DO YOU KNOW HOW WIDE SOUTH DAKOTA IS?

We headed west from Mitchell across I-90.  The terrain in eastern South Dakota was mostly farmland with rich dark soil.  Corn, hay, or cattle are the primary farming industries.  Once we crossed the Missouri River, picture below, the topography changed. 

We were now traveling across some rolling hills with a few buttes and mesas; now it looked like we were in a scene from a western movie.  We traveled through the Badlands and into the shadows of the Black Hills.

We had seen 8 billboards for the Firehouse Brewing Company, located in the City of Presidents, Rapid City, South Dakota.  Many of the billboards had an antique fire engine at the base of the billboard, all parked along I-90.  The fire engines looked out of place sitting on the western ranch land. Yes, it caught our attention and, being fans of good food and a cold microbrew, we decided to try it out for dinner.  

The brew pub is in the town's original fire station and had many fire house antiques displayed inside the restaurant.  Here are some of our favorites.

Most of the downtown street corners had statues of various presidents.  The City of Presidents is Rapid City, South Dakota; due to its proximity to Mount Rushmore.

On Tuesday, we will play tourist and explore South Dakota's Black Hills.  The Black Hills are the highest point east of the Rockies and contain 18 peaks that exceed 7,000 feet in elevation.     

WINNEBAGO TOUR AND TRAVEL INTO SOUTH DAKOTA

We drove west across Iowa and then north to Forest City, where our Winnebago RV was built over 5 years ago. On Friday morning we toured the Winnebago Factory.  In the Visitors Center museum, we went into one of the first travel trailers built by Winnebago and a "Brave" model motorhome built in 1975. It is difficult to imagine spending a weekend in in either model, let alone a vacation lasting a week or more. Barely enough room to turn around, beds that were no more than thin foam mattresses, refrigerators about the size of today's dorm room model and no TV's.  The slides that allow us to expand our living space today were not even on the drawing board then.

The tour included a stop at "Stitchcraft" where all the cloth goods are cut and sewn and several different stops along parts of the assembly line. Winnebago makes over 80% of all the components in their motorhomes necessitating sewing fabric for chairs, sofas, bedspreads, pillows, etc. They also custom cut the carpeting for each RV model. Cameras were not permitted so we can't show you any of these processes.  We also stopped at several assembly lines and were impressed when we watched the precision of the worker team as a floor "dropped" into place on a motorhome chassis.

Iowa, the pork place, so we thought we could not do wrong there.  Before leaving Forest City, we bought some Iowa pork chops at a local market which we later enjoyed for a delicious dinner. 

Next stop was Mitchell, South Dakota, which is about 80 miles west of the Minnesota border. Mitchell is well-known for the world's only Corn Palace, which we toured the following morning. 

The building is famous for the huge, colorful murals on its exterior walls which are redesigned every year. Twelve shades of colored corn are planted in a separate field to maintain color purity, and the very best ears are hand-picked by a local grower for use on the Corn Palace. Once the corn crop is ready, roughly 275,000 ears of corn are sawed in half lengthwise and nailed to the building following patterns created by local artists. Earlier in the summer, 3000 bushels of rye, oat heads and sour dock (an herb from the buckwheat family) are tied in bundles and attached to the sides of the Corn Palace. The edges (what looks like shingles) in the third photo below are framed in one of these substances other than corn.  

 The Corn Palace is used for concerts, banquets, sporting events and more. USA Today named the Corn Palace as one of the Top 10 places to play high school basketball games and called it the "Boston Garden" of the Midwest. 

Trivia fact: Florida Gator basketball fans may remember Mike Miller who was one of Billy Donovan's early recruits to UF. Miller was from Mitchell and played his high school basketball in the Corn Palace. 

 Yes, the walls inside the building are decorated with colorful corn as well. The one side of the basketball court contains a stage with all the seating on the opposite side of the court, from where the above photo was taken.

We concluded our visit to Mitchell by visiting Cabela's, one of the largest outdoor gear stores in the country. Their wildlife exhibit gave us a preview of what to expect when we get to Grand Teton National Park.

BASEBALL ON THE MISSISSIPPI

We traveled over 8 hours (a long time for RVing considering we are limited to 60 mph towing a car) through western Indiana, around the lower side of Chicago, and across Illinois to Davenport, Iowa. Driving past Chicago was the most difficult drive we have experienced, as we were in heavy city traffic for several hours driving past miles of buildings with bars on the windows or windows covered by plywood. 

Once we got to the interstate we thought we were home free. Not so! On several instances the traffic was reduced to a single lane because of road construction. Add to the single lane the concrete barriers along both sides of the lane, making it more difficult for an RV to travel safely.  

We were greeted by this signage at the entrance to the campground. Fact of the day--Iowa ranks first in the U.S. in the production of corn and pork. So their campground symbols were very appropriate, if a bit strange.

The weather forecast was for a 50% chance of rain. But luck was with us again, and the light rain that was falling stopped just after we set-up the RV. So we headed to Modern Woodland Park, home of the St. Louis Cardinals Mid-West League team.

 

Paul got camera friendly with "Rascal", the team mascot, before the game.

The Centennial Bridge gives the stadium a nice backdrop as dusk falls along the Mississippi River that you can see beyond the rightfield wall.    

It was a great night for baseball with temperatures in the low 70's, the best food selection with fresh grilled (on charcoal) hamburgers with all the trimmings and reasonably priced micro-brews ($6.50) for a 24-ounce souvenir cup. We also thought the team logo is classy.

T

The Quad Cities River Bandits are named for the five cities of Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline, East Moline, and Rock Island. Don't ask us how to explain five cities being labeled "quad".

FAMILY TIME IN FORT WAYNE

We started our Fort Wayne family time with a visit to Coney Island, a hot dog shop in the downtown.  They serve well over 1000 hot dogs daily, all cooked on a grill in the storefront window and served plain or with any of the trimmings you can imagine, including "Coney style" which is raw chopped onion, mustard and Coney sauce. Cousin Jeff's sons, Todd (11) and Sam (14), ate 3 and 4 hot dogs respectfully.

 

Next stop was to Parkland Field, home of the Fort Wayne TinCaps of the Mid-West League. The TinCaps are the San Diego Padres class A team and have been in existence for 3 seasons. The downtown area is beyond the centerfield wall.

The ballpark includes bleacher seats on top of some stores beyond the rightfield wall, similar to Wrigley Field in Chicago. The video scoreboard is on the warehouse wall. Notice the party area just above the rightfield wall. It was "Thirsty Thursday" so domestic draft beers were $1 and specialty beers like the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (our beverage of choice) were $2

The mascot is "Johnny", named after Johnny Appleseed, who lived in Ft. Wayne and is buried there. Notice the tin pot that serves as Johnny's cap, and the team logo is the tin cap on top of an apple.

The TinCaps defeated the Lansing (Michigan) Lugnuts by a 10-4 score, highlighted by a 7-run sixth inning. Attendance was in the low 4000 range which, for a school night, is good. 

The campground we stayed in is part of Johnny Appleseed Park and is owned and run by the city of Ft. Wayne; complete with electric and water hookups and very clean restrooms all for less than $20 a night, the least expensive campsite we would find along our journey. 

We also toured the Ft. Wayne Children's zoo with Wendy, Amelia and John.

Here, John and Wendy are getting a close-up view of a seal swimming in a large tank. Maybe they should rename this attraction Sea World FW?

There were a lot of peacocks that were very noisy squawks you could hear all over the park. We can't replicate the sound but look at the pretty colors.

After the zoo, Wendy and the children headed to the airport and we headed to northern Indiana for the evening.

 

INDIANAPOLIS MINI-MARATHON

The primary purpose of the trip to Indiana was to see our daughter, Wendy, and three of her cousins run in the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon. We met Wendy and our grandchildren, Amelia and John at Shapiro's Delicatessen, a legendary Indianapolis lunch spot as our meeting point. Shapiro's is a mid-west version of a New York delicatessen with huge portions and seating for over 200 in the shadows of Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts. Ann's brother, Lyn, his wife Penny, and their son Jon also joined our family lunch at the deli to initiate the mini-marathon weekend.

The remainder of the cousins, Kim and her husband Dave, along with Kelly, Kim's sister, arrived in time for a pasta loading dinner.  For anyone who runs distance races, you know this is a ritual the evening before a big race. The only difference was those of us who were there as spectators took advantage of the Embassy Suites Happy Hour prior to dinner to socialize while the runners enjoyed bottled water.

The start of the race was the next day at 7:30 a.m. The course was from downtown Indianapolis to the Indianapolis Speedway, around the 2.5 mile oval track, and back to downtown. Jon and Wendy ran together during the entire race, talking along the route while enjoying the various bands, belly dancers, high school cheerleaders, cloggers, etc. who were stationed along the route to cheer them on. Here is a photo taken just after Jon (gray shirt/black shorts) and Wendy (pink shorts/black sleeveless shirt) crossed the finish line.

All four cousins posed for this photo (L to R: Kim, Kelly, Jon, Wendy) as the raindrops began to fall. Notice the huge medals around their necks with the "checkered flags" ribbon. A closer look and you can see Kim's baby bump.  Congrats to anyone who is 5 months pregnant and runs a mini-marathon - hats off to you, Kim!

After the participants traded race stories, Jon suggested we all go to the beer tent for a family toast. Here are two toasting pictures. First, Wendy and Paul, followed by Penny, Jon and Lyn. 

 

After a nice lunch together, it was time to say goodbye to Jon. The rest of the family headed to Ft. Wayne for more family visiting over the weekend.

               

WET WEATHER IN THE MIDWEST

We began our journey north to Louisville with overcast skies. By the time we were halfway through Kentucky, there was a mist falling. As we crossed the river into Indiana in heavy traffic, the GPS was telling us to get off at exit 1, so we were in the far right-hand lane under the "Exit Only" sign. As we got closer, we could read "Exit 0".  Thanks, Indiana, for not starting your exit numbers with 1.  It was too late to get back onto the highway, so we were forced to exit.  The GPS "recalculated" and we followed the GPS instructions. We were now on a lightly traveled 2-lane road.  All of a sudden we were less than 100 yards from a railroad overpass with a "LOW CLEARANCE--10 FT" warning sign painted on it. That was an immediate "Oh S#@T moment" to say the least, since the RV needs a clearance of about 12 feet. We cannot go backwards with the car attached.  So we had to stop and quickly uncouple the car with traffic flowing around us from both directions. The 3-point turn of a 34 foot RV with a limited turning radius took 3 back-ups!  After calling the campground for directions, we arrived safely and set-up the RV as the rain got heavier.

That evening we enjoyed a nice dinner and visit with Jim and Linda Watkins, two friends who we have known since the 1980's from Paul's time as an athletic director.

It rained over 1 1/2 inches overnight and into Tuesday morning. We were planning to go to the Louisville Bats (Reds AAA team) game against the Norfolk Tides later that morning. As the rain continued to fall from the sky, we checked the Bat's web site. We found the starting line-ups were posted so we got in the car and drove across the river to Louisville Slugger Field for some morning baseball. 

As we entered the stadium, the ground crew was removing the infield tarp and the game began around 11:15 a.m. with the temperature at 49 degrees. Yes, it is 49 degrees and we are watching baseball - what is wrong with this picture?

Cold!!!  Not a banner day for baseball, but we stay until the sun finally comes out a few hours later, and we finally register a temperature of a balmy 55 degrees!

 

Buddy Bat, the Bat's mascot, does not seem to be bothered by the chilly temperatures, but we were for the first few hours.

Dontrelle Willis, former Florida Marlins World Series star, was the starting pitcher for the Bats. He had 10 strikeouts in 6 innings while giving up 4 runs but got the loss as the Bats struggled at the plate only getting 1 run.

Bat games on Tuesdays are $1 hot dogs and Pepsi drinks. We enjoyed the $1 dogs but substituted an ice cold Rolling Rock draft beer as our beverage of choice.   

Because the game was rained out on Monday night, the teams played a doubleheader. 
Ann promised to stay for part of the second game if her numb fingers thawed by the second inning, which we did.  After the third inning, Paul was selected to participate in one of the between-inning contests and won a jacket from Belterra Casino along with a Louisville Bats cap. Paul is modeling his new wardrobe below.

On Wednesday we drove up I-65 towards central Indiana and camped just north of Indianapolis. Paul had dinner with John Gillis from the National Federation Staff with whom he worked closely as part of the committee to publish the Officials Quarterly Magazine, a national magazine for sports officials. 

A BUSY SPRING BEFORE WE LEAVE FOR WYOMING

In January, Ann and I decided we would like to travel back to Wyoming to work in Grand Teton National Park again in the summer of 2011. We applied for campground positions and were accepted to work as campground hosts at the Colter Bay RV Park located at the north end of Grand Teton National Park.

In February we received a phone call offering us jobs in the Baltimore Orioles Spring Training Ticket Office in Sarasota, Florida. Ann was in Bristol, Tennessee visiting with her sister, Kathy, who just had a knee replacement. FOUR DAYS NOTICE TO PACK AND LEAVE FOR A MONTH – YIKES! But with another opportunity to work at a fun job, especially in an industry that Paul loves, we could not turn down the offer. Ann flew home and we packed the RV for the trip to Sarasota.  

We reported to work on Friday, February 25, five days before the first game. Opening day came and the interesting stories began. Ann was in the ticket office by the left field parking lot so she got to see Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon walk into the stadium for the first game against the Tampa Bay Rays. A few games later, Paul was at the home plate ticket office near where the visiting team buses unload. Derek Jeter was the 2nd person off the Yankees bus but Arod was nowhere to be found. It turns out Arod rode to the game with Cameron Diaz, who caused quite a stir sitting out among the crowd with her bodyguard for a few innings. Needless to say, security was tight around the section where she was seated.

Dealing with the customers was sometimes funny and often challenging. People would ask for seats in the shade and then complain because they weren't sitting in the box seats next to the dugout. Scalpers constantly came up the ticket windows wanting to know what good seats were available. The Orioles want a family friendly environment so we did all we could to not sell to sleazy scalpers who would then double or triple the price of the ticket to sell to a desperate fan.        

Prior to the last game, The Bird (official name of the Oriole mascot) came near our ticket booth.  Ann thought it was a good photo opportunity.

Five weeks later after 9 standing room only crowds out of the 16 spring training games, we have countless fond memories of working with some great people in a great atmosphere.

April was filled with family time. We spent a week at Disney World with our daughter Laura, husband John and their two sons. 3 year old grandson Jack loves the water and spent hours going down water slides at the Contemporary Resort pool.

His brother, Henry, our youngest grandson, 7 months old, is resting with his friend Pooh on a lazy morning during our Disney stay.

Next, Ann flew to Dallas to take care of our oldest two grandchildren, Amelia and John, while daughter Wendy and her husband, Scott, went to Italy for 8 days where Wendy spoke at a conference in Rome. John and Amelia are pictured below at the Dallas Arboretum, having an outing with Grandma.

Ann returned from Dallas after Easter, and this time she had THREE WHOLE DAYS to complete her preparations to leave for Wyoming for 5 months – Paul owes her for that accomplishment

We left Florida on Friday morning, April 29. The drive had some interesting twists with blinkers that did not work consistently and a refrigerator that did not want to stay on – but we managed to get to Forsyth, GA, south of Atlanta, as planned. GAS STICKER SHOCK - Our first gas stop, where we put over $200 worth of gas in the tank. We were below a 1/4 tank (the tank holds 75 gallons) so this was not unexpected but still was hard to accept.

Day #2 was a short drive of about 120 miles to north of Atlanta where we spent the afternoon and evening with Jack Watford, a former colleague of Paul. 

It would not be Paul planned road trip without a baseball game. So we headed to a Gwinnett Braves (Atlanta Braves AAA team) game at nearby Coolray Field. It was an ideal night for baseball with the temps in the 70's. 

The lawn area was full of young families with children running all around and playing on the various children's inflatables.

 

The Braves were playing the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. The big hit with most of the fans was Chopper, the Braves mascot. During the game the promotions staff did a segment with young fans and Chopper on the video board. Several 10-12 year old boys with Yankee shirts became obnoxious showing off their Yankee logos on their shirts. Chopper's handler dumped a bucket of water over the one boy to "cool him off" and the crowd roared.

On Sunday, we headed northwest to Nashville to visit another former colleague, Robert Hernberger, and his wife Robyn. We had a wonderful visit and dinner at a trendy place called Burger Up where the menu choices were all but the ordinary types of burgers – lamb, salmon, bison and quinoa and black bean burgers to name a few.