The Teddy Roosevelt bar

We spent 2 nights in Bismark, North Dakota while on our way the Theodore Roosevelt NP.  I am a member of the Elks and we sometimes stay there or at least try to visit a lodge while in an area.  The Elks lodge in Bismark has the Teddy Roosevelt bar in its lounge.  One evening I went to the lodge to check it out.

It is a beautiful wooden structure that has had a very storied history.  It has been moved many times and was in storage for many years.  It was almost destroyed.  Some how the Elks got ownership of it and made it part of  their lounge.  One story is that when it was at another location Teddy would ride his horse into the bar to get a drink.  The history of this bar is interesting and I just had to get a picture.  There may have been a beer or two involved as well.

International Falls

We had lived in the Twin cities for about 20 years and never been to International Falls.  You may recognize the name as "The ice box of the US"  International Falls is often the coldest spot in the continental US and tends to make the news regularly in the winter.  From where were were staying near Voyagers NP is was about a 40 minute drive so we headed up one day.

This museum was fascinating.  It had a great history of the Native American inhabitants and a history from the time the first Europeans arrived.  The other half was of Bronko Nagurski.  Bronko was from International Falls and was an amazing athlete.  He is a hometown hero as well as a Minnesota hero.  He played for the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Chicago Bears long ago.

We also saw Smokey Bear.

Voyager National Park

Voyager NP is about 40% water.

The only way into the park is by water.

We stayed at a rustic lodge outside the park on Kabetogama Lake.  We drove to a park enterance and took a guided boat tour.  There are about 12 million islands in the park...well maybe not that many but a lot.  The day we took the boat tour was beautiful.  Sunny, mid 70s, a light breeze, just perfect.

As normal the pictures do not show the true beauty or the detail.  We saw lots of bald eagles, loons, various water fowl and a deer.  None of witch you'll be able to pick out.

 2 eagles atop the dead tree.

Loon

After about 2 hours we arrived at an island with the Kettle Falls Hotel.  At one time this was privately owned and operated but park services has taken over and did some big time renovation.

The walk to the lodge

While the rest of the tour group was eating lunch we walked around the grounds.

This is Kettle Falls

The other side of the water is Canada

During the boat tour we actually went into Canadian waters and back into the US...without passports or checkpoints!  So we have now done this in Canada twice and Mexico once.

The next day we drove over to another entry point.  We were late getting there and I got to help the ranger take down and fold the flag.

This is me studying some scat.  Maybe fox.

Sun set by our lodge

Sadly the Aurora Borealis were not active while we were there.

Apostle Islands

We drove the car from Lutsen to Bayfield, Wisconsin to meet up with our friends Jack and Danna.  Danna is the daughter of Dan MacKenzie and we have know her longer than she wants to admit.  She and Jack have a boat they keep in Superior Marina.  They have a Grand Banks 36 foot trawler very similar to the one pictured here.

Now, you'd think with a name like Apostle Islands that there would be 12 islands.  But there are over 20.  We set sail and headed out to one and anchored on the leeward side of the island.  You can see from the pictures that the lake was very calm here.

We had a full moon that weekend

We took the dingy ashore and took a short hike.  The next day we pulled anchor, headed to another island.  The lake was rougher that day but we were able to find a clam spot again.

By Sunday we had to head back to Bayfield so Danna and Jack could work on Monday and we could head toward Voyager National Park.

Thanks to great hosts and captain Jack and first mate Danna.

Lutsen

Due to the toilet issues we had to adjust our plan.  Welcome to the life of an RVer.  Originally we were going to drive Harvey from the Twin Cities up to the Lutsen/Grand Marais area along the north shore of Lake Superior. We have a spot up there to store Harvey while we stay with our friends Barb and Dan MacKenzie.  From there we were going to Ely then toward Voyager National Park.  So we adjusted.  Leave Harvey in storage in the cities and go by car to Lutsen.  Then we got a text from Danna MacKenzie that she and her husband could not come to Lutsen over the 4th of July but if we were available we could come to Bayfield, Wisconsin the next weekend.  If we could they would take out to the Apostle Islands on their 36 foot house boat.  Well with Harvey in storage in the cities until mid July this was a no brainer.  So from Lutsen we go to Bayfield to Voyager NP then back to the cities where we will stay with Diana's brother Charlie until we can get Harvey fixed.  While a bit of a hassle this toilet break down should have minimal effect on our travel.

While in Lutsen we took a drive then a hike to Thompson water falls.  The hike was easy and beautiful.

The wild flowers along the way were in full bloom.

It was peak season for Lupine

Dan MacKenzie trying to get up.

Another day we managed to get in a round of golf.  The course was not great but the veiws were excellent.

This is the front Tee box and you drive over the Poplar River.  Notice the ski slopes in the background.

Off course we went to Grand Marais for lunch at Sven & Ole's for pizza.  Mushrooms, Canadian bacon and wild rice pizza.

With the proper beverages!

On the 4th of July we saw some fireworks over Grand Marais harbor.

This is where we stay in Lutsen.  Our dear friend Barb and Dan MacKenzie own this log home.

Entry and side of building

Yes, that is Lake SuoeriorFrom the back porch

And yes it is that clearA quiet place

View from edge of back area

Thank you Barb and Dan for sharing!

Diverticulitis

Just when we had everything fixed and were ready to roll Diana got diverticulitis.  She has had this before and we know what to do.  So a morning trip to the clinic then to get the meds.  24 hours on the antibiotic and she is feeling better.  We delayed departing the Twin Cities 2 days.  But on July 23 we hit the road again.  Drove to West Fargo and spent the night in a Costco parking lot.  It was good to be on the road again.

Toilet saga

After several hours of work in the rain (the service tech let me help)we found a total clog in the line.  This had not happened before so I did not know to look for it.  The line was mostly closed with a sand/shale like substance that prevents much else from getting by.  I'm pretty sure we will be fine until we get to Mesa.  This gives us more time to check out macerating systems.  So we are back on the road about a week later than we had planned.  No worries, we had flex time built in.

It was great to be able to stay with Diana's brother Charlies while Harvey was sick.  Also our time in the Twin Cities was very pleasant.  We got to see some old friends, do some fun stuff around town and have a great visit with Charlie.  The toilet system is frustrating but this could have been much worse.

US Bank Stadium

While in Minneapolis, we went to see US Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings.

Outside the stadium

Inside has a very bright and outdoor feel even though this is an enclosed stadium.  Half the roof is  clear/opaque and there is a lot of glass for exterior walls.

 There was a large dinner event being held on the field that night and we were not able to get down on the field.

In case you missed it there is a lot of purple!!!

My favorite part of the tour was this pipe

It says "BEER"  and is the conduit for all the beer lines in the stadium.  They usually use about 400 to 500 Kegs of beer each game.  Except when the Packers are in town then they use 600 to 700 kegs.  Gotta love the cheese heads.

Twins game

We attended a Minnesota Twins baseball game.  I was very careful to select an afternoon game as we had not attended Target field during a day game.  Game time was 12:10 PM on a Thursday.  Day games are not unusual on Thursday as at least one team is leaving town for a weekend series somewhere else.  It is called "get away day" and the idea is to play the game early enough for the team(s) to travel get to the new city and be rested for the next day.  As usual we arrived at the ball park very early.  It began to rain well before game time and the teams did not take batting or fielding practice.  The rain continued and the game was delayed 4 hours and 50 mins.  So the first pitch that was supposed to have happened at 12:10 occurred at 5:00.  Had the game started on time, it would have been over by then.  So for almost 6.5 hours (remember we get to a game early) we wandered the stadium, bought food and hit the Twins pro shop.  The Twins pro shop proved to be very expensive as I bought a new hat, a shirt and a jacket.  Diana was more constrained and only bought a jacket.


I seriously considered a new suit.

But reconsidered and did not.

Tarp on the field with Minneapolis sky line

The folks I really felt sorry for were all the kids that came.  Being a day game a lot of summer day care programs take the kids to see the game.  Looking in the stands you could see a group of kids all in blue shirts.  Over there was a group with yellow shirts, another with red and so on.  All these groups had to leave before the game started so they could be back at daycare for mom or dad to pick them up.  They seemed to be having fun all afternoon, especially when they were shown on the big screen,  but they missed the game.

This was the longest rain delay we have experienced and the longest in Twins history.  Finally, when the game started the Twins got crushed 9 - 0.  They fell way behind early and it did not get better.  It is great to be a baseball fan!

GO TWINS!!

Toilet update #1

Well the new toilet system is not going to happen.  Found out today that the supplier is out and can't ship until next week.  So we are thinking about just replacing the pump again, hope it lasts all summer then exploring a change when we get to Mesa.

In the mean time we have several items to address and are working on those as I write.  Fun Fun Fun

Quick stop in Omaha

We stopped for one night just west of Omaha, Nebraska to have dinner with some friends from Apache Wells in Mesa.  They summer near Omaha.

Fritz and Cheryl

It was good to see them and get to know them better.

Toilets...again

As has been documented several times in this blog, we have problems with the toilet system.  Even the RV manufacturer acknowledges the system is a problem.  A forum I subscribe to has indicated other folks have issues too.  One Fleetwood tech just rolled his eyes and said he could not talk about it when asked if they have a lot of repairs.

With out going into a lot of detail, it is a vacuum system that when you flush the toilet a vacuum pump pulls all the waste into the black holding tank.  In the past the pump has broken open but continued to pump.  This put waste material into the belly of the RV but not into the tank.  A huge mess!! This time the pump just stopped working.  So we have no toilets.  Lucky for you we also have no pictures.

We are not having the pump repaired or replaced.  We are replacing the entire system with a macerating toilet.  The idea behind this system is that when you flush all the waste is ground up then moved to the black tank.  Not pumped but pushed. The repair tech and all the info I can find online says these systems can move waste 20 to 30 feet horizontally and 9 feet vertically.  We will be moving waste about 5 to 7 feet and up about 10 inches.  It should work...right?  This system has been used in marine settings for years.  But then so has our vacuum system.  From what I can tell there are few problems on boats with the vacuum system but RVs are a different story.  Currently, Harvey is is storage while we travel to northern MN by car. When we get back to the Twin Cities the parts will be in and we have an appointment to have the new system installed.  All research to date says this will work but I am still a little nervous. The only down side I've seen so far is that the new toilets will be 19 inches tall.  That is several inches taller than our already tall toilets.  We may need a stool to get to the stool!  Expect additional posts.