the Sheyenne River where trees were numerous). Cooperstown was laid out on October 26, 1882, soon before the railroad was extended to that point.

We spent the next four days at two different Army Corps of Engineers facilities in Minnesota. With our National Parks Pass we get 50% off the fees, so it is a great deal. Our first campsite at Sandy Lake in McGregor, Minnesota is only $13 per night. The Sandy Lake Dam and Recreation Area is situated at the outlet of Big Sandy Lake in northern Minnesota, 13 miles north of McGregor, MN. The dam is part of the Mississippi Headwaters Project, one of the first reservoir systems in the country, and the Sandy Lake Dam structure dates back to 1895. Today the grounds have been developed into a park and campground that is noted for its clean, family-friendly environment and access to fishing and boating on both the lake and nearby Mississippi River. It offers the only public campground and beach on Big Sandy Lake. The area is also a part of the historic canoe route that connected the Mississippi River to Lake Superior and major fur trading companies. Artifacts from the area's long history are kept in a small museum located near the dam. This beautiful, well maintained park has mature trees, large grassy sites with picnic table, fire pit, and paved level landing pads. Our site#2 has 50 amp electric, no sewer or water and backs up to the river next to the dam. There is a potable water fill station and a dump station along with friendly, helpful camp hosts. Fishing access, boat launch and docks, volleyball net and horseshoe pits are available. No WiFi but we have a good AT&T signal for our hotspot connectivity. This is our home for the weekend before continuing west towards our next camp project in North Dakota. A Bald Eagle nest was spotted on the upper loop of the campground; a vigilant parent keeping watch over the young one. This campground also has a complimentary washer and dryer available so Karen took advantage of the free laundry facilities while we're here. Saturday's dinner tonight was grilled pork tenderloin on our portable barbecue. On Monday, June 2 we arrived at Gull Lake Recreation Area which offers something for everyone with boating, hiking, fishing and swimming at Minnesota's famous Gull Lake, the largest of the 10 lakes on the Gull Chain of Lakes. Visitors have the opportunity to see and hear an abundance of watchable wildlife like bald eagles, white-tailed deer, river otters, a variety of songbirds, and the legendary call of the loon. The campground sits on the Gull River at the outlet of Gull Lake. The area was formed by a receding glacier that moved southward from Canada and carved the landscape. Gull Lake is one of the six Mississippi Headwaters Projects of the Mississippi River Watershed operated by The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Our campsite #23 is tucked in the back of the campground. With our National Park pass we paid only $16 per night.. The campground is known for its well-spaced wooded sites, each with 50 or 30 amp electric hookup service, picnic tables, campfire rings, and a centrally located shower-house. A water fill and dump station is located near the entrance to the campground. This side of the park holds two canoe launches, a paved shoreline fishing platform, fish cleaning station, self-guided information booth, playground, a flush toilet restroom, and a handful of picnic tables and grills. Across the dam is the Ranger Office, boat ramp, vault toilet, and swimming beach on the lake. Volleyball nets, basketball hoop, horseshoe pits, and two more playgrounds are also perks of this side of the park. This campground is near Brainerd, Minnesota. Brainerd is a city and the county seat of Crow Wing County, Minnesota.. Its population was 14,395 at the 2020 census. Brainerd straddles the Mississippi River several miles upstream from its confluence with the Crow Wing River, having been founded as a site for a railroad crossing above the confluence. Due to the many lakes in the area, Brainerd is a popular summertime destination for those owning cabins in the area, better known as the Brainerd Lakes .

I joined the U.S.Navy during August 1972 and headed for Bootcamp in Orlando, Florida in January 1973 for basic training. It was there I met a young recruit from Minnesota named Paul Clasen. He and I, along with two other new recruits who were also Ocean Systems Technicians, were assigned to Company 030. Over the next nine weeks we worked through Basic Training and graduated together. From there we proceeded to Fleet Sonar School in Key West, Florida for "A" school to learn our military occupational specialty (MOS). After "A" school, I received my orders to Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Adak, Alaska. Paul was headed for NAVFAC Midway Island and the other two Ocean System Technicians (OT's) were ordered to Barbers Point, Hawaii. Over the last 50 plus years, Paul and I have kept in touch and during our travels this year Karen and I made plans to meet up with Paul and his wife Cynthia at their beach house in Herbster, Wisconsin. On Tuesday, May 27, we were on our way to the Clasen's on the south shore of Lake Superior for a three day visit. The trip to their home was complicated by a trailer tire issue that added another three hours on the original two and a half hour journey. We were on a 2 lane state highway in Michigan when this happened: The valve stem on the passenger rear side started to fail and our TPMS picked up the leak. Unfortunately I wasn't able to pull off the road quickly enough to save the tire. Insult to injury: we had a leaking valve stem on the spare! So I disconnected the truck from the trailer and drove both tires into town about 10 miles up the road. Got the spare fixed and drove back to the trailer to re-install the spare. Fortunately, we were able to get the tire issue resolved and arrived around 4:30 PM at the Clasens home in Herbster. We parked the rig in their gravel driveway and hooked up to 30 Amp service they have on the property. We've spent our time together catching up on our life stories, hiking the lakeshore, playing games and eating. Paul and Cynthia are avid Pickle Ball players, so we had them introduce us to the sport. We played mixed doubles and had some great fun and fellowship. Karen and I are sold on the idea of learning to play more often; I think some Pickle Ball equipment is in our future. Thursday evening we drove back into Washburn, WI with Paul & Cynthia to have dinner at the Fat Radish restaurant. I ordered Dan’s Boo-Yah a dish made of rich wine + citrus broth + vegetables + salmon + shrimp + New Zealand mussels + house salad + crostini which was delicious! According to Wikipedia, "Booyah (also spelled booya, bouja, boulyaw, or bouyou) is a thick stew, believed to have originated in Belgium, and brought to northeastern Wisconsin by Walloons (people who speak a French dialect and live in southern & eastern Belgium). It is now made throughout the Upper Midwestern United States. Booyah can require up to two days with multiple cooks to prepare. It is cooked in specially designed "booyah kettles" and usually meant to serve hundreds or even thousands of people." "The term "booyah" may be a variant of "bouillon". It is thought to have derived from the Walloon language words for "boil" (bouillir) and "broth" (bouillon). The spelling with an H has been attributed to phonetic spelling by Wallonian immigrants from Belgium. The Dictionary of American Regional English attributes the term to French Canadian immigrants; others attribute it to a derivation from the Provençal seafood dish bouillabaisse." Karen, Paul and Cynthia ordered the Lake Superior Whitefish Piccata (a lemon-butter-caper sauce) and served with Israeli couscous or on a bed of fresh herb & roasted red pepper quinoa along with asparagus. We all had delicious meals! After dinner we did some grocery shopping for the trailer. Friday afternoon we ventured back into Cornucopia for lunch and also purchased some frozen Lake Whitefish fillets. On Saturday we will say goodbye and head to Duluth, Minnesota for an appointment at the Discount Tire store to replace our blown trailer tire and switch out the spare on the trailer before continuing to Sandy Lake Corps of Engineers Park in Mcgregor, Minnesota.

Our Bay Furnace Campground site was our home for one night after our Pictured Rock boat tour. We continued driving west towards the Wisconsin border along the southern shore of Lake Superior. From Christmas, Michigan we passed through the citiy of Marquette and two villages named Ishpeming and Michigamme. We discovered an interesting stop on this route. A place to visit if you're ever in this part of the UP Northwest Michigan is " Lakenenland" . The "Lakenenland" is a scrap metal sculpture art park that is located on M-28 east of Marquette. It is free to the public and allows visitors to either drive through or walk around the park. Created by Tom Lakenen, the Detroit Free Press called Lakenenland "The coolest unofficial roadside rest stop in the state." The 37 acre park includes a Sculpture Trail, a winding road through the woods featuring more than 100 of Tom's whimsical, colorful and sometimes "tell it like it is" Metal Art sculptures showcasing his tremendous talent for turning junk metal and scrap iron into awe inspiring, entertaining works of art. There are all sorts of various sculptures made out of scrap metal.  There is also an old mine and old mining equipment set up inside the park. We eventually arrived at our unscheduled, overnight campground at the L'Anse Township Park. We were in site 5 which is a large site with power and a great view of the bay. The price was only $35. The park is situated on a sloping hillside which offers a beautiful view of Lake Superior and Keweenaw Bay.  Historically, this campground is the site of the first trading post and the original townsite of L’Anse.       We left L'Anse Park around 11 AM on Memorial Day and arrived too early to check-in at Porcupine Mountains - Union Bay Modern Campground near Ontonagon, MI so we opted to pull over by the lake and wait until 2 PM. We had a lovely spot for lunch on the shores of Lake Superior. We even had enough room to put out both slides and after lunch I took a nap! The Union Bay Campground is the park’s only modern campground offering electrical service, a modern toilet building, a sanitation station, boat launch, camp store and more. In many sites, you can hear waves crashing along the rocky shoreline of Union Bay, off Lake Superior. Several of the campsites are located along the shore. A sandy beach is located within walking distance along M-107. There are a variety of campsite sizes; some are ideal for tents or smaller campers, while others can accommodate larger RVs. . Our only negative are the Buffalo Gnats, also known as Black Flies. Our site #47 is away from the water's edge up against the tree line. It is HUGE, two to three times the regular RV size in width and depth. We will be here for the next two days. Karen and I have enjoyed this extended stay in the upper peninsula of Michigan. We're considering returning to the UP in the Autumn another year to see some of the same places when the colors start changing. It's not nearly as popular with tourists as New England, but there are some amazing fall colors here without the crowds! On Tuesday morning, May 27 we drove out to the Lake of the Clouds Trail and the Summit Trail. Spectacular scenery to behold in the late Spring, but imagine this place as the leaves start changing colors around September/October. The Lake of the Clouds is situated in a valley between two ridges in the Porcupine Mountains.[2] Surrounded by virgin wilderness and stunning vistas, the lake is a popular destination for hikers, campers, and fishermen. The lake is a prominent feature of the park, and can be viewed at the Lake of the Clouds Overlook at the west terminus of the former Michigan highway M-107. Lake of the Clouds is about 1 mile long, but according to the park signage at the start of the 0.5 mile trail to the viewing site, averages only 15 feet deep.