On to North Dakota

After the excitement in Red Lodge we continued our trip east.  We went to Billings, MT where we spent just one night in an RV park so we could do laundry, etc.  The next day we moved south to the Bighorn National Recreation Area.  It is an area centered on Bighorn Canyon which is now mostly filled with a lake.  We were at the northern end which gets very few visitors.  With our Senior Access Pass the camping was free.  We stayed two days and on the second day rode the scooter to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.  We went to the talks, toured the museum and hiked and rode through the area.  It was very interesting.  I find it particularly interesting how we continuously reinterpret history in light of current sensibilities and attitudes.

We then moved back to Billings for a couple days.  I needed to get the clutch on the truck adjusted and Dianna wanted to do some more genealogy research there.  She did find some more information about her family and was able to get a copy of her grandparents marriage license.

We then moved to Miles City, MT where Dianna knew her relatives had once lived and discovered that her Great Grandfather, the one from Red Lodge, had died there.  We obtained a copy of his death certificate  but were not able to find his grave in the cemetery since there is no map or record of exactly where he was interred.  We found his obituary on microfilm of the local newspaper and learned that his mother was still living when he died, and that she had moved to Ventura, CA to live with a daughter.  That finally filled in some major blanks.

With all the genealogy locations in Montana researched, we headed for Minot, ND where we had arranged for our mail to be sent.  We spent the night in an RV park due to the high heat, around 95.  I'm afraid hookups are going to be the norm from now on.  It's just too hot.  Our original plan was to stay through the holiday weekend at the State Fairgrounds in Minot, but discovered that they were closed for the month of July so they could get ready for the upcoming fair.   We usually like to find an out of the way place before long weekends start, and hunker down while all the families take over campgrounds.

Unfortunately, with the fair grounds being closed we had to make new plans.  We found a small, out of the way RV park near Jamestown, ND and moved there to hide out.  Our satellite internet connection is very poor near the Canadian border in this area, so moving a little south helped us get a better signal as well.  We are there now and plan to leave tomorrow for points east.

That's about it.  We will be picking Dom up in Minneapolis on the 13th.  Between now and then we will either explore northern Minnesota or make a quick dash down to Moscow, IA to have some repairs done to our leveling jacks.  They are worn and need to be rebuilt after eight years of continuous use.  We'll let you know.

PS:  If anyone is not receiving e-mail updates whenever we move, and would like to, let me know and I will add you to the list.  It is a feature of our satellite internet system.  It will send you a link to a map showing our location along with a short note whenever we move.