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| Up North Brewing, East Grand Forks, MN |
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| A local pub and restaurant in Grand Forks |
Saturday, May 27, 2017
May 1st - Craft hunting
Besides attending our favorite places for craft in Grand Forks, we had to check out a new place in East Grand Forks, MN called Up North. Nice place with a good selection. We'll see how they do. The craft scene in North Dakota a few years behind the rest of the country. There's also a new place opening up in downtown Grand Forks .
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
End of April - 20th to 30th
We got home and opening the house. It's like opening a package when you don't know who sent it. We have to check for running mice, broken pipes, and whatever damage might have happened from the winter without heat.
Did not see mice running around. there was evidence, but not too much. When I got the water on, the only new leak was at a fitting on the cold water feed to the washer. I'll need to tighten that up. I had installed a valve during a previous repair, so I can shut off that flow in between washes. The dishwasher started to fill with water when the water was turned on. It shouldn't do that. It must be a bad solenoid. Toilets are both okay and all in all good news. There weren't even any ew problems under the porch with the yard faucets.
The heater wasn't working quite right. We had to call out the heat/air guys. They had to replace the old gas burner set a the breakers for the electric.
Lawn mower started, motorcycle started, and my weed whacker started. Haven't tried the chainsaw yet. I'll look at the dishwasher and I'll need to order that motor for the dryer.
We started back to work as well. She at her home hospital and me back at Bee's.
Home, Sweet, Home
Did not see mice running around. there was evidence, but not too much. When I got the water on, the only new leak was at a fitting on the cold water feed to the washer. I'll need to tighten that up. I had installed a valve during a previous repair, so I can shut off that flow in between washes. The dishwasher started to fill with water when the water was turned on. It shouldn't do that. It must be a bad solenoid. Toilets are both okay and all in all good news. There weren't even any ew problems under the porch with the yard faucets.
The heater wasn't working quite right. We had to call out the heat/air guys. They had to replace the old gas burner set a the breakers for the electric.
Lawn mower started, motorcycle started, and my weed whacker started. Haven't tried the chainsaw yet. I'll look at the dishwasher and I'll need to order that motor for the dryer.
We started back to work as well. She at her home hospital and me back at Bee's.
Home, Sweet, Home
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| ND sunset |
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| Welcome home. "Oh, you thought the snow was over?" |
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| Gypsy meets snow |
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| Lilacs are waking up. |
Sunday, May 21, 2017
April 12th to 14th - The Voyage Home.
One final California desert sunset, load the truck, hook up the camper and "outta there". We dropped the fifth-wheel off at a friend's ranch down in Campo. Put a few final items into the truck, tarped it down, and hit the road. Making good time considering we weren't dragging the Bighorn with us. Trying to get home without incident and quickly. We bought a small cylindrical, carpeted "house" for Gypsy. She became accustomed to it sitting on the console between us and spent most of the ride home there.
Zipped through California and stopped just over the Nevada border at Primm. Passing Las Vegas, we noticed how the town, outside of the casino areas, is starting to grow. There is a large area opening up of warehouses, and industrial parks. Amazon has a huge center there. When we got through Nevada, she was sleeping as we went through Arizona's Virgin River gorge and into Utah.
We stopped for a bite at Scipio, UT. The town is under 300 people and is located just east of the highway. They have incorporated a square couple of miles around I-15 as well as another small square that covers a truck stop, DQ, and a petting zoo full of bored lamas and turkeys. There is a geocache here which we've found before, but I got out and took a few tourist pics there.
We decided to spend some time in Salt Lake City to check out the craft beer scene. The laws are different in Utah than anywhere else. Establishments can not sell any beer out of a tap with a greater than 4% ABV. They can pour higher ABVs from bottles. We stopped at Epic Brewing first. They have a small taproom with only 8 chairs. There are a lot of restrictions on liquor licenses there. They couldn't get a bar license, and had to settle for a food license. This meant that anyone there to drink has to first buy food. We had grilled cheeses. They are pretty new, but their beers show promise. The next place we went to was Squatter's Pub. Located in an historic downtown building, The Salt Lake Brewing Company purchased the building in 1988 and opened the pub in 1989. The place is large and airy. It was very busy and had some interesting brews.
Leaving Utah, we moved on north into Idaho. We had to stop in Idaho Falls where we had been forced by the truck to spend days there. We went to Idaho Brewing as a reminder and a celebration that the truck was still running well.
Montana. When we first left California over two decades ago, we were headed to North Dakota for a better life. We had it planned that if we didn't like it, we would go on to New England. When we hit Montana, the beauty and the people made us put Montana on that list. As we left Idaho and started into Montana, we were beset with a rain storm that turned into a snowstorm as we drove through the night. The next morning, we stopped for breakfast in this little lodge up in the mountains in the middle of nowhere. A quaint local diner full of down-home atmosphere. We had definitely left the big city. The locals were talking about how unexpected last night's 3 inches of snow was. We felt we would get to Bozeman close to noon. We stopped in Butte, "The Richest Hill on Earth" for fuel, and continued on. We used Bozeman for a lunch and craft break. We went to Bozone near downtown. Nice little place where a couple of locals told us all about the Montana brew scene. In a corner were some antique chair sets from an old school or theater. They serve flights on a small ski. We finished up at 406 Brewing. There are a number of old granary's, and flour and baking mills. Many are being repurposed into strip malls. 406 was located in one of these. They had some great tastes and we really enjoyed it there.
Cruised into North Dakota in the evening and stopped in Moorhead, MN at Eliza's for a couple of days. It was Easter. Spring. Family. yes, cold and had some flakes. but we were home and would be opening the house up in a couple of days.
Zipped through California and stopped just over the Nevada border at Primm. Passing Las Vegas, we noticed how the town, outside of the casino areas, is starting to grow. There is a large area opening up of warehouses, and industrial parks. Amazon has a huge center there. When we got through Nevada, she was sleeping as we went through Arizona's Virgin River gorge and into Utah.
We stopped for a bite at Scipio, UT. The town is under 300 people and is located just east of the highway. They have incorporated a square couple of miles around I-15 as well as another small square that covers a truck stop, DQ, and a petting zoo full of bored lamas and turkeys. There is a geocache here which we've found before, but I got out and took a few tourist pics there.
We decided to spend some time in Salt Lake City to check out the craft beer scene. The laws are different in Utah than anywhere else. Establishments can not sell any beer out of a tap with a greater than 4% ABV. They can pour higher ABVs from bottles. We stopped at Epic Brewing first. They have a small taproom with only 8 chairs. There are a lot of restrictions on liquor licenses there. They couldn't get a bar license, and had to settle for a food license. This meant that anyone there to drink has to first buy food. We had grilled cheeses. They are pretty new, but their beers show promise. The next place we went to was Squatter's Pub. Located in an historic downtown building, The Salt Lake Brewing Company purchased the building in 1988 and opened the pub in 1989. The place is large and airy. It was very busy and had some interesting brews.
Leaving Utah, we moved on north into Idaho. We had to stop in Idaho Falls where we had been forced by the truck to spend days there. We went to Idaho Brewing as a reminder and a celebration that the truck was still running well.
Montana. When we first left California over two decades ago, we were headed to North Dakota for a better life. We had it planned that if we didn't like it, we would go on to New England. When we hit Montana, the beauty and the people made us put Montana on that list. As we left Idaho and started into Montana, we were beset with a rain storm that turned into a snowstorm as we drove through the night. The next morning, we stopped for breakfast in this little lodge up in the mountains in the middle of nowhere. A quaint local diner full of down-home atmosphere. We had definitely left the big city. The locals were talking about how unexpected last night's 3 inches of snow was. We felt we would get to Bozeman close to noon. We stopped in Butte, "The Richest Hill on Earth" for fuel, and continued on. We used Bozeman for a lunch and craft break. We went to Bozone near downtown. Nice little place where a couple of locals told us all about the Montana brew scene. In a corner were some antique chair sets from an old school or theater. They serve flights on a small ski. We finished up at 406 Brewing. There are a number of old granary's, and flour and baking mills. Many are being repurposed into strip malls. 406 was located in one of these. They had some great tastes and we really enjoyed it there.
Cruised into North Dakota in the evening and stopped in Moorhead, MN at Eliza's for a couple of days. It was Easter. Spring. Family. yes, cold and had some flakes. but we were home and would be opening the house up in a couple of days.
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| A final sunset at Rio Bend RV Resort |
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| Got the trailer and the cat. Time to leave. |
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| Travelers, soon to be weary. |
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| Truck stop at Scipio, UT |
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| Epic Brewing. Salt Lake City |
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| Squatter's Pub |
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| Comfy in her home |
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| Snow |
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| morning clouds oozing over the mountain tops |
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| Butte, MT. An old silver mining town. |
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| Bozone in Bozeman |
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| Metal straps under the chairs provide a place for your hat. |
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| Flight |
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| 406 |
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| I love this chain footrest |
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| it was 4:06 at 406 |
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| Painted electrical box downtown. |
Thursday, May 18, 2017
April 3rd - An afternoon in La Jolla
With just about a week left in SoCal, we ventured to La Jolla to scope out the cliffs and a nice park area where our daughter is planning on getting married. On the north end of the beach is the La Jolla Cove area and Seal Beach. There were a lot of seals and sea lions lying on the sand. People were down with them in some areas taking pictures and such. The main part of the beach was covered by many, many sea lions and sea gulls.
After being there for a while, we checked out the one craft brewer there, and, unimpressed, ran down to Ocean Beach hoping for a sunset.
After being there for a while, we checked out the one craft brewer there, and, unimpressed, ran down to Ocean Beach hoping for a sunset.
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| South end of the cove area |
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| Local lady watching the seals |
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| Seal Beach |
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| La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art |
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| Ocean Beach |
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