A Ride to Crystal Cave, a little bit of Hiking back at camp...

 Yes folks, Martha is back in the saddle again!

She was a bit "jitterish", her own words, but she did just fine.  We rode the 9 miles or so to the Crystal Cave tourist attraction; it's apparently Wisconsin's Longest Cave.  (Less than 1/3 of its mile long length is open to the public).

The "personalized" tour fee is about $21/person and both Martha and I agreed that yes, A for effort but really can be skipped if pressed for time.  The topside facilities are quite lavish, and include a "pan for gold" attraction and a putt putt golf course with a Dinosaur motif.

Some of the stuff that caught my eye, all of it pretty small scale, it's apparently a pretty young cave system.  (Less than 2 million years old I think).

The tour did include lots of information, I guess to

make up for the lack of large crystal formations?

Back in the beginning of the tour operation, they used to let folks put coins in the "Wishing Room" portion of the cave.  If you could get your coin to stick, then you would get good luck.  Then they realized the coins were contaminating things and rusting in some cases; and no more wishing with coins.

After the tour, we stopped at a Cheese Factory on the way back to the campground:

Martha says the barn is typical of the barns seen on

Wisconsin Farms

The farm above specializes in Guernsey Cows

After lunch and a little rest, I went on a short hike while Martha stayed in camp to read and relax after the morning's riding.

I followed the trail called Ox Trail, which eventually leads one down the ridge and towards the Northwest Day Use area of the Highland Ridge Recreational Area.  There's not a lot there but there's places for picnics, launching one's small boat and horse riding trails.

At the end of the trail, you can see the dam which

created the Highland Ridge Reservoir

Yep, an authentic Amish Carriage, pulling a trailer

for their small boat.

The Amish man and his young son were further on, behind the trees on the left past their carriage.  Their horse was tied up in the shade of trees on the other side of the road.

Near the Amish carriage, I could see a series of holes on the bottom...I could see small fish diving into and out of these holes, and wondered what caused them?

As I wandered about, I spotted this fellow crossing the road slowly.  He speeded up as I approached of course, moving along smartly and into the bushes.

Quite a peaceful spot to gaze upon the water and perhaps have a snack?

Finally, a mushroom I spotted near our campsite this morning:

We'll be moving on in the morning, and staying with Martha's Dad for the rest of the month I think.

A Whoopsie Kind of Day....

 Both Martha and I would make mistakes today that resulted in whoopsies.

We'd set off on our two-wheeled steeds, seeking a picture of Babe, the Blue Ox.  Babe is the companion to the legendary Paul Bunyan.   In Minnesota, Paul Bunyan and Babe are seemingly everywhere in the form of large sculptures of fiberglass and whatever other materials suit such projects.

We got a bit lost trying to find Paul Bunyan Land, an amusement park which featured Babe the Blue Ox at the entrance parking lot.  As we pulled over to a driveway (we were on MN 210 at the time), Martha's scooter Stewie slid on some loose gravel and down Martha went!

I of course rushed to her and while I was trying to figure out how she was hurt, about 4 other cars stopped and their drivers rushed over to help!  One guy righted Stewie, and we helped Martha to her feet.   

In another confirmation to the benefits of wearing good riding gear, the only abrasions she suffered were to her right knee.  Her riding jacket and helmet prevent other abrasions!  The pants were just regular pants, so they tore immediately on ground contact.  There were large areas of her riding jacker's right shoulder that were covered in dirt marks, and some scratches on her helmet's visor.

Still, she's OK.  No further injuries besides the skin abrasions a.k.a. road rash.  

Folks, she was a real trooper!  After assuring everyone who'd stopped that she was OK, I made sure Stewie was fine and we rode on!  After we had ridden to a nearby shopping center to get some first aid supplies, we then rode to Paul Bunyan Land and got the picture!

Next, Martha wanted to ride over to a local city park located near the Mississippi River for a picture of Stewie and her by the river.

First though, we stopped near a bakery for some pie to enjoy at the park.

Got to the park, took pictures and then we decided to head on back to the camper.  Sadly, that's when I made my one whoopsie of the day and left my camera sitting on a park bench!  Yep, I didn't realize it was gone till we were back in the campground.  

I rushed back by myself and it was too late, someone had found it and taken it.  Though the camera did have my phone number stenciled on it, I've no doubt that whomever found it, will keep it or pawn it.  

So, those are our whoopsies for today.  The camera doesn't matter, I'm just happy that Martha is fine and all she is dealing with is some soreness and of course the skin abrasions on her right knee.

So, I guess I'll drive on with just the camera in my Pixel4a phone from this point on, I'm obviously too careless to get another replacement camera!

World's Largest Buffalo and the smallest dam? at Gull Lake COE Campground

 We woke to overcast skies that would end up clearing as we headed eastward towards Brainerd, MN.

The "wildlife" of Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park strolled by the VRRV as we ate breakfast:

We left by 8 AM and were set up by 3:30PM at the new campsite within the Corps of Engineers (COE) Campground at Gull Lake.

We've left North Dakota behind, don't foresee visiting it anytime soon again.  I liked the state's low population but there also wasn't much in the way of dramatic scenery I guess.

One last ND sight though, we stopped in Jamestown, ND to check out the world's largest Buffalo.  It's seen better days and we didn't have the sun at a good angle to "Dakota Thunder", the name of the buffalo.

Let's just say, we were more impressed with Salem Sue, the world's largest cow.

We're in Minnesota now, and the state bird: the mosquito, greeted us in force as we set up camp.  Out came the bug spray and mosquito electric rackets....sigh.

The campground is quite small, which in a way is fitting since it is next to the smallest dam we've encountered under COE management:

yes, that's a dam....we thought it was just a small bridge

martha pic

martha pic

Lots of trees to go along with all the water in the state's lakes....claimed to be 10,000 lakes but who knows.  The trees make the sites pretty secluded, which I liked of course.

It didn't take long for us to do a recce of the campground, and we ended up at the local watering hole called Ernie's.

More exploration tomorrow of nearby resort towns and such, perhaps a visit to a statue of Paul Bunyan in Brainerd, MN.

World's Biggest Cow and Scenes from Fort Abraham Lincoln, ND

 After a day of zero riding and simply resting and relaxing yesterday, we displaced today to Mandan, North Dakota.  It's across the Missouri River from Bismark, the state capital.

We're staying at the Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park's campground.  Electric and water sites for only $20 night, not bad at all.  The day started overcast and rainy and would remain this way for the rest of the day.  

On the way to Mandan, we had to stop in Salem, ND to visit Salem Sue....the worlds largest cow!  You can drive up to a small parking lot near Sue and a short walk later, there you are.  In Martha's case, trying to tip the cow over or feeling up one of her teats.

She was visible from the I-94 Highway from at least 4.5 miles!

We then proceeded onto Mandan and the state park.  Set up camp and then we rode over to check out Custer's House.  Yep, Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer was the commander of Fort Abraham Lincoln as his last assignment.

$5/person gets you a guided tour of the house via a uniformed guide.  He delivers his spiel within the context of us being guests who are to expect the imminent arrival of General Custer and his wife....nice touch.

The house paraphernalia is pretty standard stuff, the only picture I offer is of Custer's bed, a replica thereof I think.  I thought it was quite small:

Custer House

Next, we toured the visitor center and joined a guided tour of the Mandan Slant Village:

Interior of the main/community earth lodge

Earth Lodge entrance

Bison Skull

Painting showing life inside a earth lodge

At the nearby Visitors Center, there's a diorama depicting the nearly 100 lodges that existed in the area.

Some of the paintings, done by George Catlin in 1834:

Decorated Buffalo Skin

After the visitor center, we motored to the top of the bluff where the original fort had been established (Fort McKeen).  The fort was originally an Infantry post but Cavalry was brought in later.  The infantry troops were there to protect the railroad surveyors, cavalry proved more mobile and therefore effective.

Blockhouse

View of the Heart River which joins the Missouri

Atop the modern replica blockhouse

Martha and I adjourned to camp, got some showers at the bathhouse within (nice shower/bathroom facilities) and called it a day.