Coming up I-35 we got this sign in sight. Mary took a picture and said: “We are home now" 😊.
We spent the rest of the day doing the final repairs and cleaning.
Written by JJ
June 29 - 2018 Owatonna, Minnesota
Friday, the 29th, we made a short move (165 miles/265 km)
from Evansdale, Iowa to Owatonna, Minnesota.
Coming up I-35 we got this sign in sight. Mary took a picture and said: “We are home now" 😊.
It was a bit strange to set up the camper this time, knowing
that it was the last campground we would stay at. For the whole trip this was
campground number 78 (Including the graveyard (Utica,MS), the garage (Vicksburg,MS),
and the little grocery store (Indian Springs, NV)) 😊.
We spent the rest of the day doing the final repairs and cleaning.
Written by JJ
Coming up I-35 we got this sign in sight. Mary took a picture and said: “We are home now" 😊.
We spent the rest of the day doing the final repairs and cleaning.
Written by JJ
June 27-28 - 2018 Evansdale, Iowa
On Wednesday, the 27th, we moved from Elk Horn to Evansdale,
Iowa (220 miles/350km).
This part of the country is farm country. This is the breadbasket (brødkurv) of the US.
Fields with wheat, soybean, corn etc. all over. Especially corn. We have seen lots of cornfields (majsmarker) when we drive in Minnesota. Also, in parts of South Dakota, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, but I have never seen as many cornfields as in Iowa. That is pretty much what there is to see 😊.
So, with all that farmland, it is no wonder that John Deere has its tractor production in Iowa 😊.
Sights are scarce in this part of the country so we went for
a factory tour at the John Deere factory in Waterloo
(Mary was bored stiff 😊). I found it interesting though. My
childhood was full of tractors so it was fun to see how they have developed
during the last 50 years.
We were driven around inside the whole factory , alongside the assembly line (samlebånd) for a little over an hour (No taking pictures allowed).
I can see why you can’t let your 7-year old work in the
fields with a tractor and equipment as when I was a kid. Back then they had as
little as 35 hp (hestekræfter). Now the big ones have over 500 hp!
Tons of electronics. Cabin (førerhus) and roll bar (styrtbøjle) (we had none of that) and some are even equipped with a fridge (køleskab).
Other than that, it
has mostly been getting the camper ready for sale.
We have had more response to our ad (annonce) on Craigslist than we expected.
We have a couple of people who want to see it already on Saturday (which is when we are getting to the Twin Cities).
So all of a sudden, we have had to change our plans and start working.
This concludes our stay in the 4 states we decided to go to, in order to have been in all of the lower 48 states. Our expectations about those 4 weren’t that high and I guess they lived up to that.
We did find some interesting things to see, but none of them will make our Top 10 list (if we ever make one 😊)
Off to Minnesota!
Written by JJ
This part of the country is farm country. This is the breadbasket (brødkurv) of the US.
Fields with wheat, soybean, corn etc. all over. Especially corn. We have seen lots of cornfields (majsmarker) when we drive in Minnesota. Also, in parts of South Dakota, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, but I have never seen as many cornfields as in Iowa. That is pretty much what there is to see 😊.
 |
| Endless cornfields |
We were driven around inside the whole factory , alongside the assembly line (samlebånd) for a little over an hour (No taking pictures allowed).
Tons of electronics. Cabin (førerhus) and roll bar (styrtbøjle) (we had none of that) and some are even equipped with a fridge (køleskab).
We have had more response to our ad (annonce) on Craigslist than we expected.
We have a couple of people who want to see it already on Saturday (which is when we are getting to the Twin Cities).
So all of a sudden, we have had to change our plans and start working.
This concludes our stay in the 4 states we decided to go to, in order to have been in all of the lower 48 states. Our expectations about those 4 weren’t that high and I guess they lived up to that.
We did find some interesting things to see, but none of them will make our Top 10 list (if we ever make one 😊)
Off to Minnesota!
Written by JJ
June 24-26 - 2018 Elk Horn, Iowa
Sunday, the
24th, we moved 240 miles/385 km from Independence to Elk Horn, Iowa.
When we first started out last fall, I thought we would go through Iowa on our way east. That would make Iowa our first state, outside of Minnesota, on the trip. Well, I forgot to confer with the head navigator (Mary 😊), and she took us directly into Wisconsin (and I have blamed her for it ever since 😊).
That way Iowa became state number 48!
There are two towns in the US that you could call the Danish Capital (hovedstad) of America.
One is Solvang in California. We did not go there because it was too far out of the way and because we had heard from Thomas and Daniel that it wasn’t really that great.
The other town is Elk Horn, Iowa. We went there Monday (the 25th). It is a small town with only 600 people. Danish last names are all over the place, and the town is full of references to the Danish connection. Together with the neighboring town, Kimballton, they brand themselves as the Danish Villages.
One of the main attractions is a Danish windmill. Build in Denmark in 1846.
A local person got the idea of getting a real windmill from Denmark. Most people thought he was crazy,
but eventually he found support for the idea and within a year they had the $100,000 they needed.
In 1975 they found an old windmill in Nørre Snede, Denmark and in 1977 it was up and running in Elk Horn (actually capable of making flour). Unfortunately, the wings are off right now for restoration, but the rest of the mill was open.
Another
attraction is The Museum of Danish America (formerly The Danish Immigrant
Museum).
A small, but
very nice museum. It has a good variation. Stories about Danish Immigrants, Danish
history, facts about Denmark. Important facts like our form of government etc.,
but also less important like our love of coffee, famous Danes (Victor Borge,
Morten Andersen, H.C. Andersen etc.), famous Danish companies (Lego, Mærsk, Vestas
etc.), an attempt to explain why we supposedly are the happiest people in the world
(and at the same time being the most taxed people in the world 😊)
etc. etc.
There is an exhibition about the political and military relations between the
US and Denmark over time.
And lots and lots of artifacts (genstande) either from Denmark or with relation to the Danish culture.
In Kimballton they have a nice little park with a fountain that has The Little Mermaid as the centerpiece, and around the park there are small bronze sculptures of different H.C. Andersen fairytales.
We found a nice State Park close to Elk Horn. Sunday, we put the camper on Craigslist (Ca. Den Blå Avis).
Our timing isn’t the best since most people probably already have made their purchase for the season,
but not much to do about it. We will probably end up going to a dealer and get whatever we are offered.
But just in case somebody wants to see it within the coming week we decided to stay here an extra day and do some preparations before we give it the big overhaul in Minnesota.
When we first started out last fall, I thought we would go through Iowa on our way east. That would make Iowa our first state, outside of Minnesota, on the trip. Well, I forgot to confer with the head navigator (Mary 😊), and she took us directly into Wisconsin (and I have blamed her for it ever since 😊).
That way Iowa became state number 48!
There are two towns in the US that you could call the Danish Capital (hovedstad) of America.
One is Solvang in California. We did not go there because it was too far out of the way and because we had heard from Thomas and Daniel that it wasn’t really that great.
The other town is Elk Horn, Iowa. We went there Monday (the 25th). It is a small town with only 600 people. Danish last names are all over the place, and the town is full of references to the Danish connection. Together with the neighboring town, Kimballton, they brand themselves as the Danish Villages.
One of the main attractions is a Danish windmill. Build in Denmark in 1846.
A local person got the idea of getting a real windmill from Denmark. Most people thought he was crazy,
but eventually he found support for the idea and within a year they had the $100,000 they needed.
In 1975 they found an old windmill in Nørre Snede, Denmark and in 1977 it was up and running in Elk Horn (actually capable of making flour). Unfortunately, the wings are off right now for restoration, but the rest of the mill was open.
 |
| It has been a while since we have seen a Danish flag |
 |
| I never really understood how 5 Nordic countries, so far away from where coffee is grown, keep ending up as the most coffee drinking in the world. |
And lots and lots of artifacts (genstande) either from Denmark or with relation to the Danish culture.
In Kimballton they have a nice little park with a fountain that has The Little Mermaid as the centerpiece, and around the park there are small bronze sculptures of different H.C. Andersen fairytales.
We found a nice State Park close to Elk Horn. Sunday, we put the camper on Craigslist (Ca. Den Blå Avis).
Our timing isn’t the best since most people probably already have made their purchase for the season,
but not much to do about it. We will probably end up going to a dealer and get whatever we are offered.
But just in case somebody wants to see it within the coming week we decided to stay here an extra day and do some preparations before we give it the big overhaul in Minnesota.
Written by JJ
June 21-23 - 2018 Independence, Missouri
We are now in
Independence, Missouri. On June 21, we traveled 130 miles/210 km from Council
Grove.
Independence
is the city, where the Oregon Trail started from (along with the Santa Fe and
California trails). Lewis and Clark also came through here on their expedition.
There is a museum in town, that tells about all of these trails (plus the
Mormon pioneer trail, which used part of the Oregon trail). It’s called The
National Frontier Trails Museum. We visited it on June 22.
The Oregon
Trail had our main interest. We saw the end of it in Oregon City, and now we
have seen the beginning – 2000 miles to the east.
During our
travels, we have thought a lot about how difficult it must have been for the
pioneers. The trip on the Oregon trail took about 5 months. They traveled over
wide spread prairies, in the summer heat and winds. They traveled through very
dry lands, where there was little or no water for days at a time. Maybe worst –
they traveled over very tall and rugged mountains
Many people
died of thirst, hunger, disease, exhaustion, Indian attacks, animal attacks
(rattlesnakes, bears…). As they traveled, they had to leave more and more of
their possessions behind. By the time they got to Oregon, many of them had
nothing left but their life.
These people
had courage. These people had strength. These people had the drive to make the
trip. How many people today, would be able to make a trip like that? Between
1840 and 1869, about 500 thousand made this trip!
We found out
a couple of other things about Independence – it is the hometown of Harry S.
Truman (his presidential library and home are in town) and it is a center for
the LDS church (Mormons)
 |
| But he didn't. Truman was elected the 33rd president |
The town is
the site that Joseph Smith originally chose for the temple of Zion in 1831. The
Mormons were thrown out of town, before the temple was built, and they
reorganized in Nauvoo, Illinois. Later they moved to Utah, using part of the
Oregon Trail on their way.
The
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, just opened a new exhibit –
Unexpected Encounters – where they have taken lots of things out of storage,
that they usually have trouble exhibiting, because they don’t fit well with
other things. We thought that sounded interesting, so we stopped by. Here is a
sample of the variety of art we saw…
And this one
was in the sculpture garden outside.
Written by Mary
The LDS
church moved back to Independence at some point, because they have a temple,
several churches, big auditorium, visitor’s center, and many other buildings in
the city.
On Saturday –
June 23 – we went into Kansas City. There are 200 fountains in the city, and we
wanted to see some of them. Unfortunately, they are wide spread, and we didn’t
have a very good map. We did find some but decided that it wasn’t worth driving
around all day to find the rest.
 |
| Before we gave up, we did find this one, that is a tribute to the firemen, who have lost their lives on the job. |
 |
| China, around 3000-2500 BC (clay) |
 |
| India, 1911 (silver and silk) |
 |
| USA, 1962 (acrylic polymer and wood) |
Written by Mary
June 18-20 - 2018 Council Grove, Kansas
On Monday,
June 18, we decided to just take it easy for a day. We had a busy day in the
Badlands, plus 2 long “move” days, so we needed time for our bodies and minds
to catch up. So – not much to write.
However, the
weather was changing from hot sunshine to rain and thunder storms. This made
for some very interesting clouds. We have seen some very beautiful and unusual
clouds on our travels. In McPherson, JJ took some good pictures of them.
Tuesday, June 19, we had a short move (80 miles/ 130 km). On the way, we drove through the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.
It is part of
the only 4% of original tallgrass prairie, that is left in North America.
Prairie land is very good farming land, so most of it has been tilled (dyrket).
Once the prairie’s eco system is disturbed, it takes thousands of years to
establish the balance again. That is why the original prairie only exists where
the soil has not been used for farming or ruined by overgrazing of cattle. The
area around the national preserve has not been tilled, because it is in the Flint
Hills; an area with very little topsoil, making it hard to plow.
Unfortunately, the grass wasn’t very tall yet. It doesn’t get to full height (about 6ft/ 2m) until fall. (We agreed that we would have liked to see the tall grass, but we would not trade it for the fall colors we saw in New England. Can’t be 2 places at one time☹)
We went on a
ranger-guided bus tour and got lots of information about the prairie – what
lives there, what a prairie eco system needs to survive, the history of the area….
There was an historic ranch on the preserve. The buildings were not very well preserved, but we could see, that they had been very impressive for this area in the late 1800’s, when they were built.
Now we are staying at a public campground in Council Grove. It is run by the US Army Corp of Engineers (man kan vel sige at det er en meget avanceret udgave af ingerniørtropperne) and is located on the shores of a lake that was created when the corps built a dam. The Army Corp of Engineers is a lot more than military. Their 200 years of war experience has been put to use in peacetime.
They build bridges, dams (dæmninger) etc. They run hydropower plants (vandkraftværker) (they provide a fourth of all hydropower electricity in the US). When they build a dam they often build a recreation area and a nice campground around it. They have over 450 campgrounds in the US!!
We stopped at
Council Grove, on the recommendation (anbefaling) of a man we met from Kansas.
I asked him what we should see while in Kansas, and he recommended the Flint
Hills and Tall Prairie National Preserve. He also told us, that if we were in
that area, we should stop at the Saddle Rock Cafe in Council Grove for
breakfast or lunch. So, we went there for lunch on Wednesday.
The guy we talked to recommended the place, because the locals eat there. We saw “real” cowboys at the café (as opposed to the ones at tourist places (i.e. Wall Drug, Cody…) or walking around in big cities). These were hard working farmers or ranchers, who came into town for lunch.
Written by Mary
 |
| Just like being inside the Venetian in Las Vegas😊 |
 |
| Another beautiful sunset |
We saw
something, we have never seen before – intracloud lightning. This was just as it
was getting dark. There was a low hanging cloud on the western horizon (maybe
the same one that was there at sunset). At first, I thought someone far away,
was shooting fireworks, that were reflecting into or through the clouds. There
were bursts of red, yellow, orange. Then we realized, that the illuminated
(oplyste) area was too widespread and it was lasting too long, for it to be
fireworks. It was lightning within the clouds. We tried to take videos and
pictures, but because of the low light, they didn’t work well. Here is our best
picture. It doesn’t capture the sight very well but gives an idea of what it
was like. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!! (But I must admit, I was glad that we were not
much closer!)
Tuesday, June 19, we had a short move (80 miles/ 130 km). On the way, we drove through the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.
Unfortunately, the grass wasn’t very tall yet. It doesn’t get to full height (about 6ft/ 2m) until fall. (We agreed that we would have liked to see the tall grass, but we would not trade it for the fall colors we saw in New England. Can’t be 2 places at one time☹)
There was an historic ranch on the preserve. The buildings were not very well preserved, but we could see, that they had been very impressive for this area in the late 1800’s, when they were built.
Now we are staying at a public campground in Council Grove. It is run by the US Army Corp of Engineers (man kan vel sige at det er en meget avanceret udgave af ingerniørtropperne) and is located on the shores of a lake that was created when the corps built a dam. The Army Corp of Engineers is a lot more than military. Their 200 years of war experience has been put to use in peacetime.
They build bridges, dams (dæmninger) etc. They run hydropower plants (vandkraftværker) (they provide a fourth of all hydropower electricity in the US). When they build a dam they often build a recreation area and a nice campground around it. They have over 450 campgrounds in the US!!
It is our kind of campground – lots of nature, big site, not
too many people, so it is quiet and peaceful. We decided to stay an extra day,
just to enjoy the peace and nature.
Last night we
sat outside watching fireflies (ildfluer). We don’t see them much in Denmark,
so it is always a treat for us to see them. There were lots out. This morning,
we woke up to the sound of birds singing, instead of traffic from busy roads,
or train whistles from nearby tracks. We realized that it has been a long time
since we have stayed anywhere this close to nature.
 |
| JJ also caught sunrise on the lake. (Clouds again😊) |
The guy we talked to recommended the place, because the locals eat there. We saw “real” cowboys at the café (as opposed to the ones at tourist places (i.e. Wall Drug, Cody…) or walking around in big cities). These were hard working farmers or ranchers, who came into town for lunch.
 |
| Modern cowboys “ride” pickups instead of horses (although one of them decided to bring his horses with to town too😊) |
The town also
had some “old things” displayed around town. There was a jail built in 1870. It
is built by piling the boards horizontally, which makes
the walls thicker, so it is much more difficult to break out of. (Remember
seeing movies where someone comes to free a convict by tying a rope around the jail
bars and pulling with a horse? These walls were too strong to be able to do
that.)
We also ran
into this “guy”, making us wonder if we really were in Kansas😊
Written by Mary
June 16 - North Platte, Nebraska - June 17 - 2018 McPherson, Kansas
The Black Hills of South Dakota was always on our list for
this trip. As was Mt. Rushmore and the Badlands.
We also believed that South Dakota would be our last stop before returning to Minnesota.
We also believed that South Dakota would be our last stop before returning to Minnesota.
Well, South Dakota was the 44th state we have been in since
we started, and since we have time, we decided to dip down and “pick up” the
remaining 4 states of the lower 48. These are states that you normally wouldn’t
go to if you had 3-4 weeks of vacation in the US. Compared to many other areas
of the US there is not a whole lot to see. But they deal with what they have
been dealt, so there is always something to see.
Saturday, the 16th, we moved from Wall, South Dakota to North Platte, Nebraska.
300 miles/480 km.
Our impression of Nebraska was flat farmland for hundreds of miles. But more or less the whole trip was in a very hilly landscape. Turns out that one fourth of Nebraska consists of the Nebraska Sandhills.
The Sandhills were dunes (klitter) formed when the areas was a desert (ørken). Some hills are as high as 330 feet (100m). They are now covered with grass and used for grazing cattle, as the sand cannot be used for farming.
The National Park Service (what would we do without them 😊) has created a very interesting museum.
The original buildings are intact and all the functions in the fort have been
recreated.
Our impression of Nebraska was flat farmland for hundreds of miles. But more or less the whole trip was in a very hilly landscape. Turns out that one fourth of Nebraska consists of the Nebraska Sandhills.
The Sandhills were dunes (klitter) formed when the areas was a desert (ørken). Some hills are as high as 330 feet (100m). They are now covered with grass and used for grazing cattle, as the sand cannot be used for farming.
Sunday we moved from North Platte to Kansas. As soon as we moved east from
North Platte we saw the landscape we had expected. Cornfields (majsmarker) on
one side of the car. Cornfields on the other side of the car 😊.
Or wheat fields (hvedemarker) on both sides. Or grass for feeding cattle.
We
were planning to stay in Larned, Kansas. We had not made any reservations but
we figured that at least one of the two campgrounds in town would have a space
for us, so we decided to just drive up.The first one was a hotel parking lot (parkeringsplads), so we drove to the
next one. That was even worse – much worse.
An uneven gravel parking lot that had once been a gas station, and in a
bad part of town!! ☹. It did not take us long to decide that Larned was
not our town!
Before we moved on, we stopped to see what we actually came
for: Fort Larned.
The Fort was established in 1860. It was the only fort on the Santa Fe trail
(going from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico). The Santa Fe trail became a very important
trade route (handelsvej) and in order to protect the freight caravans against
the Indians this fort was built. Later on, it also protected the workers
building the railroads. There were at times between 150 and 400 soldiers at the
fort. After less than twenty years (1878) there was no longer a need for the
fort and it was abandoned.
 |
| Officers quarters (officersbolig) |
 |
| Quarters (barakker) of the enlisted men (menige) - 4 people to one bunk bed! |
We then moved on to McPherson, Kansas where we found an acceptable campground.
We ended up with a 360-mile move (575km). Driving through Kansas was much like
what we saw in the last part of Nebraska. Lots of cornfields and
wheatfields. The farmers were busy
harvesting the wheat.
One thing did surprise us about the Kansas
landscape (as with the Sandhills in Nebraska): Oil pumps (also called
pumpjacks). They were all over the place. Sometimes we had 20 in sight. A lot
more than we saw in Texas.
And we thought Kansas was all about tumbleweeds (vindheks) and the Wizard of Oz (Troldmanden fra Oz)!😊
You learn something new EVERY day!
And we thought Kansas was all about tumbleweeds (vindheks) and the Wizard of Oz (Troldmanden fra Oz)!😊
You learn something new EVERY day!
Written by JJ
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