Pipestone National Monument

We visited Pipestone National Monument this weekend. We wanted to take the MH out for a weekend trip and when I saw Pipestone National Monument on the map only about 80 miles away, we decided to check it out. We're glad we did. I think one of the best things about being somewhere for a few weeks is that it gives us a chance to visit some more out of the way places.

Here's what the National Park Service site says about Pipestone;

"When you pray with this pipe, you pray for and with everything."  -Black Elk

For countless generations, American Indians have quarried the red pipestone found at this site. These grounds are sacred to many people because the pipestone quarried here is carved into pipes used for prayer. Many believe that the pipe's smoke carries one's prayer to the Great Spirit. The traditions of quarrying and pipemaking continue here today.

From Wikipedia The quarries are sacred to most of the tribes of North America, Dakota, Lakota, and other tribes of Native Americans, and were neutral territory where all Nations could quarry stone for ceremonial pipes

We walked the circle trail and took these pictures to share with you. 

Winnewissa Falls

The Oracle, Can you see him? 

Night of Excitement!

We've moved about 150 miles southeast of Fergus Falls and now we're in Granite Falls, MN. More on that in another post soon.

Last night (July 16) a major storm came through. We're fine, but it was very frightening. We could see the dark clouds and lightning, but didn't realize just how bad it might be. There was heavy rain and some hail, but the scary part was the wind. We have a windshield screen that is held on by powerful magnets (so strong I had a hard time separating them). It has a guarantee to withstand winds up to 60 mph. It blew off. Fortunately, it wrapped around a small tree next to our site and the magnets stuck together, so it wasn't going anywhere.

But that's how strong the winds were.

It was very scary inside the MH. Serious rocking and rolling. But we came out of it w/only a tiny bit of damage to one of the awnings. Others were not so lucky. The travel trailers seemed to have it the worst. One of them tipped completely over and is now on its side. Fortunately, the family had gone to the storm shelter.

The travel trailer next to us had blocks under their leveling jacks (most do). Evidently the wind lifted the trailer enough that the blocks blew away so that when it came back down the corner wasn't stable. That must have been quite a ride for them, rocking and rolling but being unstable on at least one corner.

The power is still out (as of Sunday morning) and the wifi was out during the storm, so we couldn't look at the weather radar to know what was happening. As you can tell, the wifi is back on.

We have a generator, so we're fine if the power doesn't come back on, though we're trying to use it sparingly.

After the storm, beautiful weather.

We've learned a couple things. Next time we see something like that headed our way, we'll bring the slides in so we have more stability. The trailer that tipped over was on the very end of the row, so they got the brunt of the wind. The neighbors on the "wind side" of us had damage, but the ones on the other side, where we provided some protection against the wind, didn't have any damage. We'll keep those things in mind when choosing a campsite in stormy areas.

Happy Anniversary!

Today, July 9, is the two year anniversary of our purchase of our motor home. Within a few days, we were on our way to New Mexico.

Wow. Sometimes it's hard to believe it's been that long and other times it's hard to believe it's only been two years.

In those two years we have:

• Driven the MH about 8,000 miles. 
• Visited the following states (some just for a night, some for months): 

   Ohio
   Indiana
   Illinois
   Missouri
   Oklahoma
   Texas
   New Mexico
   Tennessee
   North Carolina
   South Carolina
   Georgia
   Virginia
   West Virginia
   Iowa
   South Dakota
   North Dakota
   Minnesota

  Wow...that's 17 states!

  We've also visited Alabama and Wyoming, but those were day trips and didn't include the MH.

• Had 5 different jobs. Two at KOAs, one at Amazon, one at Carowinds and our current job with Southern Cross. 
• Made many upgrades, repairs and improvements to the MH including a new TV, new mattress, tow dolly, two repairs to the jacks, a new cooling unit for the fridge, serious work on the a/c and new furniture. 
• Traded in our small car for an SUV. We also recently bought a used truck so we are now a two vehicle (three if you count the MH) family. 
• Met many nice people and a few goofballs and a couple complete jerks. 
• Stayed in some nice campgrounds and some dumps. Turns out that staying overnight at a rest area in Iowa was better than a few of the campgrounds we've paid for. 
• Visited some states that we might not have chosen to visit (like Minnesota) and found out that we liked them very much. 
• Eaten lots of BBQ. 
• Although we've been places where the temperatures got pretty low, we've only experienced a total of about 4" of snow in two winters. 
• PBS has been our friend. When there's not cable, there's PBS and when that doesn't work, there's the radio. 
• Good wifi is the most important feature of a campground. 

After two full years, it really feels like we're just getting started. Who knows what might be next?