Rivers West Tour - Day 20

Today was a free day with several optional events.  For example, we could visit the Buffalo Jump site, where the Indians led the buffalo to jump off a cliff or take a tour of the underground which was built after a fire destroyed downtown Havre. 

There's a railroad layout and exhibits at the entrance to the underground which we did take time to visit, but didn't do any of the optional events.  Instead, we drove around the city and did some exploring. We did stop at Walmart and I visited both a quilt shop and a Ben Franklin Crafts, but didn't buy anything.  I could have gone fabric crazy at the Ben Franklin though.   David also took a few pictures.

I also finally had a chance to take a picture of our motorhome and car combination set up for camping.

Tomorrow, we're driving to East Glacier, Montana in order to visit Glacier National Park.

Rivers West Tour - Day 19

Today, we traveled from Medora, North Dakota to Havre, Montana.  This was the longest drive so far taking a little over six hours.  Along the way, we were passed by six of these wide load trucks.   They were moving pretty fast, too.

Havre is pronounced Hav-her.  It's said that two men were fighting over one woman and eventually one of them gave up and said, "You can have her."  BTW, Havre is only about 35 miles from the Canadian border.

Once we reached the campground, we were treated to a campground cookout.  We were expecting hot dogs, hamburgers, etc., but instead they served Walking Tacos and Ice Cream Drumsticks.  This made David happy, but I don't eat either of them, so I made myself a chef salad and ate one of the ice cream bars I had with me.

Tomorrow, is a free day to explore Havre.

Rivers West - Day 18

Today was scheduled to be a free day so that everyone could explore Theodore Roosevelt National Park on their own. 

We spent the day driving around and exploring Dickinson, reading, napping and generally just waiting for the RV to be repaired which took all day.  We did take some pictures during our exploration though.

We were finally able to leave Dickinson at 5:00, $2,500 poorer (insurance will pay some of that), but with a water tight RV with no more unwanted noises.  We arrived in Medora 45 minutes later.  We missed the drivers' meeting, but made the Medora Musical which had been postponed from the night before due to the bad weather and all tickets were good for tonight's performance.  I'm really glad, because it was a great show with many songs that I recognized and a lot of comic relief.

Tomorrow, we travel to Havre, Montana.

Rivers West Tour - Day 17

Today was another travel day.  We were supposed to travel the Enchanted Highway, which has seven large metal sculptures beside the road, and then proceed to Medora, North Dakota.  Unfortunately, we didn't make it to Medora.

First, a few pictures of the sculptures along the Enchanted Highway.  It was rainy and windy the entire way so we didn't stop and pictures were taken through the RV's windshield.

As I mentioned above, it was rainy and very windy--70 mph winds windy.  After we'd seen two of the sculptures, we heard a loud bang and a bumping noise.  David pulled over as quickly as possible and went around the rig to see this.

Notice the metal pieces sticking out from the side of the RV.  Those are the extension poles for our awning.  The awning broke loose and whipped across the top of the RV, breaking the moon roof in the shower, the vent in the bathroom and the sewer vent.  In addition, it tore a hole in the front driver's corner and "unzipped" the roof from its channel on that side of the rig.  (I neglected to get pictures from the other side.)

The young man on top of the roof was driving a truck going the other way.  He immediately stopped and was on the roof before we could get out of the RV.  David threw him a pocket knife and he was able to cut away the awning's fabric.  They also tie wrapped the poles that were sticking out and after leaving a twenty foot piece of awning on the side of the road, we were on our way.  What was left of the awning however, kept banging into the side of the motorhome and sounded like a rifle shot each time.

Instead of going on to Medora, we stopped at the next town of any size which was Dickinson, North Dakota.  Unfortunately, none of the RV dealers worked on or even sold motorhomes.  At this point, we were afraid our trip was over and were contemplating having to rent a U-Haul and heading home.  

We parked in a Walmart parking lot while trying to get help.  We had called both Good Sam and AAA and Good Sam gave us some phone numbers to call.  The first one we tried never called us back, but the second one answered his phone and we ended up meeting him at his shop about 9:30 that night.

We pulled the RV inside his building and after inspecting the damage, he decided that he could fix it the next day.  The company is Alternative Towing and they specialize in pulling big rigs out of ditches, not working on motorhomes.

We left the RV with him and went to find a hotel to spend the night.  Because of the wind, most of the hotels were full for the night, but after several tries, the Comfort Inn was able to accommodate us. It did take 45 minutes to get us checked in, because they were having computer issues, but their persistence paid off for us.

Because of our detour, we missed the Pitchfork Fondue Dinner and the Medora Musical.  I'm told that although the food was good, it was too rainy and windy to enjoy it and the musical was cancelled.

Tomorrow, we're back on the road to Medora.

Rivers West Tour - Day 16

Today was a free day.  We did some exploring, some grocery shopping and laundry.  

Since this was pretty much an "on your own" day, but still included a drivers' meeting, some of the group decided to have a pot luck, which most of the group attended, although a few came only for the drivers' meeting.  

When the potluck started, it was cold and windy and everyone was in jackets.  About halfway through the potluck, the sun came out and the wind died down so all of the jackets came off.

Tomorrow, we're traveling along the Enchanted Highway as we head to Medora, North Dakota.

Rivers West Tour - Day 15

We're still in Bismarck and today was another motor coach tour.  Our first stop was Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park where we toured Custer's home.

Most of the group also went to see the barracks building, but there wasn't a path and it was a longish walk in the grass (which was still wet from last night's rain) so David & I decided against doing that.

We then visited the Visitor's Center for On-a-Slant Village and toured the village itself.  This is a display of what the village would have looked like.

The village itself is made up of mounds with living quarters inside and were inhabited by 12-15 people each.

The bus then took us back to the fort where we had a catered lunch, this time pulled pork sandwiches.

Our next stop was the North Dakota State Capital and the North Dakota Heritage Center.  David and I didn't go into the Heritage Center, but the tail gunner's wife took this picture of us outside.  We visited with the bus driver and a couple of others who also elected not to take the tour instead.

While inside the capital, we saw a display of the flags of the United States, North Dakota and the five Indian Tribes in the area.

The elevator doors have designs on them that tell of the history of the Indians.  The door of one of the elevators opened while a couple of the ladies were examining it.

Finally, we went to the 18th floor to look at the view.  This building is a tower rather than having a dome so you can go all the way to the top.

Tomorrow is a free day.

Rivers West Tour - Day 14

Today started with another motor coach tour.  Our first stop was the North Dakota Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center.  Outside was this large statue.

Inside were lots of exhibits about the expedition and life along the river.

This tree of birds also attracted a lot of attention from some of the ladies who spent quite a bit of time checking out what sound each bird made.  I don't think any were purchased though.

Our second stop was at Fort Mandan.  The fort is a square with rooms all around the outside and a large courtyard in the middle.  Our guide brought out a deck mounted blunderbuss without the deck mount.  It was very heavy, but many of us took our turns holding it; some better than others.  The wagon master stood close by to grab it if necessary.

They also served us a catered lunch of chicken noodle or dumpling soup, sandwiches and cookies.  After eating I wandered over to check out the statue of Seaman, Merriwether Lewis' dog.

There was also supposed to be a muzzle loader demonstration, but there was a miscommunication as to where it was to be held so it didn't happen.  I was looking forward to it, because I remember my dad doing this.  I'm told there will be another demonstration later in the tour.

Tomorrow we visit Fort Abraham Lincoln, On-a-Slant Village, George Custer's Home, the North Dakota State Capital and the North Dakota Heritage Center.