17 August 2023 Wine Tasting in WI

 When we checked for wineries in Wisconsin near us, we were surprised to see that there was a winery just up the road from the RV park in Iron River. Wisconsin soils are not optimum for growing grapes. But they have plenty of fruit and honey. This winery specialized in ciders and meads. Having tasted honey-based meads before, we were a bit skeptical of trying them here. The quality of ciders varies considerably. We drove up to White Winter Winery in Iron River. We did a tasting of several meads and ciders and were surprised that we enjoyed many of them. It’s not the classic wine tasting we were used too, but it was still fun. We tried a combination of mead and ciders each and then ended up getting a glass of Mead and Cider and relaxed. It’s a cute little place and we may go back this weekend when they have live music. 

16 August 2023 Saginaw MN to Iron River WI

 With construction on the US53 bridge in Duluth, we had to route ourselves down to US2 and follow that across the river. We got an early start because there is a front moving in with heavy rain and strong winds. So, we wanted to get to the next RV park early and get set up before the storms come in. It was only a 65 mile drive, but there was aa fair amount of city streets. We are staying at the Top of the Morn RV park on Iron Lake ($45 per night). We arrived well before the storms and spent the afternoon working on our New Zealand reservations. 

10-15 August 2023 Good time in Duluth

 Well, the rainy weather caught up with us. We took the opportunity to catch up on some planning, to go to David’s favorite clothing store (Duluth Trading) to replace some worn out cloths, caught the Oppenheimer Movie, and dined harbor side in Duluth. We got the front brakes on the Behemoth replaced (including new rotors) along with an oil change. They informed us the engine and cabin air filters were full of dust (wonder where that came from??), so we got those replaced as well. David spent one after noon getting the Behemoth washed clean of all the dead bugs and red clay from Wyoming. He also worked on a small water leak in a window next to the couch that we discovered with the heavy rain. It was a busy and expensive stay in Duluth, but we had a great time. This is a pretty area, but we would not want to be here in the winter! We tried to go wine tasting on Sunday, but the only winery in Duluth was closed when we got there. There were no others for over 60 miles, which was a surprise given the size of Duluth. So we then headed over to a DDD restaurant south of Downtown only to discover it had also closed for the day! Our nephew surprised us when he informed us that they were moving their marriage up to the end of September from the end of December. So, we scrambled to rearrange our early fall itinerary so we could be in Dayton for the wedding. This included some maintenance work we were getting done at the factory before the Ambassadors Days and open house. But New Horizons was really nice and worked with us to get it rearranged. We will have to do a partial power drive from Dayton to Junction City, but we were able to arrange a rest day in between the long 360 mile days.

Lake Superior in the back ground as we head into Duluth

9 August 2023 Fargo ND to Duluth MN

 It was an interesting ride from Fargo to Duluth on mostly secondary roads. We hit detours four times that left us doing on the fly route planning. Fortunately, there were not big obstacles (like low underpasses) to manage. But it turned a 274 mile drive into a 305 mile drive. We were happy when we pulled into the Red Pine Campground ($43 per night) in Saginaw. Our site is a nice long pull through so we had no issues getting in and getting set up. On the way in, we noticed the front brakes were squealing once in a while, an indication it was time for a front brake job for the Behemoth, which was not unexpected. So, after we got set up, David made an appointment to get the truck in for a brake job and oil change.

 

7 August 2023 Save the Best for Last Club

 We drove into Fargo to get supplies after a week in the boonies. There was not a lot in the way of groceries in Medora. We stopped by the North Dakota Visitor Center. It seems that for a large number of people seeking to visit all 50 states, North Dakota is the last state they visit. So, they started the Best For Last Club. Since North Dakota was our 50^th state, we received certificates for having traveled to all 50 states, tee shirts and of course our picture in front of the Best for Last Sign! They also had the wood chipper from the movie Fargo in the lobby, so Leslie had to get her picture with the wood chipper pushing the foot down into it. David had not seen the movie, so he did not understand the significance of the leg in the wood chipper. We had planned to explore some more wineries near Fargo but were surprised to find that they are all closed during the week! We were also surprised to find none of the Walgreens or Walmarts had pharmacies. Apparently, ND has a law  (1938) against big pharmacies and only allows individually owned pharmacies to be licensed. Fargo is a surprisingly busy small town. There are some very eclectic people in this town. Guess that’s why their motto is “North of Normal”!

6 August 2023 Medora to Fargo ND

 The drive from Medora to Fargo along I-94 is straight and boring 305 miles. The terrain does not change much. We ended up stopping twice just to get out and walk around. Just miles and miles of agricultural fields on both sides of the road. The fields are huge and go off in the distance for miles. We were surprised by the massive fields of sunflowers. We never really thought about how much sunflower seeds are a product, but from the size of the fields we saw, it must be a very profitable crop. We are staying just west of Fargo (there are no RV parks in Fargo) in the Governors RV Park and Campground in Casselton ($53.10 per night with GSC). It’s a no-frills basic campground (full hook ups pull through) that is attached to a Days Inn. But for a brief three night stay over, it works ok. 

Governors RV Park site

5 August 2023 Wine Tasting in North Dakota

 

It has rained for the last two days, but today it finally broke. The rain kept us in the Wanderer but gave us a chance to work on RV Campground reservations in New Zealand for next year. It’s interesting that they have a campground company called Top Ten Holiday Parks that is nationwide like a KOA. Today we went into Medora to see more of the town’s heritage. Of course, we also did some gift shopping for unique things our family would not find elsewhere. We also stepped into the Medora Uncorked wine tasting room. We wanted to try some North Dakota wines. They don’t grow a lot of grapes in ND, they import most of their grapes from Washington. But they do have a lot of fruit trees so their wines tend to be more fruit based wines than grape based. We did a tasting from three different wineries, but did not find any that we liked enough to buy more of. ND becomes the 21^st state we have tasted wines in. 

Medora Uncorked Wine Tasting