Trailer is fixed

Well our trailer is now fixed and we have a very solid axle. As we were driving through Indiana we stopped in a small southern Michigan town to get food for the kids for breakfast. In the process of waiting Zach discovered that one of the tires was totally flat.

At this point Frank tried to put the spare tire (that came with the trailer) on to the trailer. When trying to change the spare tire Frank realized he could not without a new tire as the trailer has a hub set for 6 lug nuts and the tire was set for 5 lug nuts. hmm a combo that would not work.

Wal-Mart did not have the needed tire size for the trailer, so Frank was sent over to the Tractor Store. Back to Wal-Mart he went to get the tire changed to the old (bent warped) rim and placed back on the trailer.

While this was happening I started serving the kids some of the sweet rice we had mixed with sugar, butter, and had added raisins and milk to.

Once we got back on the road we had several kids that had eaten and finished their breakfast there in Michigan, while others started in Michigan and finished in Indiana.

We arrived to Aberdeen WA without much further issues with the trailer. That is UNTIL Poppy helped Frank with the other tire that needed replacing too. He saw the condition of the hub and decided if that hub was bad he HAD to look at the other hub. At this point the search for trailer hubs was on. Without successfully finding anything to make Poppy happy he had our trailer loaded onto his trailer, and we followed them to CA.

While here in CA Poppy and Frank we able to find not only the hubs, but the axle they needed to fix the trailer. The springs were still good so we did not have to buy new springs as well. The final cost down here in CA (still a small town) was significantly cheaper than if we had purchased just the axle/hub set alone.

We will be leaving here tomorrow and heading eastward starting tomorrow.

Wild West Town

Donley's Wild West Town is a place for the whole family to enjoy. Started in 1974 by the Donley family as a museum to display their antique collection, the Wild West Town has become a family amusement park for the younger children.  

Our kids loved the canoe ride, panning for gold pyrite at the Sweet Phyllis Mine, shooting slingshots at Huck Finn's, pony rides, hand powered carts, animal farm, and watching a live action Wild West Show.  The museum is fill with fascinating artifacts from the Old West and invention & technology from the great period of the late 1800's.  

 Standing in front of a stuffed buffalo. Ava was not sure what to think of the smell as this had a different smell than anything she had ever experienced.

 hand powered cart,

 statue

 train engineer dad got

 watching kids ride the pony's

about to slide with Ava

Corn Palace

The Corn Palace is a one of a kind place that serves not only as an agricultural tribute to the heritage of South Dakota. The Corn Palace also hosts a performance stage and sports arena. Every year the exterior decorations are removed and new murals matching the current theme replace past murals. Additionally local artists design, create, and attach the murals to the Corn Palace.

The grasses, corn, and other grains are all locally grown simply for decorating the palace. Local growers have developed 13 shades of corn grown specifically for decorating the palace, which include red, brown, black, blue, white, orange, calico, yellow, and green. The corn, grain, and grasses are all dried, cut, and bundled (as needed), then the corn is cut in half then they are all stapled onto the outside of the building.