On the Road South again for Another Winter without the "S" Word

October 4th
Brought ELTORO out of storage today and parked in front of our Villa for the packing up job.  This becomes almost like a moving day as it seems that so much "Stuff" must be moved from the house to the one on wheels. I had made multiple trips over the last week taking odds and ends ot to where ELTORO was stored, and I thought almost everything was packed away. WRONG.  We spent the entire day, back and forth, filling boxes, packing them out and unpacking and putting away in the proper location, taking the boxes back in and refilling, and so on and so on.  But by days end seems we were just about finished. At least we were!!!

October 5th
On the road bright and early this morning at about 8:30 AM. Uneventful, but rather long day to Moose Jaw, Sask. We short cut across from Aldersyde to the Siksika Reservation near Bassano, then down HW #1 all the way to Moose Jaw. Hit a few snow flurries and rain showers, but generally the driving was good. Decided once we were in Saskatchewan we sould fill up with gas. I like to run on the top half rather than the bottom half. While we were driving down the road we were trying to think of the town about 40 miles across the Saskatchewan border, and be darned, if we could think of the name. We knew ther was a filling station right on the highway there. I assked Denice to check on her Streets and Trips map for the name. She said there is no town name there. The ones that showed were Irving, Walsh, Piapot, and Magpie Creek. I didn't recognize that last one, but oh well!! Anyway as we get closer there is a sign "40 km to Maple Creek" Uh Ha!! You know how your brain only sees the first and last letters in a word, Well Denices picked one in the middle too. Maple became Magpie. She is really a nice gal but sometimes ----------!!!!!

After filling with gas at Magpie Creek we were once again on the road. The only other stop was along the wet lands near Morse, Saskatchewan.

I think even I could hit one of those with my shot gun



Swans


Thousands of snow geese, Canadian Geese, Swans and even a few Pelicans were congregated there preparing for there exit southward.

We arrived at Moose Jaw about 4 PM and checked into the RV Park. A quick supper of Bacon and Eggs and a little resting concluded the day.  

October 6th
Another longer day to Bismarck, ND. Again on the road by 8:30AM, after a couple of minor glitches. #1 - Large slide didn't want to come in - It has been giving a little trouble for the last few times we have used it. Then the compressor in the jeep for the brake buddy did not want to start, then Denice pulled the 12volt recepticle out of ELTORO's dash! All in all, took an additional 30 minutes to patch systems and do temp repairs to get on the road. Once we were going thinks went well. Arrived at North Portal US entry at near 12 noon. Pulled up to the border attendant and he asked the usual questions, from Denice's side, never had them ask her the questions before. One unusual question they did ask was do you have any knives or sharp weapons. When Denice answered she had some needles. "Needles??" Yes, but only for stitching. "Oh OK." Then asked if they could come in and would we step out. We of course agreed and one of the other guards chatted with us while two went through the inside of ELTORO. they came out with 3 big juice tomatoes we had just purchased in High River, and said they were not allowed across the border.. Go Figure!!! Tomatoes!! Really!! Oh well !!! I guess it could have been worse, although we had little else to confiscate that might have been sensitive. We did refrain from bringing any beef, since the ban on XL Foods beef into the US. Once down the road I commented that since it was lunch time and thee border guards probably said "a Nice Tomatoe Sandwich would be great for lunch today, Lets put that on the confiscate criteria until we get a couple." Maybe I'm being unfair, but it seems there is always something. No big deal though.

On southward, and into Minot, ND, again fill with gas ( $3.89/ Gallon) and head south once again on highway 83 to Bismarck, ND, arriving at 4 PM. Check into the KOA there at $38 per night. Nice park, nice site, good rate!!

October 7th
Decided to just sit this day out. It is Thanksgiving Day back in Canada. We wanted to SKYPE the kids and let them know all is well, and we had good WIFI here and were unsure about down the road.  So we went to Wally World and bought a Turkey Breast, and had our own little Thanksgiving Dinner, with all the trimmings. It sure was good!!! A little glitch though. remember yesterday when the compressor in the jeep that controls the brake buddy would not start.  Well today the jeep would not start. Battery dead.  I do have a set of jumper cables, but they were not long enough to reach the house batteries without pushing the jeep closer and along the side of ELTORO. I was unable to push it far enough so I enlisted some help from my little helper. Now a month or so ago she would have had the weight to lean into it and roll the jeep ahead, but with this healthy food diet, and the great loss of weight, she just didn't have the power to do the job. Luckily just about that time a couple of employees of the park came by on a quad, and with a set of jumpers, so I enlisted them to help. Shortly the jeep was running, and we proceeded off to WalMart for some groceries and to check out a new battery. We bought the groceries, and brought them home. While Denice was putting them away, I went back to the Walmart and asked them to put a new battery in. They said it would be acouple of hours before they could get around to it, so I told them I would just buy the battery and take it home, put it in myself. When I got back out to the Jeep, it dawned on me that I might just as well put it in right there, as I have all the tools required. Within 15 minutes the new battery was installed and the old turned back to WalMart for the $10 Core Return.  Home again to the smell of cooking Turkey!!