Finished with North and almost South Dakota

Friday, July 20th

Nothing but driving today.

Nowhere but on Rt. 281S from Jamestown, ND to Mitchell, SD - which is flat, not much traveled and not much to see except for how the farmers are suffering here - no rain in 6 weeks in South Dakota.  Corn being ground for silage already.

Had time to remember my childhood vacations on Grandpa Kast's farm:

• fields of tomatoes and plates full of them at every meal (peeled and sliced and with a little sugar)
• picking cabbage seedlings in the muck and watching the planters popping them into the soil back on the farm
• fresh peaches on ice cream for dessert or cereal at breakfast
• going to the field to pick fresh peas and sitting on the back porch shelling them for dinner and freezing
• making jam and canning peaches and pickled cherries
• the best bacon in the world from their own pigs smoked in their own smoke house - salty and thick and after you nibbled the bacon right up to the rind you sucked on the rind
• plenty of sweet corn on the cob after you husked it and removed ALL of the silk
• milk coming in after milking the cows
• the cookie tins were always filled with apple-oatmeal cookies and graham cookies with a whole walnut half on top from the tree outside the back door.  And for special occasions the hickory nut cake with 7 minute frosting and each piece was designated by a hickory nut.

And that was just about the food produced on the farm.

DATA:

mileage:      265                       gas:  $42  @  $3.60                       camp:  $24
temp:  106 (heat advisory until Tues. night!!)