January 1st 2017 - Rio Bend

We've settled in here in the valley.  Quiet farm community. 

Our camper is placed in an RV and Golf resort park.  I walked around and took a few pictures.  We have a flock of geese that wander around the small lake and seem to have rounds they do, as they are always in the same places at certain times.  There are lots of activities going on here in the park, and all the things you'd need for comfortable living.  Full Hookups, cable TV, Wi-Fi, A nice clean laundry and a gym. 

This is probably one of the nicest places we've been.  The spaces are wide and roomy, and especially ours as we are in a corner lot and have even more than the rest.  Now we just have to get plugged into the local activities more.  Shuffleboard, anyone?

Farming out here is different than what I've seen.  There are actually crops like cabbage growing right now.  The plots of land are turned and leveled,  Then they lay out irrigation channels.  The crop is planted between the rows and sections of pipe with sprinklers on the end are layed out.  These pipes all connect to a pump system that pulls water from a encircling ditch that is fed from the local canals.  It's just different.

Park entrance.  The roads in this county are horrible.

Our big corner lot.

This part of the park road is apparently owned by these noisy geese

Great sunset one evening at the outdoor bar.

Basic style motif here is antique buckboards and cactus.

Beautiful course

Farming is the desert is a completely different approach than in the northern plains, for sure.

September 9th through the 11th. Remembering North Dakota's fallen in the GWOT

The North Dakota National Guard branch of the Army Survivor's Outreach Services hosted a remembrance retreat for the families of our fallen. 

We came together at a local hotel in Bismarck on Friday.  We had a dinner and meet and greet followed by a touching ceremony of placing memory globes on a tree for each of the fallen.

On Saturday the day there was a program with Adjutant General Major General Alan Dohrman, Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army Connie Sprynczynatyk, and Major General (ret) Mark and Carol Graham.  The Grahams lost two sons within months of each other.  One to suicide and one in combat.  They had a very moving story of love, loss, and finding purpose through struggles.

Later on, we all borded busses and rode up to the Circle C ranch. The Ranch is used for many faith centered events.

http://www.circle-c-ranch.org/#circle-c-ranch

 There was a live duo performing and food as well as a lot of nice historic building and general good company.  After returning to the hotel, they had a fire pit in the courtyard of the hotel and did s'mores.

On Sunday we had breakfast and a reverse roll call to pull back the globes to the families.   Then out to the ND National Guard's Fraine Barracks.

http://www.ndguard.ngb.army.mil/history/frainebarrackshistory/Pages/default.aspx

There, we had our annual GWOT (Global War n Terrorism) remembrance ceremony and we added the names of two servicemen who died. One on the USS Cole and one at the Fort Hood shooting.

http://www.ndguard.ngb.army.mil/news/Pages/FamiliesoftheFallentobeHonoredatGWOTMemorial.aspx

As always, the wonderful people of the North Dakota Patriot Guard were there to cover, escort, and love us.

Thanks to Gen. and Connie Sprynczynatyk, Major Gen. Dohrman, Major Gen. and Carol Graham, NDNG Foundation, Sara Blazek, LTC Davina French, and the Patriot Guard Riders.

The Chapel

Fraine Barraks

The GWOT memorial

December 10th - A random Geocache attempt reveals a local artist's work

I have been accused and probably not unjustly of having am obsession with Geocaching. The big surprise here, is that this post is not about Geocaching.  This is about something we found pursuing a Geocache. It goes like this.

We had made a visit to our farmstead in Petersburg and were going to Eliza's in Fargo to stay until Laurie and possibly myself were going to head for California.  If I'm not driving on a particular part of a trip, I'll often look at my Geocache app just to see what is around us.  I noticed there was one a ways north of highway 2. It was interesting because the highway bends south and there is a small road that continues straight from there which led to a cache.

The cache was a small container put behind a street sign, but the description of where to find it was between a water pump house and an iron welding sculpture.  We decided to go find it despite the day being snowy and windy.

On our way, cruising down gravel and sometimes dirt roads, we came across a farm based seedling company.  Out front, all along the road and the surrounding area were these sculptures.  Apparently the work of the same local man who had a small one by the cache.  We got out and took some pictures.  We did find the cache, but the real find was the artwork of this local man.

I think you'll enjoy the pictures.

The propellers on the tail spin in the wind

Weather vane. This was around 6 or 7 feet long.

I think he was saying something about America defeating Germany and Japan.  It's too bad the flag is tattered.

Dinosaur

Snake 7 ft tall

November - 14th - The Road home.- Amish Acres, Nappanee, Indiana

Packed up and headed out very early amidst darkness, fog, and drizzle. There was really no where to stop all the way through Pennsylvania and Ohio.  Made a couple of quick stops for geocaches so we could say we did in those states.  We took the turnpike through Ohio, so our finds were in the service islands on the way.  That was our first night time find.  On we went until we reached Indiana.  Did you know that more RVs are manufactured in Indiana than anywhere else?  Fun fact.

Faced with decent weather, we started to enjoy the drive.  The fun thing about the geocaching, is that it breaks up the monotony of the trip.  Sure, there is a lot of great scenery, and the occasional special stop of some location you didn't know you were going to pass, But even stopping for gas, you can get in a quick find and just have a little extra fun.

It wasn't a big deal doing the turnpike through Ohio, because we spent a lot of time there on the way out with our Sandusky adventure. also it was night for a lot of it.  Into Indiana, we were cruising down a highway and saw a sign for a place called Amish Acres.  So, we took a detour that because of how the roads run, wasn't that far out of the way.

We found the place, and saw there were a couple of caches not actually on the property, but right there. We searched around and found one.  Then we proceeded to the welcome center for information and tickets to the various tours and such.  We purchased a package that included a guided wagon ride tour, dinner, and a couple of other tours.  The Amish lifestyle is fascinating both in it's embrace of history and it's devotion to strict practices despite modern life.  Overall, it was a lot of antique equipment and such, but we had a great time.

At the end of the day, we were driving on.  Our route from a smaller state highway towards an Interstate, caused us to go through a small town to change highways.  We passed a small park abut the size of a 7-11 parking lot.  A town clock which I always try to capture and a couple of memorials.  While I was taking pictures, Laurie got curious and checked the area for geocaches.  There was one right there in that tiny park. On the back of a plaque I had just photographed.  funny.

Amish Acres is a tourist attraction in Nappanee, Indiana, created from an 80-acre Old Order Amish farm. The farm was purchased in October 1968 at auction from the Manasses Kuhns’ estate. The farm was homesteaded by Moses Stahly in 1873. Wikipedia.  The classic Indiana round barn is their symbol. This one is actually a theater where they perform plays.

This area is big into apple growing.  Each business in the nearby town has one of these apples painted differently.  There are Peacocks here.

Old apple juice canning equipment

Love this old scale

Our driver and tour guides

Birds. lol.

Old school. K thru 4 on one side, 5 thru 8 on the other. Amish schooling stops at grade eight.

On the tour

Horse powered apple press

Honey box. stove inside keeps bees warm during winter.

Shaving station. The Amish don't wear moustaches or buttons because the soldiers of the country they rejected had them as styles.

Butter rocker.  rocked back and forth rather than churned.

Such workmanship

A WOODEN combine

Friends

Butterfly garden here.  A magnetic key holder on the back.