Sunday - September 3, 2023 Kansas City West KOA
We left our house around 10:00 am heading on I49 to Independence, Kansas where we spent one night at the Kansas City West KOA. Our refrigerator had to be worked on after our last trip because it wasn't working on the propane setting. It worked well now. We found out that it wasn't hooked up correctly and has actually caused a small fire. Glad it didn't burn the RV up. We got to the KOA about 4:00 pm. This was just an okay RV park, but it will do for one night.
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| RV site at KOA |
We fixed chicken alfredo for dinner and then watched some shows on Amazon Prime.
Monday - September 4, 2023 Ponca State Park, Nebraska
I got up early and there was a pretty sunrise. We had breakfast then left the KOA by 8:00 am.
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| Sunrise |
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| Another view of the sunrise |
We took I24W to I75N to I29 in Iowa. We stopped at a Wal-Mart for supplies on our way to Ponca State Park in Nebraska. We stopped at the park office to check in and had to purchase a park pass that was $12/day on top of the cost for the campsite. The road signage for the park was not very good, but we finally found out way to our campsite. Before getting to our campsite we dumped our tanks and filled our water tank because we weren't sure that we would have a water hookup at our site. As it turned out we did have a water hookup, but water out of the tank was just fine.
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| Entrance into Ponca State Park |
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| Our campsite |
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| View of the campground from our site |
This is a nice park with lots of shade. At first we couldn't get our water pump to work, but I remembered that we probably needed to turn a valve and that did the trick. It was hot out - 97 degrees.
Tuesday - September 5, 2023
This was a nice morning. I cooked potato, egg, cheese, sausage burritos for breakfast. It was really good. We hiked on the road to the Riverfront campground and back, a total of three miles. This park is next to the Missouri River. The gnats were really bad in a lot of places.
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| On our hike next to the Missouri River |
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| Missouri River |
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| Another view of the river |
When we got back to the campsite, we both took naps, then had a shower. We had leftovers for dinner and sat around reading until time for bed.
Wednesday - September 6, 2023
It was cooler this morning. After breakfast we walked on the road to the Three State Overlook. I had figured out that it was closer to the overlook if we walked on the road. It was pretty steep up to the overlook, but not too bad a walk. On our way to the overlook we saw 3 turkeys and then a deer. The views of the river were nice, but it was very smokey because of wildfires in Nebraska.
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| View of the Missouri River from the overlook |
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| At the overlook |
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| Mike sitting on a bench in the park |
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| The overlook area |
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| Had to take a selfie at the selfie station |
We ate lunch at the overlook area then walked back to the RV. We hiked a total of four miles. I cooked chili for dinner since it was getting cooler.
Thursday - September 7, 2023 Oakwood Lakes State Park, South Dakota
We left our camp at Ponca State Park around 9:00 am. We stopped at a Wal-Mart to get supplies then had lunch at a Culver Butter Burger. It was a good burger. We arrived at Oakwood Lakes State Park in South Dakota by 3:00 pm. We stayed at this park one other time. It is a nice park with hookups and is in a good location for an overnight stay. After setting up camp we walked to the dock ond on a trail next to a lake. We didn't stay outside very long because the yellow jackets kept buzzing around us.
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| Entrance to the park |
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| On the dock at Lake Tettonkaha |
Friday - September 8, 2023 Fort Ransom State Park, North Dakota
We left camp by 9:00 am driving to Fort Ransom State Park, North Dakota. It was a good driving day with clear, nice weather. We got to the state park by 2:00 pm and checked in at the office. We went to the water fill area in the campground only to find out the water was turned off. We had to go back to the visitor center and find the water filling station there. Our campsite was nice with electric hookup and plenty of shade.
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| Campsite at Fort Ransom State Park |
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| Sheyenne River |
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| Another view of the river - it was pretty dingy |
Sodbuster Days were occurring this weekend so the campground filled up by nighttime. I fixed baked potato and chili for dinner. We tried to sit outside, but after I got buzzed by three yellow jackets we decided to go in for the night.
Saturday - September 9, 2023
I got up early and was rewarded with a beautiful sunrise. I walked across the road and up to the group campsite to view the sunrise by the Sheyenne River.
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| Sunrise by the Sheyenne River |
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| Another sunrise view |
Mike and I layed around all morning and I made chicken salad for lunch. After lunch we hiked 2 1/2 miles on a trail by the Sheyenne River and by the Visiter Center. The trees here were getting very pretty. We saw several leopard frogs while we were hiking. They are pretty frogs.
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| View of trees from the trail |
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| View of Sheyenne River from the trail |
The weather was cooling off by the evening which made for good sleeping.
Sunday - September 10, 2023
It got really cold overnight so I got the electric heater out when I got up and turned it on. I fried eggs and sausage and made toast for breakfast. After lunch we hiked 2 3/4 miles on the Penderson Hill Trail and the Oak Ridge Trail. It was a nice trail and a nice day for a hike.
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| Mike at the trail head sign. |
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| Mary on top of Penderson Hill |
Monday - September 11, 2023 Turtle River State Park, North DakotaWe left Fort Ransom State Park about 10:30 am after breaking camp and dumping the tanks. Google maps took us on a dirt road for about 10 miles. That is really aggravating. It rained on us a little while we drove. We got to Turtle River State Park around 1:00 pm. We ate lunch then walked around the camp ground a little. This is a nice park and our campsite was nice. We were even able to sit outside without having yellow jackets bothering us. The bathhouse here is nice and new. We will probably take our showers there while at this park.
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| Entrance into the park |
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| Our Campsite |
Tuesday - September 12, 2023
It got really cold overnight, but it wasn't bad in the RV since we had the heater going. After lunch we hiked 2.6 miles on the Raven Ravine Trail. This was a really nice hike.
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| Mike on the trail |
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| A view on the trail |
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| Enjoying our hike |
I cooked soup and cornbread for dinner. A nice meal for a cold night. So far we really like this state park.
Wednesday - September 13, 2023
It was cold again overnight. We ate breakfast then sat in the RV reading until lunch time. It was too cold to hike in the morning. After lunch we hiked 3.6 miles on the Keystone Bridge, Hollow River, And Raven Ravine Trails. These were nice trails and we had a good hike.
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| Turtle River |
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| Mike by the river |
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| Interesting fungi |
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| Mary on the trail |
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| Mike and Mary by the Turtle River |
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| Turtle River |
After we got back to the RV we both took showers in the camp bathhouse. These were really nice facilities. Overall this was a really good day.
Thursday - September 14, 2023 International Peace Gardens and Lake Metigoshe SP, North Dakota
We left camp at 9:00 am. It was raining really hard while we were unhooking and dumping our tanks. Of course, it quit raining shortly afterward. We stopped at the Wal-Mart at Devil's Lake for supplies then ate lunch at the Hardee's there. On our way to Lake Metigoshe we stopped at the International Peace Garden. When we went through the US customs, we missed the entrance into the park and drove into Canada and had to clear Canadian customs. The Peace Park was really pretty with beautiful flowers. We hiked a mile on a trail through the gardens then took a scenic drive in the Manitoba, Canada portion of the park. This was well worth the side trip.
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| Mary is in the US and Mike is in Canada |
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| Entrance to the park |
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| A weather dial |
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| Mike by the weather dial |
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| Mary at dial |
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| View of trees on the hike |
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| Mike in front of pretty flowers |
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| Mary in front of flowers |
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| A last view in the gardens |
We got to our campsite at Lake Metigoshe State Park in North Dakota by 3:30 pm. This is a really nice park and our campsite was great.
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| Trees were getting pretty |
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| Campsite at Lake Metigoshe |
Friday - September 15, 2023
It was another cool morning. After lunch we hiked 2 1/2 miles on the Oak Trail by Lake Metigoshe. At the end we walked the road back to our campsite and saw two deer in the campsite next to ours. We saw some pretty views and the leaves were changing colors a lot.
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| View of pretty foliage |
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| More foliage |
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| Lake Metigoshe |
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| Mike enjoying the hike |
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| Mary with Lake Metigoshe |
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| Lake Metigoshe with Canada in the background |
After we got back Eric called and we decided to cancel the rest of our trip and head home. We'll go to the other places at another time.
Saturday - September 16, 2023
We left camp fairly early headed home. It was a nice travel day. We spent the night at the Bismarck KOA in North Dakota. We both took showers then watched the Razorback Football game.
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| Campsite at the Bismarck KOA |
Sunday - September 17, 2023
We left the KOA early and headed to the Sioux Falls KOA in South Dakota. It was another nice travel day.
Monday - September 18, 2023
Before we left the KOA we dumped both tanks and flushed the black water tank. We won't be using the RV any more until next spring. We drove 7 hours to the Drury Inn in Independance, Missouri. We like staying at a Drury Inn because they have free drinks, dinner, and breakfast. Traffic in Kansas City was pretty heavy, but we managed it okay.
Tuesday - September 19, 2023
Nothing much to write about this day. We left the Drury Inn after breakfast and took I49 from Kansas City, Missouri until we reached the exit for Prairie Grove. We made it home around 3:30 pm. This was a shortened version of our trip, but we had fun anyway.
