Al's Oasis, Oacoma, SD

Not as famous as Wall Drug, but similar, is Al’s Oasis in Oacoma, SD. Like Wall Drug, you see signs for Al’s Oasis along I-90 for miles before you arrive. You descend the bluff high above the Missouri River in anticipation of the grandeur of Al’s, the river is gorgeous as you cross and climb the opposite bluff. There it is! Built to look like a western town front, Al’s turns out to be a nice supermarket and shops featuring clothing, gifts and books that focus on South Dakota and Indian life. There is also a restaurant that looks like it can accommodate busloads.

All is within walking distance of the campground that is a part of all this enterprise. We needed some groceries so we made the walk, and got a burger at the restaurant while we were at it. Aside from being very convenient to the river and the activities it provides, this is not a distenation campground. It is a great stop along the rather sparsely populated I-90, however. The essentials of level sites and full hook-ups are here, and the staff is friendly. They offer a nice discount to campers if they purchase fuel across the street. The only downside is the proximity to the interstate, but that is true of most campgrounds accessible for easy overnight stops. We would stop here again. 

View towards river from campsite

Offutt AFB, Omaha, NE

We continued on our way to Spearfish, SD and tonight stopped in the campground at Offutt AFB in Omaha. The facility is just off the base and is on the shores of a 144-acre lake. A Wounded Warrior Care Project is underway this week, and cycling entrants were practicing on the facility roads. These events are meant to acquaint wounded veterans with athletic opportunities that boost their confidence and physical well-being. It appears that the Wounded Warrior program supplies the cycles in this case, and there was an interesting array of modified cycles that accommodate the various challenges these veterans bring to the event. It is great to see such an event, and the participants appear to be enjoying the heck out of the activity.

The campground itself is nicely wooded, with concrete pads. Even with the trees on our site we managed to get satellite reception, which is quite important on Monday nights when Dancing With The Stars is underway. If we were staying longer there would be plenty to do. This is a nice fishing lake, evidently, and boats and gear are available for rent.

Tomorrow we head further north to Oacoma, SD on the Missouri River.

Danville, MO

We are on the road again for this year’s long trip, and stopped over in Danville, MO. We are staying at the Lazy Day Campground for the night. This is a very well cared for campground with nice amenities like a pool, and a few games like horseshoes and ladder toss.

Bella really had a ball with the other dogs in the nice dog park. 

The proprietor is quite the artist and has decorated the office and other building with her murals. Of particular interest are the woodcarvings that are distributed throughout the campground. It appears that when a tree is damaged by storms a local artist carves them into sculptures similar to totems. The guy is pretty good with a chainsaw.

Camp Lake Jasper, Hardeeville, SC

As promised, we are back at Camp Lake Jasper in Hardeeville, SC. We stopped in here last Wednesday on our way to the Asheville area. This park is only three years old and they have done a wonderful job on their infrastructure. The laundry and bathhouse are both very nice, as is the pool. There is a nice deck area looking over Lake Jasper, and they offer rental kayaks. All of the roads are nicely paved, which is great.

 

There is a small camp store and free morning coffee.

Site 15 was pretty level and offered lots of space.

The laundry and bath house flank the very nice pool.

Nice deck overlooking Lake Jasper.

Disney, take note. This is how you ask folks not to swim in your lake.

Nice community fire pit.

It is not without problems, though. Our only complaint is the surface of the individual sites. Rather than crushed rock they used course sand that washes away in heavy rain. This leaves a substantial crown to at least the pull-through sites where we were. Enough sand washed away after the strong rain when we arrived last week that Barbara twisted her ankle when she stepped out of the coach. It is also tricky to get level since the sites drop off a good bit on the ends. We have seen coaches with the front wheels well off the ground. We are a shorter coach and managed to just barely get level on site seventeen. A previous visitor had sunk into the sand and left a large rut for us to navigate. We asked for a different site for our return today and are happy with site fifteen. The deep rut is still there on seventeen.

I talked to the very nice woman at the counter and she says there is new management. Revamping the sites with crushed stone is planned for this year. They have purchased a tractor to perform site maintenance. This is all good news, and we will plan to return in November. If you are reading this for ideas of where to stay in the Hardeeville area keep this place in mind. It is a very nice place if you don’t mind messing with leveling issues. It is an easy stop over when traveling I-95.

We have also stayed at the Hardeeville RV Park on Okatie Highway. It is $15 per night cheaper, not near I-95, and has no amenities at all. It is very convenient to Savannah, though. We will likely stay there again at some point since it is closer to friends that we like to visit as we come through here.

Postscript: 
After writing the above we took Bella out for a post-dinner walk. We found a nice trail that goes back in to property belonging to Jasper County Park. Along the way we disturbed a good sized gator. So, if you come with a small dog be vigilant.

Chimney Rock and Lake Lure, NC. And others.

We had a free day today and used it to goof off and see a little more of the area. Last night we drove to Black Mountain to join some of Barbara’s dog training friends for dinner at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Rechtine. Glenn and Joann recently completed their new home, and it was a pleasure to share their gorgeous view of the mountains.

 

View from Glenn & Joann's deck. Town of Black Mountain in background

We were not out that late, but did enjoy sleeping in this morning anyway. We took Bella out for a nice long walk, and then loaded her up for a drive in the country. We enjoy the back roads in this area. They travel through forest and apple orchards, and wind and twist their way through the mountains. We drove through the attractive community of Chimney Rock and stopped at Lake Lure to enjoy the lake views and let Bella take to the water. She was having fun in the water, but the local ducks were not too pleased. She wanted to get closer to the ducks and in her enthusiasm pulled Barbara in to the lake. Luckily she kept her balance and only ended up with an unintended wade in the muck and was only wet up to her knees. Bella on the other hand was soaked and happy as can be.

 

The Lake Lure beach was popular.

Before the ladies got wet.

We worked our way back towards Flat Rock by way of Columbus, Saluda and Tryon. It was scenic two lane roads all the way. It was a pleasant outing. If you happen through this area, and find yourself in Tyron, stop at the Huckleberry Restaurant for ice cream.

 

Bella watching as Barbara orders at Huckleberry's.

We start back towards home tomorrow by way of Hardeeville, SC. We will not be stopping at our normal campground since they were full through August second. We stopped at Camp Lake Jasper on the way up, and will do so on the way home as well. More on Camp Lake Jasper later.

East Flat Rock, NC. Yet again.

We are back in North Carolina for a reunion of the participants of last year’s dog training course. We had the day together before Barbara went off to a dinner with her friends, so we started with a fantastic Greek omelet at Kosta’s Restaurant in Fletcher, NC. We followed that up with a visit to the Sierra Nevada Brewery adjacent to the Asheville Airport.

The Brewery tours are evidently pretty popular, at least in the summer, because it turned out you needed reservations and they are booked about six weeks out. Bummer. We did the self-guided tour and had a good time anyway. They have a very large taproom and restaurant, but as nice as a beer sounded, it was still a little early for us to start drinking. We will save that for next time.

The Sierra Nevada Brewery story is one that I like. A couple guys start home brewing beer in their garage back in 1989 and after getting a couple of recipes right they thought that they might try to do it on a larger scale. They bought a storefront in Chico, CA and put together a ten-barrel operation. That grew and a taproom was added. Soon they were importing a salvaged 100-barrel brewing system from Germany. That facility was eventually doubled, and when demand continued to outstrip production, they built this beautiful new 200-barrel brewery here in North Carolina.

In this age where so many are looking for government handouts, or blaming everyone else for their financial situation, it is nice to read a story of a couple guys who went out there and made something happen. Thanks to them, not only were hundreds of jobs created, but also we all have some damned good beer to drink. God bless ‘em.

Victoria, BC

Ah, Victoria. This turned out to be a beautiful city and one that would be a pleasure to return to some day when we have more time. Everyone we met was very friendly.

Due to the time of our docking there would only be time for one formal excursion, but the late evening departure meant that we could spend a lot of time on our own. We chose to take a walking tour of the city that took us through residential neighborhoods, a magnificent park, and into the city center where it ended at the Parliament House and harbor. 

 

A little breezy as we started out along the shore.

 

Totems and long house at the museum.

As mentioned earlier, Fist Nation tribes were originally denied their cultural heritage. Potlatches were forbidden and tribes were displaced from the native lands. In the seventies, many totems were retrieved from where the tribes originally lived. It was an attempt to preserve that part of their culture, but many of these totems were badly deteriorated. A tribal chief, and skilled carver, began the task of faithfully recreating the more significant of those totems. A traditional long house was built to house the fabrication of the totems.

We explored Government Street where there were trendy shops and restaurants, and finally settled in at The Bard & Banker Pub, a repurposed historic bank building. Lunch and a flight of local craft beers were fantastic and left us in fine spirits (no pun intended) for the walk back to the ship.

 

The Bard & Banker Pub.

Government Street from Parliament House. Empress Hotel on right.

Barbara found a beach to comb on the way back. Sequim, WA in the background.

Since this was the last day on the ship, Barbara and Jocelyne spent the remainder of the afternoon making sure that none of the provided shipboard credits were left unspent. Each couple had $700 in credits and most of that was consumed at the Spa with massages and mani-pedis. The Regent Seven Seas cruises are all inclusive, and this relieves you of any thoughts of cost for any on-board services or tips. The credit also allows the occasional extravagance at dinner for premium wines, or perhaps to enjoy an evening Cuban cigar and cognac without worrying about your trip budget.

 

Jocelyne and Barbara after a session at the spa.

Toasting a wonderful cruise in one of the lounges before dinner.

Dinner on our last night was a return to the Signatures restaurant, one of two premium reservations only restaurants on board. Signatures specializes in French cuisine, while Prime 7 is a steak house. In addition to reservations, jackets were required for the gentlemen. Getting a bit dressed up was fitting for celebrating the completion of a very enjoyable cruise.

As a final note, I must highly recommend Regent Seven Seas cruises. This was my first cruise. I had resisted in the past because I just could not see how spending a week cooped up with two thousand people on a ship could be fun, let alone relaxing. The size of the Regent ships is much more reasonable. All the key amenities you expect such as live entertainment, fine dining, casual dining, a casino, spa, pool, etc. are there. There were 640 passengers and a crew of nearly 400. At no time did it feel crowded. At no time did we feel rushed. The crew at every level was very courteous and friendly. We had a marvelous time and left very relaxed and energized to return to the real world.