Sharp's Travels

It looked like rain when we got up this morning. I thought we would get wet closing up the 5th wheel, but it waited until we got done before it started to rain. Nikki came over to say goodbye before we left. We won’t see Nikki, Cos and Cece again until next spring. We left Fond du Lac at 10:15 am and arrived at Jeanene & Greg Peterson’s around noon. We got the 5th wheel sat up and Jeanene had lunch ready for us. After a nice visit the rain had stopped so we took a walk down to the lake. When we got back we sat out side for a while as it was very nice. Jeanene made a very nice supper for us. We watched some TV and called it a night.

We had a quite day today. We went to church this morning and then over to Cos and Nikki’s for lunch. It was an afternoon of football for Cas and me. The girls went shopping again. Cos cooked steaks on the gill for supper. We played two games of cribbage which we guys won. We got an e-mail from the wagon master that took us on our caravan to Alaska. He just got done with the last caravan and said the temp in Alaska is now in the 30s and 40s. Sure glade we took the second caravan trip. Tomorrow we move to Waupaca, WI for a few days to see friends. I am not sure but I don’t think we will have internet service while we are there.

We took our time getting around this morning. Cos and Nikki came over at 10:00 am. Cheri and Nikki went shopping (again). Cos helped me put the extension on the pin box of the 5th wheel. I need it to get into some of the tight spaces of campgrounds. After we got that done Cos and I went over to their place and I went back to work on cleaning and detailing Cos’s motorcycle and Cos washed his car. When we got them jobs done we sat down and watched the Wisconsin Badgers get beat. They played a really poor game. Cheri and Nikki got back around 4:30 pm. Later Cos and Nikki took us out for supper. We went to a Mexican restaurant and it was very good. Then we came back to our place to play cribbage which the girls won.

We left the 5th wheel this morning at 10:30 am to go to Beaver Dam. Cheri had a dentist appointment to get her new crown put in. Cheri said everything went well. At 12:15 pm we were on our way back to Fond du Lac. We grabbed some lunch and then headed over to Cos and Nikki’s. I worked on cleaning Cos’s motor cycle as it needed it. I figured as long as I was riding it that I should clean it. Cheri started working on supper. She made stuffed pork chops (stuffed with Italian sausage), garlic mashed potatoes, broccoli in cheese sauce, baked biscuits, and cherry cheese cake for dessert. We also had Cos’s sister and her husband over for supper. We played Cribbage afterward. We got home around 10:30pm.

Cos and Nikki are coming over for supper this evening so Cheri wanted to go grocery shopping the first thing this morning. Cheri put in a big day. When we got back she put a ham in the crock pot for supper. She did laundry, cleaned the refrigerator, vacuumed the trailer, baked an apple pie, and biscuits. I spend most of the day washing the 5th wheel. I also had to clean the drain to the refrigerator. After supper we played a game of cribbage that us guys won. Then we watched Survivor on TV.

We were slow getting around this morning. We did get a little rain this morning, and then it turned out to be a nice day. Late morning we headed for Oshkosh to visit Tom Praxl and his friend Kris. The four of us went out to eat at Golden Corel, the food was ok but not has good has the Golden Corel in Florida. After we eat we went back to Tom’s place to catch up on all the things that has happened in the last year. We got home around 6:30 pm and settled in for an evening of TV.

By 8:15 am Cheri was out the door on her way to Appleton with Nikki to go shopping. I stayed home and worked on getting the truck washed. I had started that job a few days ago and it was time to get back to it. I had a hard time getting the Alaska dirt and grime off. It took a lot of scrubbing. It was 2:30 pm when I got done. I was pooped so didn’t do much of anything else. Cheri called me at 4:00 pm and said they were back from shopping and was at Nikki and Cos’s. We ate supper with Cos, Nikki and Cece. We had Brats on the grill and corn on the cob. After supper we played two games of cribbage and the girls won one and we guys won one. We watched Dancing with the Stars and then went home.

We left for church about 10:30am. We had plans for lunch with Nikki & Cece at noon. We brought the pork barbeque and we had corn on the cob to go with it.

Nikki and I worked on hemming Cece’s pants for school, while Gay watched stockcar racing on TV.

Later in the afternoon Nikki & I played games with Cece. We were all winners. Coz arrived home with pizza for supper and we watched the first half of the packer game before we headed home.

We left early this morning to go over to Nikki and Cos’s. We all went downtown to the Farmers Market. We bought a few things and headed back to Nikki and Cos’s. Nikki fixed pancakes for breakfast. After breakfast Nikki and Cheri worked on shorting some pants for Cece. Cos had to work today so I took his motorcycle out for another 150 mile ride, it was a perfect day for riding. When I got back we headed for Beaver Dam to have Chinese for supper. When we got back Nikki gave us a movie to take home and watch. The movie was The Game Plan, it was very good.

Nikki picked me up at 8am and we headed for Plymouth to take her car in for service. We found out what the problem was and she will have to make another appointment to get it fixed. We headed back to Fond du Lac to shop. We went to Good Will to see if we could come up with a Halloween costume for Cece. We were lucky and found one for her. We then headed for a shop called the Clothes Line before going over to pick up Cece from school.

Gay spent his day riding Coz’s motorcycle. He put on 160 miles. He got to see more of the people he worked with. They were having a picnic and he was invited to join them.

Back at Nikki’s, Cece needed to get ready for her cousin’s birthday party and Gay & I went home to prepare supper for Nikki before she had to leave for her meeting.

Nikki rode with her friend to her meeting and was dropped back off here with Cece. We all had a bowl of ice cream before calling it a night.

I was up early as I had to take Cos & Nikki’s car in the dealer at 7:30 am to have the heated seats fixed, no heat. It turned out that there were heated seat switches but no heating elements in the seats. When they brought the car they were told there were heated seats. Now they are going to take the car back to where they bought it and find out what they are going to do about it. When we went to pick up the car Cheri and I stopped at the Harley dealer and checked out the new Road Kings. They are very nice but out of our budget. From there we made a stop at Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. Cheri did some baking, cleaning and laundry today. While she was cleaning the pantry she found the back panel was coming apart, so I took that out and put in some screws to hold it together. Now it’s better then it was when it was new.

Gay called the telephone office this morning and made plans to have lunch with the gals there. We arrived at 11am and ordered out for lunch. We had taco salad from the restaurant. We enjoyed our visit with them.

We stopped at Friesland to check out our old house and stopped into the lumber yard to visit with Bruce Braaksma. From there we went to Brandon to visit friends there. Before heading back to Fond du Lac we stopped into the Brandon Meat Market for beef sticks and brats. We made it back home by 5:00pm. Had leftovers for supper and watch a little TV.

By 10am we were ready to go to the grocery store to pick food for supper tonight. I got the crock pot out to begin preparing our meal and found the removable crock was broken. We headed over to Menards to purchase a new one. We got the Rival Smart Pot. It will automatically go to warn when the time programmed in is reached. We’ll see how we like this one. It was noon before I had the pot roast set to cook.

Gay worked on polishing the front end of the truck this afternoon.

We brought the crock pot meal over to Coz & Nikki’s about 5pm.

After supper we played a game of trouble with Cece and Nikki. Grandpa Gay won, Cece came in second.

We watched the final show of Big Brother with them and then headed for home.

We both were up early this morning. Cheri left with Nikki at 8:30 am to go to Oshkosh shopping for the day. I also left at 8:30 am and headed to Appleton to have the truck serviced. Our daughter Kari is visiting Grandpa and Grandma in Florida and Grandpa is back in the hospital with low blood pressure. Kari called today to let us know Grandpa was a little better today. She also said the Grandpa and Grandma’s air conditioner quit working and will have to have a new one. Also their van air conditioner isn’t working. It is nice that she is there to get those things fixed. We went over to Cos and Nikki’s for supper and three games of cribbage which the girls won two.

We went to church this morning at the Community Church on Hwy 26. We got back to Nikki & Coz’s about noon. We had munchies for dinner and a piece of Nikki’s delicious cherry pie. The guys watched the football games while Nikki and I went shopping. We found some good buys. I got some of my Christmas shopping done for Cece.

Coz had the grill going when we got back from shopping. He had the potatoes on and was ready to put the pork chops on. Everything was so good. We finished the pie off for dessert.

We got home about 9pm. Have to get rested up, tomorrow we have another busy day.

It started raining in the night and continued all day. Because of the rain we stayed in side and read our books. At 11:30 am I took Cheri downtown so she could get a perm. Went back and picked her up at 3:00 pm. Cos and Nikki picked us up at 4:15 pm and took us to Oshkosh at Kodiak Jacks for supper. It was very good. When we got back we stopped at Cos and Nikki’s to play cribbage. We guys won three games. Nikki also made grasshoppers for us, very good. We were home by 8:30 pm. Cheri went to bed around 9:30 pm and I stayed up to watch the Wisconsin Badgers play. Was a late game and didn’t get to bed until 1:00 am.

Cheri and I walked this morning; it has been a long time since we have done a long walk. We need to get back into a routine. Cheri spent the day cleaning and doing laundry. I got a tank of LP and worked on cleaning the truck. It is a big job cleaning all the dirt and grime from Alaska. It started to rain before I got done. I also did a boo boo this afternoon. The coffee scoop broke and I use some surgical glue to put it back together and glued my thumb to the scoop. Cheri got a big kick out of it. I had to use a razor blade to get my thumb from the scoop. This evening we went over to Coz and Nikki’s to play cribbage. The girls won two game and us guys won one.

We were slow getting around this morning. It seems nice to just take our time and not have to be anywhere. I did a bunch of paper work and Cheri made an apple pie for supper. After lunch we went to Beaver Dam for Cheri’s dentist appointment. She has to have a crown put in (my queen with a new crown). I went to Menards (the mans store) while Cheri was at the dentist. It was 4:30 pm when we got home. Cheri made lasagna for supper. Coz and Nikki came over for supper and to watch Big Brother on TV.

This morning we headed for Beaver Dam as we had dentist appointments at 10:00 am and 10:30. It was almost noon before be got done. We gave Bill and Barb Mullen a call to see if they wanted to have lunch with us. So we went out to their place and then back to Beaver Dam for lunch. After lunch we went back to their place and spent the afternoon visiting. It was 5:00 pm before we got back to Fond du Lac. We went over to Cos & Nikki’s for supper. We got home around 8:30 pm.

We were on the road by 9:15 am headed for Fond du Lac and arrived at the Fond du Lac Fair grounds where we will be camped for about two weeks. We are here to visit our daughter Nikki and her family. The closer we got to Fond du Lac, the happier Cheri got. It has been over a year since we have seen them. After we got set up we headed out to order a turn table plate for the micro wave, ours got broke in Alaska. They wanted $45.00 for a new, but found a used one for $10.00. Good deal. We stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things and got a call from Nikki to come to their place for pizza. We got home around 8:30 pm.

This morning we headed for Richland Center in the rain to have lunch with my cousins (Ken & Eileen, Dean & Betty). After lunch we sat down for a game of dominos. Once again the girls beat us guys. We left Richland Center around 5:00 pm and headed back to Boscobel. We stopped and picked up pizza to take over to Burl & Dorothy’s for supper and to watch the Packers play. It was good to see the Packers win.

We went to church with Burl & Dorothy this morning. After the service they came by to pick us up and they took us to Prairie du Chien for dinner.

We drove down to the park along the Mississippi River. We watched the boats and birds in the water. It was very peaceful there.

Dorothy wanted to take us up on the ridge in Gays Mills to the apple orchard. They are famous for the apple donuts as well as apples. We purchased cheese spread, jams and apples. Dorothy bought the donuts and we all got coffee or cider to go with the donuts and headed outside to the picnic tables to pig out! GOOD.

My wild animal card for today contains 8 elk and turkeys with a bunch of little ones.

We got back into Boscobel about 4:30pm. Gay sat down to catch up on his stock car races and I picked up my book to read a bit.

We were on the road by 9:00 am. We were going to leave earlier but it was pretty fogey. We arrived in Boscobel at the Dream Catcher RV Park around 2:00 pm. After we got set up we made a trip across town to see my Aunt and Uncle. At 6:00 pm we went downtown to have Chinese for supper.

We were ready to pull out of the service area at Smith Center by 9am.

It rained off & on all day. My wild game card only had 1 deer on it today!

We phoned a Navy buddy of Gay’s as soon as we pulled into Lincoln, Ne. We were lucky enough to catch him at home. He met us at the 27th Street exit Wal-Mart and we visited for an hour or so.

We hadn’t seen Mac for years. The guys had a great time hashing over old times. We called another Navy buddy in Ohio and the all enjoyed catching up on everything.

We pushed on to Kellogg, Iowa on Hwy I-80 and pulled into a campground for the night. It was 7apm and we traveled 420 miles. It was a long day.

The guys here at the Customer Service Center went right to work on our 5th wheel at 6:30 am. By 8:00 am they had the panel under the bedroom removed and the front cap pulled out. We couldn’t find any thing that may have caused what I thought was a problem. They did do some more reinforcing of the frame around the pin box. Then they installed the new awning. They had us ready to leave at 3:30 pm. We decided to spend the night here to give the caulking a chance to cure before we hit the road. Once again the Service Center did an excellent job. It makes a person feel good that we are a part of the Excel family.

Gay talked to Jack at the Excel factory regarding our 5th wheel. We can get it in to have them look at the hitch again on Thursday. We feel we have more problems with that.

We packed up and headed out of the campground around 10am. Our first stop was in Chadron, Nebraska for lunch around noon.

We traveled on the interstate in order to put as many miles behind us as possible. It was going to be a long day. My wild animal card had lots of entries today. We saw 54 deer grazing in the fields along the interstate. We also saw 6 or 7 turkeys. I didn’t think we would see any wildlife today.

We had a beautiful sunset tonight. Those are the only pictures we took today.

We arrived in Smith Center, KS at 9pm. We got set up and it will be an early morning. We will have to be out of the 5th wheel by 6:30am so they can begin working on it.

For pictures of the day see album: Black Hills to Smith Center 9-3-08

We met Greg & Jeanene at the camp office and were able to get some papers notarized at their cooperate office there. We needed to get that done before we left South Dakota. It all worked out well.
We headed north to Deadwood. We drove down through the main streets and headed just outside of town to the Kevin Costner Educational Center Tatanka. It depicts the relationship between the bison and Native Americans through interactive exhibits.

30 million bison once roamed the Great Plains of North America. By the close of the 19th century it is estimated that fewer than 1,000 of these animals survived.

The centerpiece of Tatanka is the larger-than-life bronze sculpture of 14 bison being pursued by three Lakota riders on horseback. It is a beautifully done exhibit. Well worth the visit.

We took the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway after leaving Deadwood. It was a pretty, winding road with high rock walls. We stopped at Roughlock Falls in Savory. We walked their pathways down to the overlook on the falls.

On down the road we went on up the dirt road that took us to the overlook tower at Terry Peack. It was a great day, we could see for miles up there.

My wild card today consisted of turkeys, deer and a coyote. That makes for a pretty good card!

We went back to Rockerville for supper tonight. Their Tuesday night special was hog wings. We got a variety plate so we could taste all the different kinds—honey barbeque, teriyaki, hot and medium. Everyone tried them all except for me. I just had honey barbeque. They were the BEST.

For pictures of the day see album: Black Hills 9-2-08

Greg & Jeanene picked us up at 8:15am. We headed for Sylvan Lake and hiked the trail all around the lake. It is so quiet and peaceful there. Not too hot, not too cold, just a perfect day for hiking.

We drove through Custer State Park. It is the second-largest state park in the United States. We visited the rock formation called the Needles. The rock has an eye in it like a needle. There are also 2 one way tunnels through the rocks. You have to blow your horn to announce you’re going through.

We took the wildlife loop road that winds through the buffalo range. Nearly 1,600 buffalo, one of the largest herds anywhere, roam free in the foothills of this 71,000 acre park. The buffalo herd is an impressive sight. The bulls can weigh up to 1,000 lbs. We came across 3 different herds. One buffalo was lying right in the road. We just drove on around him. There were plenty of babies in the herd. They all grazed right along the road.

We also saw some whitetail deer and lots and lots of pronghorn antelope.

The fields were full of prairie dog homes. They were racing around like crazy from one hole to another.

We exited the park at the south end and entered into Wind Cave National Park. There at Rankin Ridge we hiked up to the fire lookout at the top of the ridge. After all that we were starting to get hungry so we found a picnic area and set about making our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It was nice just to sit and relax.

We wandered back into Custer State Park and once again took the wildlife loop road. There were more buffalo, antelope, deer and this time we found the wild burros. They were right there on the road begging for food. While one of them blocked traffic, his buddies would go car to car looking for a handout. There were lots of little ones in this herd. Their coloring sure was different.

We would our way back to the 5th wheel and I fixed hamburgers and grilling beans for us all. Everyone was real tired from all our travels today.

For pictures of the day see album: Black Hills 9-1-08

We moved sort of slow this morning. We are both tired. We were ready by 10am to go to the Picnic pavilion here in the park to hear Gospel singer Keenie Word. She put on a nice show.

Greg & Jeanene Peterson called about 11am and they had stopped for groceries and would be arriving soon. They are staying at a cabin here in the park. We visited with them all afternoon and then decided to go out to eat at Rockerville. It was a neat place, with displays of old cars. The food was great.

We had decided to go over to Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills. Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski , began blasting the mountain to create the Crazy Horse Monument in 1948. He worked on it until he died and then his children took over the project. It has a long way to go before completion. It is the world’s largest carving in progress. They have a beautiful museum there with thousands of rare artifacts and beautiful works of art. We stayed the laser-light show on the mountain surrounding the Crazy Horse carving. It was really neat.

We drove back around by Mt. Rushmore and we got to see the faces all lit up. We have been there 3 or 4 different times throughout the years.

Greg and Jeanene dropped us off at the 5th wheel. Time to call it a night.

For pictures of the day see album: Crazy Horse 8-31-08