After such an exciting time in Canada and New York, we set out again on the western leg of our trip.  We passed through Pennsylvania and Ohio on our way to Decatur, Indiana where we had an appointment with the company who makes Monaco’s to get the damn beeping fixed once and for all.

In Indiana we entered the little town of Decatur and set up camp in a really dusty side yard of REV, the company which makes about eight brands of motorhomes, including ours.  REV also makes ambulances and fire engines.  The town additionally produces smaller campers, boats, and all sorts of rv paraphanalia.  After five days there and allegedly getting our problems fixed, (beeping, san icon disposal system, step recall, slide malfunction) we moved on but not before we did the most fun thing there–seeing where and how motorhomes are built!  We watched the assembly from hauling the chassis inside, to wiring, plumbing, flooring, interior walls, fixtures, outside walls, interior finishes, roofing, slide installation, paint,  and much more.  We weren’t allowed to take pictures, but it was pretty amazing!

We were about 150 miles down the road before the beeping started again but we carried on after an emergency reset.  We also had to burn off a heavy particulate load (?) in some guy’s front yard before we could move on without destroying the engine.  This requires revving the engine at high rpm’s for about a half hour.  Needless to say, the old guy who’s yard we stopped near wasn’t happy, but his neighbor, a long-haul trucker was very nice and helpful, as was another rv’er who stopped to see how he could help.

Iowa brought us to Walcott where the world’s largest truck stop resides.  There were 900 truck parking spaces, a huge trucker museum, and a store/shopping center/restaurant/anything you could want store.

The store, including three semi’s on display inside.

Some available services inside the store.

Not my cousin Bob, but a pretty cool encounter with a prayin

 

Onward to Cedar Falls and as he called it, the roadside attraction of visiting my cousin Bob and his wife, Kris.  We had a great evening talking, looking at wonderful pictures of the recent wedding of their daughter, Amy, and enjoying a yummy dinner.

Minnesota brought more traffic accidents.  After four years on the road, this has been the only time we have seen any.  Besides the two pictured above we saw a car-motorcycle crash, a destroyed Honda where the kid driving it were thankfully alive and talking to the police, and a semi truck and trailer broken down on the left lane with a front wheel broken off.  All these caused massive traffic jams and probably the particulate build-up we had.

At last we reached North Dakota where more adventures awaited us!

We went with Doug and Susie to Medora to await the arrival of our good buds from Arizona, Jane and Larry.  Medora is a quirky little town in the North Dakota badlands.  It was founded by the Marquis de Mores as a railhead to send butchered cattle east instead of driving them to market.  The only problem was ice.  About every 200 miles the train would have to stop and take on more ice to keep the meat cooled and oftentimes it wasn’t available right away.  So although the idea was good, the Marquis was ahead of his time.  Spoilage and impractibility ruined his scheme.  Teddy Roosevelt also spent time there after his wife and mother died on the same day.  He came to the badlands to recover his health and regain strength in this often formidable land.  The Teddy Roosevelt nNational Park abuts Medora so we drove through it.  Shoot!  We only saw one bison, no wild horses, but we did see some wild turkeys and hundreds of prairie dogs.

 

After Jane and Larry arrived one of our first events was to play golf at the Bully Pulpit golf course.

The holes were spectacular!

And aside from the 18th green which was straight uphill  the course was more imposing visually than technically.  This from such an average player who was out of practice at the time. I lost my shoes climbing up that stupid hill on the 18th to retrieve my ball!

Next up, a day on the Missouri.

Then a day touring Fort Lincoln, a fort near Mandan where George Custer was stationed and from whence he left to go to the Little Big Horn.  So much history here and so many interesting things about Custer.  Some day I may write a story about those days.  We also took Jane and Larry to the wonderful and ever evolving Heritage Center in Bismarck, where there are now displays of dinosaurs, rocks and minerals, along with displays of native flora and fauna, the history of settlement in ND and a few Native American artifacts.  For the real Native artifacts we journeyed to On-A-Slant Mandan Indian Village to view the earthen mounds where the tribes lived before Lewis and Clark visited, bringing trade goods and smallpox and eventually wiping out the village.

Mark’s brother Chris (third from the left) has kept in contact with many of their oh, so many cousins.  He set up a meet with John, second from left.  Mark and Doug haven’t seen John for 50 or so years and had a great time reminiscing, telling stories and talking about the old days out at the family farm.

Then on our final night in ND, while out for dinner, who should walk in but another cousin Mark hasn’t seen for decades!  He and Jim had a quick reunion and promised to get together next year.  Family is amazing!!

Now we are in the bus motoring to Montana and Yellowstone. Hope it doesn’t snow!!