May 18 - 20, we left home and drove to Helena, Ohio to get repairs done on trailer. We stayed at P & S Trailer for 2 nights and had work done, riveted the belly pan to secure it, on trailer from 8-9 am. Pulled out around 10am heading west on Route 6 to route 108 North to Route 20 into Indiana. Stopped at Howe at a Passport America campground for 2 nights. We drove to Shipshawana and then past where Larry Givens, Ken’s cousin, who has passed away a few years ago, we used to park in their driveway when going through the area, it was a shock and still miss him today, before going back to camp.
May 21, it rained off and on all day. We left the camper and went to Sturgis, Michigan for fuel, cheaper in Michigan than in Indiana. We then went to Howe’s Restaurant for breakfast, when we checked into campground they gave us a card for 10% off, so we decided to use it, good food. Went back to camper and stayed put all day.
May 22, we left the campground around 11am because of rain early in the morning, driving west on 80, busy going around Chicago. We drove and stopped in Illinois at a state park to dump, didn’t want to dump at campground too muddy. We then headed north on route 39 into Wisconsin then onto route 94 west. We stopped south of Wisconsin Dells for the night at a Cracker Barrel, in an empty lot next to them, we ate dinner at a Culver’s where they serve sandwiches on butter buns, very good and have great ice cream.
May 23, we pulled out around 9 am and headed west still on route 94, got out of Wisconsin and into Minnesota around Minneapolis around noon. Stopped for the night at a Corp of Engineer camp outside Valley City, west of Fargo, North Dakota, plan to stay two night because of rain coming into the area on Friday. Woke up to rain this morning and then misty for a while, cleaned the bugs off trailer and truck before it dried. Went for a walk around campground twice, the weather got better, around 5 pm had a tornado warning west of us, sky was very black drizzled a little, by 6 pm tornado warning was cancelled. Made sesame chicken with mashed potatoes for dinner, sat and watched tv for the evening.
May 24, we let the campground after dumping and filling with water, about 10:30 am. We drove into Bismarck, ND on Route 94, turning onto Route 83 north, filled with truck with fuel, stopped at Wal-Mart, for a few groceries and some cash, ate lunch at the Subway inside Wal-Mart. We continued on route 83, turned off onto west route 200 to Riverdale, ND, stopping at another Corp of Engineer campground at Garrison Dam, plan to stay one night unless it calls for rain tomorrow. Made hamburgers for dinner and cleaned the bugs off the truck and trailer.
May 25, we decided to stay another day at the COE campground, it was nice in the morning but started to rain and it was chilly, 49* when we got up this morning. It was in the 50’s all day, finally did get into the 60’s about 6 pm. Made dinner, cleaned up the dishes and then went for a drive around the campground and then down to see the dam.
May 26, we left campground this morning at 9:30 am, continued on Route 93 north to Minot, ND, and then got on Route 2 west. When we got on Route 2, we started to see the oil fields, the road is four lane in ND and then 2 lane in Montana, the oil fields continue into Montana. We did see a MOOSE running in the field, looks like he was running away from something, we also saw prong longhorn antelope. The time has changed again, the second time, we are now in mountain time. We finally stopped again at another Corp of Engineer campground, south of Fort Peck, another dam off the Missouri River. Senior pass we just paid $9 for a night. We drove over the dam which is 6 miles long and then drove around a wildlife pasture with buffalo and newly born ones. We also found a campground with no services and no fees to camp, before coming back to our campground.
