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Borrego Springs, CA

Monday, September 15, 2014

Here we are in Bismarck

There was only one slight glitch to our leaving Tamarac this morning.  Because of the cold weather, I had put off crawling under the rig to spray and clean the levelers.  Of course, when I went to pull them up, two of them wouldn’t come all the way up.  Luckily the sun came back this morning, and the job wasn’t too bad.  Hardest part was getting back up after crawling under each one.

We had a nice uneventful drive of 258 miles to Bismarck, ND.  Along the way we passed the world’s largest bison, and the world’s largest sandhill crane.  Couldn’t get any pictures, but tomorrow we’re planning ahead to get a picture of Salem Sue the World’s Largest Holstein Cow. 

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Shortly after 3:00, we arrived at Hillcrest Acres Campground.  This place will never get the congeniality award in my book.  What a crabby lady in the office.  I had emailed in a reservation last week because I knew the place had a lot of permanent oil/gas workers staying here.  They never acknowledged the reservation, and when we called twice along the way today no one was in the office.  We did get two voice mails that said I didn’t have a reservation, and when we got there the women was put out that we hadn’t paid a deposit ahead of time.  For Pete’s sake, we tried!  She said she had one site left with only electric…30 amp.  I took it.  We’re only staying overnight, but I probably wouldn’t stay here again. 

We had a nice dinner of smoked pork loin, sweet potatoes, and pineapple slices.  Our plans for tomorrow include arriving in Medora outside of Theodore Roosevelt Nat’l Park for three nights.  Besides Salem Sue, I’m hoping to visit some other roadside treats along the way.  Then when we get set up, I have an important phone call to make to Oregon.  More about that when I know the results.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

27 comments:

  1. So do they not need the overnight business anymore since they have so many oil guys there? Honestly. Put a review on RV Parks Review. There is no excuse for being that rude regardless of what kind of a day you're having.

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  2. Glad your day was uneventful....except for the crabby ol' lady at the campgrounds!!! Safe travels tomorrow!

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  3. The park can be the nicest park you have been to but if you are greeted by somebody that is crabby or grumpy , you very quickly forget all the great things about the park. We always try to make a good first impression here at the park we are managing.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  4. Glad you made your first stop safe and sound.

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  5. If that woman had said that to me I would have told her to keep her site even if it meant Camp Walmart for the night.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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  6. Glad to hear you are on your way safely. Sorry you didn't get to stop at world's largest bison and largest sandhill crane but I'm sure you'll make up for it. Will love finding out how you like TRNP. As for the campground, glad to know about it and agree with Jim and Sandie that you should put up an RV Parks review. The oil worker business won't last forever but rude treatment of a paying guest will go a long way to discourage business.

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  7. There is never a reason to be rude. If you are going to act that way get out of the customer service business. Find something else or change your attitude.
    Glad that you are finally on your way. Safe travels!

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  8. Glad you are rolling, and have arrived safely at your first destination. . .

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  9. Well, it would be 'cool beans' if you ended up in Oregon eventually!!!

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  10. I believe I have read a blog were they also complained about that park and the fact the they made a reservation and was told they didn't. Good to put these places out there to warn folks.

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  11. Oregon? Sounds intriguing! Safe travels to you and The Nurse.

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  12. The first time we went to Crown Villa in Bend, OR the guy manning the desk YELLED at me when I called for directions. He YELLED AT ME for not getting directions from their website. Then when I got there he yelled at me some more for having a bad attitude. WTH? Cranky front office staff really need to be removed. Impressions like that are hard to remove.

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  13. I would write a letter to the owner of the campground...unless of course she is the cranky owner! I know the oil patch people make lots of people cranky...but still. She shouldn't be in that business if she doesn't like people and communications with them:)

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  14. On the road again.......safe travels ........

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  15. Looking forward to the picture of Sue- travel safe.

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  16. Speaking of Theodore Roosevelt. There is a wonderful series on right now about the Roosevelts. It is on Sunday nights on PBS. This past Sunday was the first show. It was excellent. Just a heads up.

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  17. Glad you had Nurse Ratchet along in case that campground lady gave you too much of a hard time. He could have given her a taste of her own medicine... ;c)

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  18. I hope you put a review on RV Park Reviews ... a shame people can't be gracious ... especially when they are at fault. Had a similar problem at a hotel in Anchorage ... they wouldn't pick up the phone when we called for the airport shuttle as instructed. After several tries gave up and took a cab to the hotel. The front desk person was uppity when I mentioned we had tried to call for the shuttle. Would have gone to another hotel, but it was almost midnight and didn't want to deal with looking for another place for just the one night.

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  19. I had to check out Hillcrest Acres Campground. The first thing I saw was Family Friendly and the Children Activities. That would have been enough for me, I'm not staying there. I would not have made it to the front desk to be confronted by some crabby woman.

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  20. ND has so much business due to the oil drilling that it is very difficult to find friendly motel/campground personnel. My experiences were much different in the eastern part of the state, however, the most friendly folks I've ever come in contact with!

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  21. I'm surprised that you were willing to stay there with that kind of treatment!

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  22. Sounds like a definite 1-night stop kind of place.

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  23. So excited you are on the road. I am really looking forward to your adventures! Of course we are all eagerly waiting to hear about the Oregon call...

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  24. Crappy or crabby people have no business being in the service industry. They get found out sooner or later... and OUT they go!

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  25. love the idea of that phone call to Oregon! :) Medora is a sweet little place. Mo's great aunt is buried there so we went to the cemetery, only to ask a local lady if she knew where such and such might be and turns out she was a best friend of the great aunt!!! The oil industry is making a mess of North Dakota....are jobs and dirty money really worth it?

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  26. I have no problem with dirty money. Dirty jobs are a different thing entirely.

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  27. Actually a big fat zero night stay kinda place. We had a horrible 1 night stay there, without a 1 night deposit we would have left. We did shorten our stay. Will pay KOA prices if Bismarck is ever in our plans again.

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