Wall Drug, Wall South Dakota

Hello All,

We have been traveling quite a bit.  I think we may have covered about 1500 miles so far since leaving Canada two weeks ago.  Considering we are averaging a speed of about 50 miles per hour, you can imagine that the days are long!

At any rate, one of the stops we made was in Wall, South Dakota.  I had ever heard of Wall, South Dakota or the famous Wall Drug Store that is one of its historical land marks that have been in business since 1935 or somewhere thereabouts.  


The first thing I noticed is that they held on to their idea of free advertising....:-)

It's not very clear on this shot, but the white sign says "Bring Your Camera"!  haha

And if you google the history of this landmark, you will see that it all started like this:
  

After many tries and many years, it progressed into something that I don't think this family thought possible back in those days.  They have some of everything on the grounds.

the even had folks from back in the day still playing cards and willing to die for their nickle!  Hey!  I know that guy in the middle!  ha..

there was a tiny chapel on the premises that is still there for people who want to go in and pray....

Mr. Viking made friends with Ms Annie Oakley who was reported to have been mean with a rifle!  Keep your friends close and your enemies closer!

I have heard of Calamity Jane and wondered if she had stolen all of the jewelry in the store.....:-)

the street just outside of the store was full of little shops.  We decided that we didn't have time to stop in all of them.  If you ever stop in this town, make sure you have time to see this place.

 Nope.   Mr. Viking is the better choice......:-)

There was historical pictures and art work every where you went.  This was a shot of the dining area where we ate breakfast.

I absolutely loved the hanging Tiffany style lamps.

This was another room that I think was used for special occasions.  Fancy, shmancy......:-)

Mr. Vikcing was taking in the historic pictures and art work in the dining room....

I was trying my hand at a very primitive RV!

You would think that having been in the Dakota's that we would have gone to Mt Rushmore.  Well, we had to pass on it this time around, but was glad that Wall's had a replica of sorts on their property.

There is far too much to report.  So, I would strongly suggest that if you haven't gone....go!  It's a really cool place...:-).

Thanks for coming along with us.

Keep Trippin!
   

A Day In Seattle!

Howdy Everyone,

I know it's been a while, so I will try to do catch up on the next couple of blog post.  We made a trip to Seattle to get a check up done for me before we started out on our RV adventure for the year.  After getting the all clear from the doctor, we stopped here.   Hahaha....  I know.  Don't say it!  

Somebody was excited about the possibilities that lay behind the counter.....

In was struck by the "artsy" environment that seemed to have escaped my glance the last time I was in this establishment.

Anticipation.....isn't that a song??

And the mission has been accomplished!

Now, I'm getting excited too!

but not for long.....they were NOT good.....:-(.  I mean what is that pasty taste that is left in your mouth when you finish one of those things??
We left and headed down the road.
 

I caught a glance of this at one of the stop lights.  Seattle has some of the most interesting art in the most interesting places.

We reached our destination for the day.   Now, we're talking!

Two happy campers.....:-).

This is the Cavanaugh House.  Col. James Cavanaugh was in charge of the Lock construction from 1911-1917.  This is now the house of the Col in charge of the Seattle region US Army Corps Of Engineers.

 We had to go down these stairs to get to the water front.

Chris decided to embrace his "inner tree".........hahaha
Yeah, it's not working.....ha

We made it down to the locks.  The water was beautiful.

There is  a straight shot forward down toward the Freemont Cut.

Chris did the measurement to see how many thousands gallons of water flowed through the locks per minute.  Too much to drink!

This train bridge was opened to allow boats to safely pass through the locks.

This was the first one that we saw that came through.  This boat is a racing boated named "Obsession".

The lock keepers let the water in so that the boat would raise to the level needed to go into the cut.

 

This building is the Hiram Chittenden building thingee.  It has the original machinery to operate the Locks.  The administrative offices are also located in this building.

the yacts starting arriving and lining up one after another.  The smaller boats had to tie along side and onto the larger ones.  I have no idea why.  My guess is they might get squished if they got caught in between them.

this is a tug boat used to position ships and barges in relation to anchorage or mooring. Better known in my words as "parking"....ha

We started back toward the gates as it has been a very long day.  I thought this was a very pretty shot.

 I miss the little garden we had at the condo.  these flowers were beautiful!

 This my friends is a flower called "Foxglove".  This is where we get the heart medication called digitalis from.  It is highly poisonous until it is processed.

This one is called "Bird Of Paradise."

 We were starving and this place was just outside the gate.

Mr. Viking was sporting his USA shirt.  I think he's one of us! ......:-).

And the food arrived!  We probably should have made better choices here.
But that didn't kill his mood at all....haha

That is way to much fried food!  We ate half and left the other half.

It was a great day and we are glad you were able to go with us!

See you on the road!

Wharf Park In Naramata, BC

Howdy folks,

Well, we have been busy and time is winding down for us to make our maiden voyage to New Hampshire in the next couple of weeks.  We have our medical appointments scheduled to get  check ups before we leave which is our custom.  Now, we are waiting on a WiFi extender to arrive for the second time.  The first one arrived two weeks ago damaged.  Ugh!.  Anyway, we decided that we would make a visit to Chris's Mom's house before we left.  She will be 92 this year andwe will not likely be here to celebrate it with her.

First stop was a new restaurant that we wanted to try in Princeton, BC.  The food was very good.  I don't believe the kitchen crew had too much to clean up after we were done!

We made it to Narramata that evening and made our way to the park the next day taking Laura with us....:-).

This is a cooling station of sorts. But it was not turned on.  On the other hand, if it was NOT in fact a cooling station; that would explain why it wasn't spraying water every where! haha

It was hot outside, but a beautiful day just the same.....:-).  I love being near the water.

Here is the Striking Viking with his Mom; Laura.....:-).  

Here is a view of the Okanagan Lake.  We had it mostly to ourselves.  I suppose that is the benefit of going in the middle of a work day.....:-).

 The Striking Viking decided that he needed to cool down a bit.  So, being the adventurer that he is, he took a dip in the lake.  I probably would have sunk like a rock had I tried that!  Besides, somebody had to take this gorgeous shot! haha

Tomorrow, we head back to our own town and continue the preparations for our long 3,000 mile journey to New Hampshire.....:-).

See you on the road!!