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Lewis and Clark Route by Parachute

Tuesday, July 6, 2004

It was a great day.  Pat, Leon and Butch showed up at the airport to get the PPC out of the hanger and saw us off by 6:30 A.M.  Pat caught up with a few miles out in his airplane and made a few passes.  Larry said as he was leaving airport he looked out the left door window of the pick up in time to see Pat flying along beside him.

We stopped at Sidney, MT to refuel and talk to a reporter.  I proceeded over the junction of the Yellowstone and the Missouri Rivers and crossed into North Dakota.  At the confluence, Larry called and had me make a low fly over at the visitor's center for the benefit of the people there.  They seemed to enjoy it.  We refueled at New Town and Garrison while following the Missouri River.

Yellowstone - Missouri River

Range land in ND

More of North Dakota

I planned to stop on the outskirts of Bismark, but with a small tail wind I was able to go all the way across the border into McLauglan, South Dakota.  We had covered all of North Dakota in one day.  I could have gone on to Mobridge, South Dakota but Larry was held up by road construction.

When I landed, Dallas Schot and three of his eight children arrived after seeing the PPC come in to the airport.  He is a local rancher and stockyard operator.  When Larry finally got there, Dallas invited us to go home with him for dinner.  His wife Dee was most gracious.

After dinner, Dallas and his son, Max, took us to their snowmobile and took all three springs off the manifold to put on our engine.  The three springs broke off one at a time during the day.  They invited us to stay the night.  What a terrific family.  We certainly have met some fantastic people on this trip.

The recent rains have certainly turned this whole state of North Dakota into a green carpet.  The scenery all the way from the Pacific has been worth the trip.

Confluence - Montana side

Confluence - North Dakota side

We were told the Lewis and Clark group liked the Mandan area.  They were reluctant to leave after staying with the Mandan Indians.

I estimate we covered 390 air miles today.  We stayed in Mobridge, South Dakota tonight.  The ride was very good today, not much turbulence despite scattered clouds most of the day.  There were some mild up and down drafts but only one was unusual.  I didn't notice entering it and couldn't believe the rate of climb indicator when it said I was in an up draft at 1300 feet per minute.

Bob

Wednesday, July 7, 2004

Last night we stayed in Mobridge, S.D.  We asked for a 4:30 wakeup call not realizing we had just crossed into Central time zone.  We arrived at the airport in McLaughlan by 4:45 and off at 5 A.M.  We were sorry Dallas and Max were expecting us to be a little later and wanted to watch the take off.  We knew the wind was going to be against us, so the sooner the start the further we could go.

South Dakota morning

We refueled at Mobridge.  It took an hour and a half to go 24 miles.  We got another forty miles to Gettysburg, SD to refuel again.  Lonnie, his wife Sue and son, Austin Burnham, met us on landing.  They run the local spray service and are the fixed base operators at the airport.  Lonnie furnished some small parts and special wire for the exhaust springs and even put them on and wouldn't take anything for it or the extra wire he sent with us.

Lonnie checked the computer for local weather.  It showed increasing SE wind through the day.  We didn't feel it was worth going further.  We only made 90 miles today.

South Dakota Farm

We parked the PPC in his hanger and left the door unlocked so we can get it early in the morning.  We got a much needed meal and a nap this P.M.  My cell phone worked for the first time in a few days.  Larry found the GPS in the pickup that we thought was stolen two days ago.

Bob

Thursday, July 8, 2004

Woke up to rain and low clouds this AM.  It didn't take long to decide we were not going anywhere today.  We caught up on sleep and went back to the airport to use their computer to let everyone know where we are.

Lonnie and Sue have been ever so helpful and accommodating during our stay.  The whole population of Gettysburg is the same way.  In the grocery store everyone you meet says "Hi."  All the vehicle drivers wave as they pass.

We visited their local museum in which the famous "Medicine Rock" is now protected from more erosion.  Because of the footprints on the surface the Indians believed it to be sacred.  Sandra Ackerman was on duty and is an asset to the community with a friendly helpfulness that made our tour very pleasant.

When Sandra found out what we were doing, she called David Clausen, the newspaper editor.  He was over in 10 minutes to talk with us and went to the airport to photograph the PPC.

Bob

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