Tag Archives: Prairie Berry Winery

2013_06_30 (Sun) Happy Birthday

Sunrise over Boxelder RV Park, CAM-PLEX, Gillette, WY

Sunrise over Boxelder RV Park, Gillette WY CAM-PLEX

Linda was up early this morning and went for a sunrise walk.  Perhaps she was too excited to sleep because it was her birthday, but this is the 53rd Escapade and the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Escapees RV Club, so it could have been that.  When she got back I brewed up some Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee (from Irene’s Beans in Milford, MI) and she opened her birthday present.  Linda now has her first “cowgirl” shirt!  She liked it so much that she made blueberry pancakes for breakfast with real, fresh blueberries and real Michigan maple syrup.  (If you are thinking that I should have prepared breakfast for her, let me state that in the past I would have, and could have, done this but she is the resident WFPB culinary expert, and I have basically stayed out of the kitchen, and out of her way, since we started down this path two years ago.)

We got a call from our son who was checking on our house.  Linda had asked him the day before to check our answering machine because it wouldn’t pick up when we called.  It turned out that we didn’t have a dial tone, but our Internet connection appeared to be OK.  He said there had been a lot of rain this past week, so that may be the reason.  Our phone and data service come over the same wire, so I’m not sure that is the problem.  We decided to wait a few days and see if it clears up.  If not we will have to contact AT&T.

We had more coffee at 9 AM at the WiFi Cafe and more conversation with Charles Martin.  We returned the defective Camco hose and got a replacement.  Their analysis was that the metal sleeve had not been swaged properly which is why the barbed fitting did not stay in.  While we were there we looked at the Camco Genturi genset exhaust stack.  This is an auxiliary exhaust stack that fits on the end of the generator tailpipe and carries the generator exhaust up past the roof line of the RV.  It’s made of 3” PVC in 4 foot sections, so it can be taken apart and stored.  A tailpipe extension curves up into the base of the 3” pipe with room to draw in cooler air around it and creating a Venturi effect, thus the name of the product.  This is a fairly easily duplicated design; the main reason to buy it is that you don’t have to source all the materials and make it yourself.  The vertical pipe has to be supported somehow, and suction cups are one of the options.  The vendor suggested getting large ones from Harbor Freight that are normally used for handling windshields and other large pieces of glass.  If/when I build one of these, I would like to be able to hook it onto the gutter rail where the roof starts, but the large suction cups are an interesting idea, although I am not too keen on that idea with the new paint on the coach.  Our Aqua-Hot exhaust exits out under the driver side of the coach right next to the generator exhaust, and I have considered building a double stack that hooks to both of these.  In both cases, however, I have to be careful not to restrict the exhaust flow and create back pressure.

We walked through the vendor area again and talked to Sean at WiFi Ranger about the factory default reset we got when we turned the power off and back on.  I also bought a roof mounting bracket for our WiFi Ranger Mobile.  Linda bought a silicone cooking sheet for use in the microwave from RV SpaceSavers.  We stopped and talked briefly to Nick & Terry Russell of The Gypsy Journal and gave Nick a copy of the February 2013 issue of Bus Conversion Magazine.  Until a few years ago, Nick and Terry lived in an MCI bus that Terry had converted.  (Nick is famous for not knowing how to use tools.)  We talked to a vendor who provides mobile black/grey tank cleaning service, but deferred signing up.  We also chatted with a satellite TV vendor who felt strongly that Direct TV was a far superior choice to Dish Network, especially if we were also going to use it at home.  She confirmed that Moto-Sat had gone out of business and that RF Mogul was started by former Moto-Sat employees.  We discussed the possibility of using a fully-automatic open style multiple-satellite dish on a tripod or other mount rather than having it attached to the roof.  She seemed skeptical, but did not see any fundamental reason that it wouldn’t work.  (In fact we have seen a lot of open style satellite TV dishes mounted on tripods or sitting on the ground, although most of them are manual dishes, not automatic.)

After our jaunt through the vendor area, we visited “The Row” to get our “bingo” sheet filled in but ended up talking to many of the chapter and C-BOF representatives.  We finally met Steven Gullette from the HFH BOF, with whom we had exchanged many e-mails in the last few months.  He will be one of the co-leaders on the build in Sheridan in a couple of weeks.  We chatted with Lou Petkus, K9LU, and signed up for the newly formed SKP Photographers BOF (no charge).  We also talked to the Elks BOF and found out that we can join the Gillette lodge while attending Escapade, so we took some information and an application form.  The initiation is Friday evening.

We got back to the coach around 12:45 PM and grabbed a quick lunch before running some errands.  We went back to the Boot Barn to exchange Linda’s new shirt for a different size, and had to join their “loyalty program” in order to do the exchange.  The manager had to approve the exchange and was a bit surly.  We will not be shopping there ever again.  We also mailed an anniversary card to our son & daughter-in-law.  Linda received a birthday call from her sister and a video birthday greeting from our son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter.  In many respects, RV life is just like regular life.

We attended the opening / welcome ceremony at 3 PM and were delighted to see and hear from Kay Peterson, SKP #1.  Dinner was leftover risotto with the rest of the Lawrence Elk black currant wine from Prairie Berry Winery, and both were excellent.  I was sorry that they were both gone, but there’s more where they came from.

We went over to the Wyoming Center at 7 PM for the Door prize drawings followed by the Rivoli Review for the evening entertainment.  They do a good show, with lots of energy and humor, although the patriotism was laid on fairly thick, and there were moments that were just plain jingoistic and inappropriate.  Although many of the attendees were enthusiastic about their show, there were plenty of folks sitting on their hands who were clearly not so pleased.

 

2013_06_29 (Sat) Anticipation, Registration, and Relaxation

I got up a little before 5 AM and watched the sun rise.  There were low clouds to the NE that provided color, and the orb broke the horizon at ~5:25 AM.  But I wasn’t the first person up in the campground; someone was walking two dogs as the sun rose.  RVers seem to come in two basic types: 1) up before the sun, and 2) party into the night, although type 1 seems to be much more common at large RV rallies.

Escapade registration opened at 9:00 AM today along with the SKP (pronounce each letter “Es” “Kay” “Pees” and you get “Escapees”) store.  We were there at 9 AM as we wanted to shop for SKP/Escapade shirts and were told yesterday that they tend to sell out fast.  (These are event specific shirts.)  They did not have any shirts with pockets (apparently they had to be pre-ordered), and they did not have any men’s medium size.  I bought a men’s large and Linda got a women’s medium.  (Apparently RVers only come in two sizes, large and small.  We had the same problem with clothing at the FMCA store.)  We got some free coffee and sat in the “WiFi Cafe” area to look at the program and other materials we received in our registration bag.  Charles and Connie Martin showed up about 20 minutes later and the men’s shirts were already sold out.  Rick showed up shortly after that and joined us.  While I can understand the Club not wanting to be stuck with unsold event-specific merchandise, the lack of available inventory was simply baffling.  They were sold out in the first 30 minutes, and there would still be people arriving today and tomorrow!  The other baffling thing is that they did not have generic Escapees RV Club shirts for sale.  ???

By the time we got back to the coach it was pushing noon.  We gathered up a load of laundry and supplies, and then took a minute to have a light lunch before heading out.  We drove to “Surf-N-Suds”, Linda’s laundromat of choice in Gillette.  Linda stayed to do the laundry while I ran some errands.  I got back as she was finishing up and helped her fold the laundry.

When we got back to our coach John & Cheryl were sitting outside under their patio awning, so we brought our chairs over and joined them, the first chance we’d had to do this. The couple behind us (he is the FMCA INTO area treasurer) joined the conversation, and we all had a good, long chat.  Both couples are full-timers, and there is always something to learn in such conversations.

Eventually we broke for dinner, after which we went for our usual evening walk.  This time we chose a route that avoided RVs as much as possible (so we could actually go for a walk).  SKPs are very friendly, and passing anywhere near their rigs usually leads to a conversation.  We enjoy these interactions, but they interfere with walking, so we have to be conscious of our intent.

When we got back to the coach we sat outside for a while and had a nice chat with Rick.  As I have mentioned before, it cools off quickly here in the evening and this was no exception.  A little quiet time and a glass of Lawrence Elk Black Currant wine from Prairie Berry Winery, and it was off to bed.

 

2013_06_27 (Thu) Cowgirl Barrel Racing

Today was the first early entry date for the Escapade, and RVs started rolling into Boxelder RV Park at 8 AM.  The parking crews were ready and waiting and directed the rigs to their assigned areas and got them parked with great efficiency.  Lynn & Linda Laymon were working the area near where we are parked, and I recognized their names from the roster for the Habitat For Humanity build we will be doing in Sheridan in July.  We had a nice get-acquainted chat that Linda joined when she returned from her morning walk.  (We have been walking together after dinner each evening, but Linda likes to do a 4 – 5 mile power walk in the morning, and I figure that’s an opportunity for each of us to have a little “me” time.  We are, after all, living in a 300 sq. ft. condo on wheels with a really big “yard”.)  In the course of the conversation we realized that the shift from FMCA to SKP had occurred and we got out our SKP name tags and pinned them on.

We enjoy being members of both FMCA and The Escapees RV Club, but they are different.  FMCA is larger and has an extensive volunteer governance and management structure, as well as a paid staff.  Membership is restricted to motorhomes, but it has a fair number of members and chapters focused on bus conversions, so it’s a good fit for us.  The Escapee RV Club is smaller, and is actually a privately owned family business.  There are no restrictions on what kind of RV you own, and there is a much stronger focus on full-time RVing.  The club was founded by Kay and Joe Peterson as a support group for full-time RVers.  They were living in a trailer and raising a family at a time when that was not “fashionable” as Joe was an itinerant electrician.  I have heard it said more than once that “You belong to FMCA, but you are an Escapee.”  Based on our limited experience, that rings true.

I was reminded this morning that “someone” has a birthday on the 30th of this month and that they would like to be taken out to dinner, “or something.”  I accepted the “heads up” as a friendly but necessary reminder as I do get preoccupied at times and forget things, even important things like “someone’s” birthday.  Plus, the 30th is the opening day of the Escapade, so the activity level will ratchet up quite a bit and I could certainly be distracted by that.  An online search of local restaurant menus, however, failed to reveal anything other than a deli with a couple of vegetarian sandwiches that could be made vegan by leaving off cheese, mayo, and any other animal products that might normally be included.  Not exactly a gourmet birthday meal, but at least “someone” wouldn’t have to prepare it.

We were on tap for another warm day, but decided to leave the windows open and the vent fans on as long as possible.  Although we have a good 50 A electrical connection here at the CAM-PLEX, we like fresh air, and the house air-conditioners are rather noisy so we prefer not to use them if possible.

We spent the late morning and most of the afternoon working at our computers.  I worked on my draft blog posts while Linda worked on our personal accounting.  We had the vent fans going and some small fans to move air around, and I was surprisingly comfortable in spite of the interior temperature climbing past 88 degrees F.  Linda usually tolerates (likes) heat much better than I do, but wasn’t feeling 100%, so mid-afternoon we finally turned the air-conditioners on and brought the temperature back into the mid-70s.  (BTW:  Because of the surface area to volume ratio of the bus and the amount/quality of insulation in the ceiling and walls, we can only maintain a 15 – 20 degree differential between inside and outside.  However, even a 10 degree differential makes a big difference.)

Linda made a wonderful dish for dinner with farro (an ancient Italian grain), garlic, onions, mushrooms, and asparagus.  The dish was fragrant, earthy, nutty, slightly creamy, and with just enough chew to have a great mouth feel.  She paired it with a simple green salad and we opened the bottle of Lawrence Elk black currant wine we bought at the Prairie Berry Winery in Hill, South Dakota.  Being from Michigan, we have ready access to wines based on fruits other than grapes, especially cherry and pear.  The black currant wine was unique and very much to our liking, and I wish we had bought more than one bottle.  (I guess we will have to go back.)

We were wrapping up dinner and preparing for our evening walk when Cheryl stopped by to let us know that there was a cowgirl barrel racing event going on over by the Morningside Park grandstand.  We walked over to the small horse arena and joined them to watch cowgirl barrel racing, junior calf lassoing, and age 7-10 girls and boys goat tying.  Finally, the real west.  I snapped a few pictures and sent one to our two children.

When we felt we had been sufficiently westernized (and seen enough baby goats tossed to the ground and tied up to last us a lifetime) we continued our walk and found Charles and Connie Martin’s MCI bus conversion, which they had moved from Windmill RV Park to one of the generator only (24 hr.) lots.  We stopped to chat for a while and got lots of good tips regarding travel directories and resources.  It turned into a longer visit than we intended, but it was nice to spend time with fellow FMCA GLCC members.  By the time we left their bus the sun had set and the temperature had dropped, so we had a chilly walk back to our coach.  The coach was still closed up with the ACs on, but the compressors had disengaged and it was a pleasant 78 degrees F inside.  We opened the rig up for the evening and had some fresh sweet cherries (Rainer’s) for a dessert snack.  It was then off to bed as we are scheduled for a tour of the local coal mine tomorrow at 9 AM.

 

2013_06_15 (Sat) The Black Hills Of South Dakota

Today was another major tourist day for us.  Our focus was on the central Black Hills area of South Dakota.  The weather was very agreeable, and just driving around would have been sufficient activity, but there were places to go and things we wanted to see.

Pactola Reservoir

Pactola Reservoir

The first thing we encountered was Pactola Reservoir.  It was very picturesque, so we took a lot of pictures.  There was a nice visitor’s center that provided the usual explanations of the history of the area and the construction of the dam.  We stamped our “passport.”

Our first major destination was Mt. Rushmore National Park, and we wanted to get there while the morning light was still on the mountain.  On our way there on US-385, we came across the Prairie Berry Winery.  We had seen signs for their Red Ass Rhubarb Wine on billboards driving across I-90 and wanted to visit the winery anyway, so we stopped.  (The label features a redish colored donkey.)

Prairie Berry Winery

Prairie Berry Winery

They didn’t open until 10 AM, but when a tour bus pulled up at 9:45 they opened the doors.  Given the hour, and the amount of mountain driving in front of us, we decided to buy without tasting.  This is usually not a good idea, but seemed like the prudent thing to do in this case.  We purchased a bottle of the Red Ass Rhubarb and a bottle of their Lawrence Elk Black Currant wine.  Linda likes red (grape) wines, but I am not a big fan of them.  I find most of them too dry and they create an unpleasant sensation in my mouth, as if it had been stuffed full of cotton balls by a dentist.  I like my wines on the sweet side, and beyond Rieslings and a few reds, like the 2009 Egri Merlot (from Hungary), I tend to like non-grape fruit wines such as pear or cherry port (excellent examples of both of which come from the Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsula region of NW lower Michigan).  The wines at Prairie Berry were not inexpensive, and they had won lots of awards (of course, what wine hasn’t).  I will report on whether or not these were good purchases in some future post after we have consumed them.

1st glimpse of Mt. Rushmore

1st glimpse of Mt. Rushmore

When we got to Mt. Rushmore N. P, our Senior Access pass got us in for no charge.  The parking, however, was not covered by the Senior Access pass and was not free.  It was also not suitable for tall vehicles, although they did have a lot with spots for RVs.  Our Element is not any taller than any other SUV, except when we have the Diamond SG-7900 dual band ham radio antenna on the roof, in which case we are over 10 ft to the tip of the antenna.  Fortunately traffic coming in to the parking structures was bumper-to-bumper (stopped), and I was able to hop out and quickly unscrew the antenna from its mount and put it in the back of the car before we had to enter the garage.  We got our passport stamped as soon as we were parked and had walked through the front entrance arrived (we always try to remember to do that first).

Four Presidents

Four Presidents

Mt. Rushmore N. P. is a truly iconic American destination.  If you think it is going to be corny, all I can tell you is that it is not.  There were a lot of people there, but it didn’t feel crowded, and we had no problem viewing the mountain from many vantage points.  The place makes you thoughtful, and you could spend a long time there just looking at the mountain and thinking about what it represents and what it took to create.  There is quite a bit of hiking available, but we opted for a short hike to the sculptors’ studio where the working model of the carving is housed along with other explanatory exhibits.  You can hike up close to the carving, but they warn you that it is steep, strenuous hike.  We had not allotted time for that, and were not wearing our hiking boots, so that experience will wait for some future visit.

There are two “drives” through the Black Hills around Mr. Rushmore that are almost as iconic as the mountain itself; the Iron Mountain Highway and the Needles Highway.  We took the Iron Mountain route from Mt. Rushmore to get to Custer State Park.  This road is narrow and winding.  Instead of switchbacks it has “pigtails” in several places.  These are places where the road makes a 270 degree turn while climbing (or descending) to cross back over (under) itself.  There were also several tunnels, some of which were only 8-9 feet wide and 10 feet tall.  This is definitely not a road for oversized vehicles!  Along the way we discovered the Spokane Creek Cabins & Campground (24631 Iron Mtn. Rd.)  It’s a wonderful little place by a creek at a bend in the road at the bottom of a hill.  It was lunch time, and they had a small restaurant, so we stopped for lunch.  We had a couple of simple side salads and had them make us a vegan pizza.  This is always an iffy proposition, and often does not turn out well, but the one they made was excellent.  The woman running the kitchen was assisted by her 10 year old daughter (my best guess) who brought us our food and checked on us periodically.  She was very attentive, and absolutely delightful.

Bison at French Creek, Custer S.P.

Bison at French Creek, Custer S.P.

From there we went on to Custer State Park and took Wildlife loop.  This is a very large, very nice State Park.  Besides wonderful scenery, it has about 1,500 resident Bison (American Buffalo).  They are not all in one herd, but at French Creek we encountered a sizable group (hundreds of animals) with many near or on the road.  Traffic was at a complete stop for 20 minutes while Bison wandered across or along the road, or just stopped and starred at all of us in cars.  One of them walked up to the first car in line coming the other direction and used the front and hood as a scratching post while the front seat passenger clicked away with her camera through the windshield.  We were eventually first in line going the other direction when a large animal decided to walk up our lane.  So we followed him (it was definitely a him.)  He would stop every 10 feet and look over his shoulder at us, and then keep on walking.  Eventually he left the pavement and we were able to continue on our way, but we were at this location for about 30 minutes and got a long, close up, view of these very large animals.

When we complete our drive through Custer State Park, we drove the Needles Highway en-route to the Chief Crazy Horse Monument.  The road itself was not as dramatic as the Iron Mountain Highway, but the views and rock formations were stunning, especially as the good weather continued for us.  The Needles is an actual mountain and it here that finally saw Bighorn Sheep (a mom and two young) on a very steep distant slope.  A trio of motorcyclists stopped and one of them had good binoculars and first spotted the sheep.  He let everyone there have a turn using them, which was very gracious.  We had seen these guys off and on all day and asked where they were from.  Boston.  They were all riding “Harley’s”, but they weren’t what you think of as “bikers.”  We saw a lot of folks on motorcycles in the Black Hills, and if you’ve driven the roads, you understand why.

Crazy Horse Monument Statue and Carving

Our final tourist destination for the day was the Chief Crazy Horse Monument.  This is a private project on private land and there is a $20 entrance fee per vehicle.  Having driven all that way, we paid and went in, only to find out that you cannot get very close to the mountain/carving.  However, for another $4/person you can ride the bus up to a viewing point.  We decided the views from the visitor center were good enough.  My reaction to this place was mixed.  First, that it was both appropriate and necessary that such a monument should be created.  Second, however, was that it is a very, even overly, ambitious project.  It was very incomplete at this point in time in spite of decades of work, and it seemed unlikely to be finished in our grand-daughter’s lifetime (she was only 26 weeks old on this date), or perhaps even in her children’s lifetime.  The plans included much more than the mountain carving, including a hospital, university, airport, museum, and many other developments.  Whether such a project can be sustained with private funding and ever completed seemed to be a huge question mark for me, and the thought of it not ever being finished was sad.  Our Native American (first peoples) deserve this monument in its completed form, and I hope they get it someday.

By the time we were done at the Chief Crazy Horse Monument it had been a long day.  We still had a bit of drive to get back to our coach, and headed for “home” having taken hundreds of photographs (digital makes is sooo easy!).