July 1 to 4, 2012: Geraldton, Ont.

JUL  1, 2012, Sunday; HAPPY CANADA DAY in Geraldton, Ont.
We had a cloudy and sunny day, warm with a slight wind keeping the mosquitoes away.  Chris & Dorothea and we went to a local hall where we had breakfast, proceeds going to local charity.  Afterwards, we came back home and prepared the food for the family get together that took place at 4 pm.  Everyone showed up except niece Ashley.  Hamburger, hot dog, salads and dessert were on the menu.  Chris even took the kids for a swim and a boat ride then built a fire but Dallas  wasn’t interested in cooking his marshmallow and ate it raw.  We had a great family reunion with lots of laughs and stories.  It petered out by 9:30 pm.

JUL  2, Monday
A warm sunny with cloudy period.  We went to friends in the latter part of the morning and watched home movies of the Walterson’s Val’s family) and their dad who passed away at their early ages.  Afterwards, Chris took for a drive in the country side and to the airport to check out his plane and the new one he’s building (amphibian).  We came home and the all the girls in the family decided to go out for dinner and left us to our demise.  We fooled them, we went out too!  Everyone met back at the house and we told more lies then it was time for an early bedtime.

JUL  3, Tuesday
Cloudy day but the sun did come out eventually and turned pretty hot...30*C; we also had thunder and rain overnight!  I washed the BEAR finally; it took me over 2 hours, what with two weeks of bugs and dirt on it.  Now I feel better!  The girls went into town and so did I later to pick up some beer and a couple of batteries for our alarm clock.  I stopped at Louie and Kathy and said goodbye to Marcel and Audrey as they are leaving early tomorrow for Saskatchewan to their son’ wedding then home in Alberta.  I came home and had a snooze!  After dinner, Marcel and Audrey came over to say their goodbyes and stayed for a few beers.  After they left, we watched TV for a while then it was bedtime

JUL  4, Wednesday, Geraldton
Another very nice day.  We learned this morning that Marcel and Audrey didn’t leave as planned for Saskatchewan but stayed an extra unscheduled day.  Val went for lunch with Dorothea and I went to the grocery store to check out on some sunglasses and bought a pair.  I went to Louie and Kathy and found all four sisters sitting there talking away.  I visited with Louie for a while (Marcel was at a friend trying out whisky) then came home and read and had a snooze.  At 4 pm, Val and Dorothea decided to go for a kayak outing on the lake and I visited with Chris until they got back then we had dinner.  We watched the tube for a while then it was beddy-bye!

June 28 to 30, 2012; Duluth MN to Geraldton Ont.

JUNE  28, Thursday, Duluth to Geraldton, Ontario
We left Duluth at 8:20 under clear, sunny sky.  We drove north on I-35 through the city and it eventually became Hwy 61.  This was a really scenic drive with lots of cottages, tunnels(2), Lake Superior on our right; most of the town we drove through were touristic.  We stopped in Two Harbours for fuel @ $3.749 and again in Grand Marais @ $3.649.  Near the border, we stopped at Grand Portage National Monument where an old fort is situated.  This is known as the Grand Portage trail where trappers would by-passed the rapids of the river nearby.  It was used mainly by Canadians but Americans trappers frequently used it too.  The border crossing was anti-climaxing as we were asked only two questions then were on our way...if only they were all like this!!!  100 Km later, we by-passed Thunder Bay and turned East on Hwy 17.  We stopped at the Husky station in Nipigon and fuelled @ $1.18/litre.  We soon turned North on Hwy 11 which took us to Geraldton and Chris and Dorothea’s house where we will be station for the next 2 weeks.  We visited for a bit then Chris cooked dinner for the four of us.  It is very windy here and keeping things cool down...it is 25*C (80F) and sunny.

We drove 368 miles (596 Km) in 7hrs and 10 minutes @ an average 51 MPH.  We arrived here at 1800 hrs for a total 9 hrs and 40 minutes

N  49* 40.855
W 086 55.029
Alt: 1098 feet

JUNE  29, Friday, Geraldton
Cloudy with sunny period greeted us this morning.  Dori came over for a visit with grand-son Dallas.  Dorothea’s daughter also showed up.  In the afternoon, I took the truck to a local garage and had the A/C checked.  He filled the ozone container and that seemed to solve the problem, we will see!  I had a visit with Louie and checked all the renovations he did in his house.  Marcel and Audrey were there; they arrived earlier in the day. 
We had dinner at home then went to the local arena where there was a “Meet & Greet” event which consisted of all kinds of pictures of the town from its birth to now, people of that era and the mines of course.  The place was packed by 8 pm and Val had a marvellous time meeting people she knew from her time living here.  There were speeches of course and a bar was also set up.  The only drawback was the lack of A/C and air movement even though all the doors were open.  We left around 10 pm.

JUNE  30, Saturday; Parade and dance
It is cloudy this morning and we had rain overnight.  We went into town at 11 am and watched the parade.  It was small but had nice displays and a lot of enthusiasm.  Afterwards, we went for lunch at a local restaurant then came home after picking some groceries.  In the afternoon, I washed the Beast which was really overdue...it had 5 days of bugs and what a collection!  Marty (Val’s brother) and his son Ryan came over for a visit then Dori showed up for a short one.
After dinner, we went to the Town’s 75^th Anniversary Dance at the same place we were at yesterday evening but this time it was in the ring area and much cooler.  The live band, “Ring of Fire” played some really goodies and oldies.  They sold over 1000 tickets so it was a success.  We had a good time and the whole family was there.  We got home at midnight and to bed by 1 am.

June 27 2012; Jameston ND to Duluth Minnesota

JUNE 27, Wednesday, Jamestown North Dakota to Duluth, Minnesota

I was up at 6:30 am again this morning and took the truck to Express Lube garage for an oil & lube then fuelled up at $3.689.  Now I feel better!  I came back to our place, hooked up then we drove to McDonald for an “egg McMuffin” and coffee.  We stopped at Walmart and bought some groceries then we hit the highway (I-94).  For the first since leaving Olds, we had a tail wind all the way; what a nice change and much better on fuel consumption.  We drove through Fargo, a very nice little town, on Hwy 10; too bad we are so rush to get to Ontario.  We fuelled in Parks Rapids @ $3.899 and found cheaper fuel just 10 miles down the road @ 3.65.  Anyway, the scenery began to change from here; the farms became more apparent and the trees became more common.  In Detroit Lake, Minnesota, we turned on Hwy 34 then in walker, Hwy 200 to Hwy 2.  The last section of this highway was very rough and we had to slow down some.  Hwy 200 was mainly thick forest with some evergreen, not much to look at.  On Hwy 2, we headed for our final destination of the day...Duluth.  We took I-35 north and got off at exit 251A and down to our campground...Indian Point RV Park.  We set up and had dinner and caught up to our mail and blog.  I uploaded some pictures!

June 26, 2012; Glendive MT to Jamestown, ND and a blow out along the way

JUNE  26, Tuesday, Glendive MT to Jamestown, ND & a blow-out
I was up at 6:30 and when to town to the Ford dealer about the A/C; once again there was a few days wait which is not an option so I looked for a place to get an oil & Lube and could find no one available.  Back to the park, hooked up and on the road by 9 am, on I-94 east.  Approx an hour later, we had a blow-out on the left front tire of Mr BEAR!  This is the LAST of the original tires on this rig; I wondered how long it would take!?  Anyway, a motorhome stopped to make sure we were OK and were soon on their way then we had a HWY DEP’T Employee stopped and he gave me a hand.  As I was finishing, two more cars stopped to assist but no need!  I had to put the blow out in the back of the BEAST as the crank jack system under the trailer would not operate...it was damaged at some point during our travels!???  Anyway, we continued on I-94 to Dickinson, North Dakota and bought a new spare, a TOYO this time.  Once this was done, we were on the road again and stopped in Bismarck at an RV place to see about a new jack-up for the spare but it ended up an empty exercises as it would cost too much to have it shipped to Ontario.  Once again back on I-94 and our final destination, Frontier Village Park, a PASSPORT AMERICA member.  This was another hot day, 104*F in Bismarck and 88*F in Jamestown.  The scenery changed quite a bit past Bismarck in that it became farm land, lots of trees and huge fields of wheat, corn and canola.  We also went through Roosevelt National Park and the National grassland.  We lost an hour just prior to Bismarck, hence moved our clocks one hour ahead.  We went to the Bar and Grill here in the Park and had dinner for really cheap, steaks and the works for both of us for $30. and 6 beers too.  Can't beat that!

We travelled 500 Km ( 301 miles) in 5.5 hrs at an average 54 mph.  We stopped for a total of 3 hrs.

N  46* 53.423’
W 098* 42.390’
Alt: 1474 feet

June 24-25 2012: Olds to Great Falls and Glendive, Montana

JUNE  24, Sunday, Olds to Great Falls, Montana
We got up late, 7:45 am.  We had a shower and Marcel cooked us breakfast...what a wonderful guy!!!  After saying goodbye, we were on the road by 9:40 am.  We drove south on Hwy 22 to Carstairs where we took on fuel @ $1.16 then onwards on Hwy 2 south.  At Ft McLeod, we turned east on Hwy 3 to Lethbridge and stopped for fuel again @ $1.139.  From here it was Hwy 4 south to the border where we had absolutely no hassles and were through within 5 minutes; the highway is now I-15.  Most of the way, we had mostly clouds and a little rain at times.  Temperature was 57*F when we left and 78* and sunny in Great Falls Montana. We arrived in Great Falls around 6 pm, fuelled at Flying J...$3.64/gal, and stopped for the night at “DICK’s RV PARK” by the river.  We are all set up and glad to be off the road; it was a long day!
We spoke to our friend Donna earlier and she told us news about our Park; the East section is all flooded now and she sent us pictures which I have posted in folder  #87

We travelled 383 miles (621Km) @ an average 56MPH in 6hrs and 55 minutes and stopped for 1.5 hrs.

N  47* 29.386’
W 111* 19.986’
Alt: 3332 ft

JUNE  25, Monday, to Glendive, MT
I was up and ready to go by 7:30 am.  I drove to the Ford Dealer to find out about fixing the A/C on the truck but they were booked solid so came back to the campground, hooked up and were on the road by 8:30 am.  I stopped at a Verizon dealer and got a stick for WIFI.  We then stopped for breakfast and were finally on the go by 9:45 am.  We headed East on highway 87 south/200 East and stopped in Lewiston for fuel at 3.69/Gal.  The scenery was mainly rolling hills and fields of grass and wheat.  From Livingston to Circle, the scenery was much the same except with a lot more rolling hills.  It really became tiring after a while.  In Circle, we fuelled @ $3.74/gal then it was south east on 200S to I-94 and our destination, Glendive.  We arrived here at 17:30 pm and camped at Green Valley Campground for $21.40/night.  We left this morning with cloudy sky and temperature of 18*C and arrived in Glendive in sunshine and 35*C (100*F).  It is hot and humid; we had a thunderstorm rolling through but right now it’s clearing up.  I didn't realize it but we have stayed here in Glendive in a different Park a couple years ago!

We travelled 584 KM (359 miles) in 6hrs 25 min, at an average 56 mph.  We stopped for 2 hrs and 45 minutes

N   47* 07.270’
W 104* 43.648’
Alt: 2070 feet