Nevercold Refrigerator and Back to WashPA

While in Winnipeg our original plan of driving three straight days then resting two changed when the fridge, that we had replaced last August, began to act up.  The refrigerator part was not staying cold. Fortunately, the freezer where we had several pounds of halibut stayed below 32.  After doing some checking we learned that the company that made Amish replacement units was 1200 miles away in Shipshewana, IN and not very far out of our way so we drove four 300 mile days to get there.  The news was not good and the Norcold was living up to its reputation of becoming Nevercold, and this time in only one year.  Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.  Last year I had a replacement Norcold installed thinking that after ten years of recalls, fires and failures they would have improved the product.  They obviously have not done anything to make their product better.   

Our travel plans changed on the fly the first day when the casino where we were planning to stay was having a huge anniversary party and there were no RV sites available so we pressed on the Grand Rapids, MN Wally World.  Day two, at the next casino stop all the sites were full but we were able to dry camp.  Day three we stayed at the Isabella Michigan Fairgrounds and were able to wash Opus.  Finally, we spent a night at J C Refrigeration in Shipshewana where we had an appointment to check the cooling unit.

J R, the owner of the company that builds the units, confirmed our worst fears that the Norcold unit was done, (bad news).  The good news, they could install one of their cooling units that they manufacture right there in less than three hours.  As you can see the new unit on the left has double the cooling coils as the Nevercold and is made with heavier tubing.  They also installed a fan to improve airflow and a metal baffle to direct all the air over the fins at the top of the unit.  It has only been a few days but we really do notice a big difference.  The Nevercold was set on six or seven to maintain the proper temp while the new unit is set on four.  It is doing a good job even here in very humid WashPA.  Hopefully, J R was correct when he said he had sold us our last refrigerator.  We can only hope.

In Minnesota we passed through Itasca County near the head waters of the Mississippi River and crossed it several times. 

More roadside oddities.  The Tin Man was in Grand Rapids, MN the birthplace of Judy Garland.

The highway along Lake Michigan is right on the shoreline, very beautiful.

The five mile long Mackinac Bridge connects the UP with the Michigan mitt.  It is the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere. They say there is a great view of  lakes Huron and Michigan from the bridge, but I could not tell you as my eyes were only on the road.   

A beautiful Michigan sunrise.

We thought we would see a lot of motorcycles in Sturgis.  Then realized we were in Michigan not South Dakota:)

We saw many Amish buggies in Shipshewana. 

A beautiful Amish farm at sunrise.

Another great sunrise.  What are we doing being up that early?

Since our reservation in WashPA did not start until Monday we had three days to get there.  We called our good friends Mike and Sherri and got an invite to spend the weekend at the lake.  What a great way to start our two month stay in PA.

Enjoying the sunshine and doing a bit of fishing.  We caught a couple and had a great time catching up with friends.

Friends in Two Countries

We were only about 100 miles from Winnipeg where our fulltiming friends Gary and Anita lived and now spend the summers.  Heading north again would give us a the chance to have personal tour guides of the city and to add Manitoba and Ontario to our travel map.  Our first order of business was to fuel up as diesel was about $4.60 in Manitoba and well over $5.00 in Ontario.  That makes the $3.75 we paid in North Dakota sound pretty good.   

Gary, Nanc, Anita and Jim after a great meal and an evening of catching up on our travel adventures since we last saw them at Betty's in the fall of 2008.  Once again meeting friends on the road is one of the high points of our traveling lifestyle.

HAPPY 1st of July!!! 

Not the 4th, they were celebrating Canada Day with all the usual fireworks and hoopla as our Independence Day.  We are so far north that it did not get dark enough for the fireworks to begin until 11PM.  Most stores, including grocery stores, were closed or had limited hours so their employees could join the festivities.  A novel idea by US standards.

We toured the Royal Canadian Mint in Winnipeg where the have made coins for over seventy countries represented by the flags.  They even made pennies for the United States in the 1990's.  They use a new technique that lowered the cost of making a penny to less than 1/2 a cent. Since then the cost has risen to 1.5 cents so in May they minted the last penny.  They join Australia which has eliminated the penny and the nickle while the US spends six cents to make a coin that many people literally throw away.  Go Figure. 

Here we are checking out our weight in gold and the Olympic medals from the Vancouver games that were minted here.  This year is the 25th anniversary of the Canadian dollar coin that is called the loonie because of the loon pictured on it.  It was so popular that they now make a two dollar coin which everyone calls the toonie.  The whole process, from cutting blanks to stamping coins to packaging, was very interesting but no pictures were allowed.

Gary and Anita took us to The Forks where the Assiniboine and Red Rivers meet.  There is a walking trail and park all along the banks.  The Red flows north out of the US and has flooded many times.  They said we were lucky because last year at this time all this was under water.  The polar bear statues were part of an exhibit of painted bears the city sponsored. 

The Fork includes the historic port that is used by pleasure boats today, a marketplace and the new Humanitarian Museum a unique looking building which is still under construction.  We were surprised at how hot and humid it was.  Temps can range from highs near 40 in the summer to -40 in the winter.

Winnipeg has a very large French speaking population and the neighbourhood around Saint Boniface Cathedral is largely French.  The cathedral was built in 1905 and burned in 1968 leaving only the facade (left), the sacristy (right) and part of the walls.  Rather than rebuild in the old style, a new modern building was constructed where the sanctuary was and connected to the sacristy.  It makes for a very interesting building.  The grave stone marks the burial site of Louis Riel, the founder of Manitoba and the leader of the Metis people.  The Metis were the mix of the early French and First Nation people.  We had a great time in Winnipeg and loved having Gary and Anita as personal tour guides.  I am sure we will see them again somewhere down the road.

We moved on to Fort Frances where we slept in the Wally World parking lot so we could add Ontario to our map.  It was the Fourth of July and while we could not really see them, we could hear the celebration fireworks across the river in Minnesota.  This was another stop on our Travel Back in Time tour as we stayed here two nights on our '82 bicycle trek.  The paper mill is significant because we remembered how bad it smelled.  We were glad the wind was blowing the smell away this time.

  We had contacted Dave and Sarah before entering Canada because we knew they lived in Minnesota, but we were not sure where.  Initially, it did not look like we would cross paths but when I check my email (in Canada we had Verizon coverage near the border) we learned we would be passing through Cloquet, Minnesota at the same time.  We agreed to meet at Wally World and arrived within minutes of each other.  We had a nice lunch together, shared a few tales and were on our separate ways.  Once again it is so neat getting to see friends on the road.  

West Across the Prairie

In the last few days since leaving Wisconsin we have traveled over 800 miles. We stayed at Dakotah Meadows RV Park in Prior Lake near the Twin Cities but did not do much while there except chill. We then moved to Frontier Fort Campground in Jamestown, ND adding state 47 to our list. As I write, we have just arrived at Red Trails Campground in Medora, ND for a week's stay to explore the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We did more interstate driving than we have done in a long while. Nice for getting from place to place quickly but usually we do prefer a slower pace.

We did take some smaller local roads getting out of Wisconsin and enjoyed the beautiful family farms we passed along the way.
In St. Paul we visited our second capitol building in as many states. The capitol was designed by Cass Gilbert who also designed the US Supreme Court Building. It has the world's largest unsupported marble dome. Above is the capitol building with the Cathedral of St. Paul in the background.

The capitol is being renovated so the huge chandelier that usually hangs in the rotunda was on the floor for cleaning. Top are the two chambers of the legislature and a Minnesota battle flag from the Civil War. Bottom left, the Governor's Reception Room and right, paintings on the ceiling of the Rathskeller Cafeteria. The original 1905 floral designs with mottoes written in German were painted over years ago and have just recently been restored. Some of the mottoes were changed during Prohibition from "wet", "Better be tipsy than feverish" to "dry", "Temperance is a virtue of man". Go Figure.

These are statues in St. Paul's Rice Park to honor natives F. Scott Fitzgerald (middle) and Charles Schulz. We have visited Schulz's Peanuts Museum in Santa Rosa, California. We enjoyed our short time in St. Paul including a visit to the Great Waters Brewery.

North Dakota does not have a lot of people (just over 600,000) but it makes up for it with some "LARGEST" roadside attractions. Left in Steele is the largest Sandhill Crane. Top in New Salem is Salem Sue, the largest Holstein Cow and bottom is the largest buffalo in Jamestown.

Within walking distance of the campground in Jamestown is Frontier Village a collection of 24 historical buildings from the states frontier past. Our first day there the authenticity of the place was even greater when a group driving restored cars were parked along the street.

Looking down the street is the saloon, sheriff's office, art gallery and dentist office. Bottom is a windmill, jail (I got rowdy) and 1898 log cabin.

Top is the bank, school and dentist office which looked like something you would see in a Hollywood torture movie. Bottom is the stagecoach that you can take for a ride around town. Middle the price list in the barber shop. Even I might think about a shave and a haircut if it was only two bits. Right is the writer's shack of Jamestown native, Louis L'Amour. The village is a worthwhile stop for a look back on pioneer times and the best part, admission is free.

In the same area is the National Buffalo Museum that works to promote the culture and history of the prairie and buffalo. The museum has a herd of 30 that roam over 200 acres. It is the home to White Cloud, Dakota Miracle and Dakota Legend, the only albino buffaloes in North America. Pictured are two of the albinos, but I am not sure which ones.

Some of the displays in the museum. Top, an Indian shirt made of buffalo hide, a buffalo, and a picture of thousands of skulls collected and sent east after the great herd was slaughtered in the late 1800's. In 1902 there were only 700 buffalo in herds owned by private individuals and 23 wild ones in Yellowstone. With preservation efforts there are now more than 500,000. Bottom, a display on how the Indians used the buffalo and a 10,000 year old skull.