Square Dancing RV'rs: June 2011

Superior, Wisconsin

We here in Wisconsin, but not for long. We'll cross into Minnesota in a few minutes. We went to Mackinac Island on Tuesday. We took our bikes on a ferry to the island. There are no cars on the island - only bikes and horse drawn carriages. They island is about 8 miles in circumference. We saw Fort Mackinac on the island. It's very well done. This was the first place attacked by the British in the war of 1812. The American troops immediately surrendered as they were completely overtaken and surrounded by many more British and Indians than they had at the fort.

We've had a busy few weeks. We're heading west and hope to make to Theodore Roosevelt NP in North Dakota tomorrow (Friday).

Ford Museum, Detroit, Michigan

Greenfield Village

Earlly 1900 village near the Ford Museum in Detroit,Michigan

Bagley Street

Greenfield Village, Detroit. My maiden name is Bagley

60th Square Dance Convention

We just finished attending the 60th National Square Dance Convention in Detroit, Michigan. They had approximately 3730 dancers. We are working on the 61st National as Secretary for the Registration Committee. While in Detroit we worked our registration booth to get those attending in Detroit to sign up for our convention in 2012 in Spokane. During the course of the convention our committee signed up about 400 dancers to come to Spokane. We now have about 3210 dancers already registered for 2012.

We also had some time to dance. We danced on Tuesday night to Jerry Story, Tony Oxydine, Ken Bower, and Gary Shoemake - all really great callers. We found that the afterparties - dances at 10:00 were the place to dance to lots of national callers all in one place.

We stayed at the Detroit Marriott Renassaince Center. We used their People Mover (a monorail) to get back and forth to the convention center. Sunday we drove back to the campground where the fifth wheel and Buddy were staying, loaded up and headed north. We'll be in Mackinac City today where we'll spend a couple of days.

RVMH Museum, Elkhart, Indiana

Camping vehicle early 1900

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Bob at Wall Drug

The only time he can get away with leaning on a boob

Me at Wall Drug

Summer trip

While in South Dakota we visited Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, and the Mammoth Site. All of these places are very interesting. We never knew there was so much to do in such a small area of South Dakota.

After leaving the Black Hills of South Dakota we stopped at famous Wall Drug. It's not really all that exciting, but since the freeway is so close you have to stop. We continued on through South Dakota and stopped at the Corn Palace, Mitchell, South Dakota. Another one of those stops you have to do at least once (but not terribly exciting).

Next we drove to the ice cream capital of the world, Le Mars, Iowa. It's the home of Blue Bunny Ice Cream. They have a fancy new ice cream parlor right in the middle of town, so yes we did have to indulge! Iowa has some of the worst roads we have ever used. Of course, we were on highways and not on the Interstate.

We continued on east through Illinois and Indiana and are now in Michigan. Whew - that was a long drive. We'll be attending the National Square Dance convention in Detroit while Buddy stays behind in a campground about an hour from the city. The campground owners will watch over him.

Lightening in South Dakota

Tusks from Mammoth Site, Hot Springs, South Dakota

Box work formation at Wind Cave

Crazy Horse in South Dakota

Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota

Sylvan Lake in the Black Hills of South Dakota

Memorial at Battle of Little Big Horn

Bob in South Dakota

Trip to Detroit, Michigan

In May, I flew to AZ to see my dad. We stopped by to see mom's gravesite at the National Cemetary north of Phoenix. My mom had been in the Waves for 2 1/2 years during the war years. For most of those years in the service she was stationed in Washington D.C., which is where she and my dad were married. My dad turned 90 this past December.

We're on our way to Detroit for the National Square Dance Convention. We left home on June 8th, 2011 and in three days we have arrived in South Dakota. We stopped at Little Bighorn National Monument in Montana on the way. We drove south through the Black Hills. We're now about 20 miles from Mount Rushmore. Our plan is to see Mt Rushmore, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, and Custer State Park. We'll be busy over the next few days, so stay tuned for some new pictures.