Dear Reader: I have a question for you and would like your feedback in answer. The question is at the end of this blog post.
GUESS WHAT: 1/2 way of the Missouri River is Bismarck, ND, at 1170.5 miles. Full length of that river is 2341 miles.
We continue to see prairie land, flat land and often a few hills. The grass is really starting to look dry, maybe that is normal for this time of year. Out of Bismarck, North Dakota, on hwy 83, there are houses, horses, grazing land, corn, beans, and businesses along the way. Soon we drove across the large water way and then the dam. This is the Missouri River and a large lake. On the if-the-dam-breaks-we-are-in-trouble side is our campground. Downstream Campground, Riverdale, ND, is really nice with wide spaces and some trees. You can’t see the Missouri River, which is right over there close because of trees, high grass, and foliage. However, I noticed not a lot of flying bugs.
This morning I cooked up the chicken in the crockpot and the hamburger in the pot that we bought at Costco the other day. I don’t add any seasonings so then each is flexible in what it makes when I use it. Then I portion the cooked hamburger in 1 lb bags (2-1/2 cups). The cooked chicken I eyeball it with several cups. I am so thankful for the Food Saver! I laughed because tonight’s dinner menu was nothing to do with chicken or hamburger! HA I set out one of the last packages of Sweet Pork and made nachos. Part of the afternoon I sat outside in the Clam and read. Kevin came out later and studied for his upcoming certification test. Super nice and comfortable day.
I started thinking about what to make for Christmas gifts. I found a recipe (oops, guess I have been doing a lot of cooking!) I found a pattern for something cute. (Can’t write it in this blog because Mom & Dad are reading! HAHA.)
Star Bread Sourdough, Ooey, Gooey, Deliciousness! Riverdale, ND 07/26
Sourdough Starter: Today was a day of baking! And what a blast I had. I made Star Bread from the cookbook “Everything Sourdough” by Charlene Yoder. It was a blast to make! The original recipe calls for the star to be 10 inches. However, my RV oven and cooking sheet aren’t that big so I made it 8 inches and it barely fit. HA It baked up beautifully and tasted amazing. In fact, Kevin said he likes this even better than cinnamon rolls. We wrapped up 1/2 and gave it to people camping next to us. They were delighted.
Another nice day and we enjoyed a walk around the campground loops. Along the way I took a picture of what looks like snow. It is the fluff from the cottonwood trees.
Sourdough Starter: Later I made King Arthur Baking Company’s Buttery Sourdough Biscuits. Click on the words for the recipe link: Buttery Sourdough Biscuits
I got the recipe from my friend who gave me the Sourdough Starter. It makes 6 large biscuits. That is great so we don’t have so many to eat. Plus, the dough was all done in the Ninja Food Processor.
North Dakota State Fair, Minot, ND 07/26
North Dakota State Fair. Kevin found out about the fair a few days ago and put in for 1/2 day off work. The drive was mostly north, about an hour away, to Minot, ND. Later I saw on a map it is about 50 miles from Canada! We saw the typical things: tons of food trucks, carnival, crafts, sheep, cows, goats, pigs, crafts, 4H, tractors, and more. As we were walking through the open sheep barn Kevin gave a chuckle. He could hear on the overhead someone was talking with a competitors and going over rules and such. Then the man opened it up for questions and Kevin said there were tons of complaints. I always enjoy rehearing Kevin’s stories from when he was growing up and he showed sheep at his state fair.
She’s Holding My Purchase, Kutter Grain & Milling Co, North Dakota State Fair, Minot, ND 07/26
In the huge 4H building, we came upon Kutter Grain & Milling Company. I get very excited to see local farmers. Brianna was so nice and it was fun to talk with her. I learned they are a 6-generation farm. Their farm is about 1.5 hours away. I bought a bag of Hard Red Spring Wheat Flour. Kevin asked Brianna and her husband some of our burning questions. Yes, the yellow top things growing in the fields are canola. Or it can be mustard. I wanted to know how much corn grown here goes for human food vs cattle food. He said only a tiny bit goes for human food and then the rest for cattle and for fuel. What about wheat? About 50/50 for human food and cattle food. Fascinating!
The Freedom Truck 250 was there. The trailer has a walk about inside where you can read about history of the USA. I think most people would be surprised to learn that the first vote for independence was opposed by Pennsylvania and South Carolina, Delaware was split and New York abstained. This was July 1, 1776. The next day the Continental Congress voted again and this time in favor of independence. Pennsylvania abstained. Caesar Rodney was very sick but the vote came down to him. He rode 80 miles through rain to break the tie of Delaware and voted for independence. A week later and New York then voted for independence. Freedom Truck is very well done with good information that is understandable.
As we got closer to home (footnote 1), Kevin continued driving along the Garrison Dam. What was over there close to the dam in the lake? We pulled over because I saw a sign! It is an intake structure that has the hoisting equipment, gates, and other equipment needed for the 5 penstocks and 3 regulatory tunnels that go under the dam. Each penstock is 24 feet in diameter and can move 60,000 gallons of water per second. On the other side of the road/dam we saw more signs. The dam was started in 1943 and took 5 years to build. This side has cylindrical surge tanks that act as shock absorbers for the flowing water through the penstocks. Water in these are about the same level as the lake and balance the pressure to avoid equipment damage. This is also a power plant. There is no place along the dam where the water flows over it. On the east side there is a huge overflow section, it is completely dry, and we need to explore it and find a sign! We love learning things like this; never get tired of it.
Not A Good Way, Garmin GPS! Washburn, ND 07/26
Fort Mandan State Historic Site. I put it in Garmin RV 1090 GPS and didn’t double check it with Apple Maps. I saw it took us around through side roads and not on Hwy 83. That’s cool because we like taking the side roads. We drove right next to the big coal plant. We looked for a visitor center sign to see if there was one but there isn’t. Then we were on dirt road but a good smooth one. Down around and a turn and the road had some weeds down the middle and narrowed. A bit farther and yeah, see the picture, you could barely see the road as it was so overgrown and looked like it went into a rock pile. This is a clear road on Garmin but no way were we continuing on. Apple Maps routed us around and worked fine. HAHA Oh Garmin! Well, we laughed and enjoyed the crazy drive it gave us. If we would have had HOWE (footnote 2) with us, we would have stopped way before this.
Seaman Is On The Cannon, Fort Mandan, ND 07/26
We got to the place and found large branches and leaves and broken and overturned trees. The ranger told us they had a bad windstorm through here last night. The stuff we saw in the parking lot was after they had cleaned it up. What a huge mess and a lot of work. This place represents the area where Lewis & Clark and Corps of Discovery spent the winter of 1804-1805. Charbonneau was hired as a guide from here and he took his second wife, Sakakawea along. Their son was born here. I am going to stop here and add some things about her name. Around this area, even the lake, the spelling is Sakakawea. That is how North Dakota and the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa, & Arikara) now spell it. It means bird woman and makes sense since she lived here. However, she was kidnapped from her Shoshone Tribe and they now spell it Sacagawea. Here is a fascinating article, you can click here to learn more.
The fort was built according to the records. Mandan and Hidatsa lived here and were very friendly to the Corps of Discovery. One of the men was a blacksmith and the native Americans were amazed what he could make. They would trade corn for axes and all sorts of things.
Seaman Riding On Seaman, Fort Mandan, ND 07/26
We went to Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center there in Washburn, ND. The 5 Indian Villages around here – 2 Mandan and 3 Hidatsa – had more people living there than in Washington D.C. at the time Lewis & Clark were there! Over 5000 people.
NOW THE QUESTION: as you know, this blog is taken directly from my travel journal so it is in chronological order and usually covers a week. I take out the date and place for each new day when I put this blog together. So the question: would it be easier to understand the different days if I kept the header for each new day in this blog? Or does it not matter to you as you read. Let me know! Thanks.
*The blog posts are taken from my daily travel journal. Would you believe – it takes me a 1/2 day every week to whittle down a week’s worth of journal so it won’t be too long for the post each week. HAHA Thank you for reading!
- “Home” is where we park it. Home is our 2022 Alliance Avenue, 36 ft, 5th wheel.
- “HOWE” is what we named our Alliance Avenue 36-ft 5th wheel. See: Home On WhEels and we pronounce it Howie. We live and travel in it full-time around the country. HOWE has stayed at least one night in all 48 continuous U.S. states.
Travel Means Life 
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