Getting There

Glendive and Havre, MT  August 20 - 23, 2013

Since Montana is the fourth largest state in the union we divided the drive with two stops.  Of course we made the drive a bit longer by going through North Dakota in order to fill that state in on our map!  The first stop was in a town called Glendive, MT at an RV park called Riverview.  Sounds nice doesn't it?  Well as Peg says "Put the emphasis on 'Dive'".  We were supposed to stay two nights to give us time to rest up and grocery shop, but after we pulled into our site adjacent to a train depot - not just tracks mind you, a depot; we quickly ran to the grocery store, moved all of our future reservations up a day and made preparations to head back out the next morning.  By the next morning we couldn't get out of there fast enough.  The train depot was active all night long with engines running and whistles blowing.  Truly unbelievable.

Taken from our door without zoom!

The drive from Glendive to Havre, MT was easy and the Evergreen campground was a pleasant surprise.  I backed into our nice private site with only one surprise - we were missing a tire!  Somewhere between getting gas in Glasgow and arriving in Havre we had another blow out or should I say "blow off".  We didn't see or hear anything, but the tire was completely gone.  We called Good Sam Roadside Assistance AGAIN and they sent out Whalen Tires very promptly.  We decided to have both tires on that side replaced as a safety measure and Justin said it was a good thing because the remaining tire was definitely showing wear.  Luckily there was no additional damage this time and the rim was held off the ground by the remaining tire.  We went searching for the scene of the blow out trying to find our tire laying by the side of the road somewhere and could not find where it happened so I must have been driving tireless for quite a while.  So, the next time you see a 5th wheel driving down the road missing one of their 4 tires please try to get someone's attention.  We would have appreciated a "hey lady did you know you were missing a tire"?  We enjoyed our two night stay and rested up for the remaining drive to Glacier National Park.

Georgia Mossy still hangin' in there...6 months later

Hay There and Everywhere!

Are we there yet?

Blow out number three.  You can see what is left of the tire on the rim.

Evergreen true to it's name

 

 

Coming soon.... Glacier National Park

Rush No More

Hermosa, SD  August 15 - 20, 2013

We made the easy drive from Chamberlain to Hermosa, South Dakota loving the wide open spaces of the mid-west.  Nice open highways with relatively little population.  The highway was filled with billboards mostly touting the promises of "Wall Drug".  Supposedly this is an amazing tourist attraction with everything from cowboy gear, to dinosaur hunting, to ice cream and panning for gold.  We did not stop, but were very entertained by the hundreds of billboards and no two the same!

We arrive at the Heartland RV Park just ahead of four huge RV's from Texas all traveling together with their motorcycles in tow.  It is a very nice big park right next to a large ranch with a herd of horses roaming and grazing.  Zoe loved chasing and howling at the horses.  We sat down to plan our four days in the area as there is so much to see and we were not disappointed.

Horse neighbors

 

Beautiful view from our campsite

 

Mount Rushmore was just as amazing as we expected.  We started at the Borglum museum to get the background of the sculptor/artist responsible for the idea and initiation of Mt. Rushmore.  We watched a short movie detailing the fourteen year process of planning and sculpting Mt. RM and to see a large exhibit of his art and other sculptures.  This was the same man responsible for Stone Mountain in Georgia which we also visited while in Atlanta.  He was a very passionate man, about his art and his country.  We couldn't help but wonder what these four presidents, responsible for the foundation and democracy of our government, would think of the current state of our country.  There are several viewing areas to see the huge granite faces from all angles.  The sculpture was actually supposed to be more than just their faces and include their torso's, but Borglum died and his son decided that the rest of mountain's surface wasn't suitable. Much of the remaining granite was way too brittle.  As it was, Teddy Roosevelt is recessed 200 feet from the other faces as that is how far back they had to go to find stable enough granite to carve.

Lincoln sculpture by Borglum.  Peg always wanted to hold hands with Lincoln!

No explanation needed, here you can see how far back Teddy is from the rest of the gang.

 

Original sculpture plan.  They took measurements on the ground from these statues and radioed up the dimensions to the guys with the jackhammers.

Crazy Horse is a sculpture in process in another area of the Black Hills commemorating the Indian Chief of the area.  This sculpture is being completed by the tribe without the help of government funds and is moving very slowly.  We drove by, but decided not to tour up close mainly because of the $20 entrance fee, Mt. RM was only $11.00.  I think it will be impressive if they ever get it completed.

The Black Hills are filled with quaint little western towns with lots of tourist attractions; railroad museums, trail rides, gold mining, wild west shows and other museums.  We drove several scenic loops through the beautiful Black Hills including one that had two tunnels through the mountains that were 8' 4" wide... eghad!  I pulled the mirrors in and held my breath.  It was worth it!  The rock formations and pinnacles in the area were breathtaking!  Peg visited the Museum at the Black Hills Institute which contained an enormous display of dinosaur fossils collected in the region while I walked Hill City.  She saw "Stan" the second largest and most complete fossil of a T. Rex found in Montana.  There was also an ancient sea turtle she said was the size of a king size mattress hanging from the ceiling.

Black Hills view

 

A sampling of the pinnacles

 

Watch for falling rocks

Seriously... a tunnel. 8 feet 4 inches wide

In the middle of the Black Hills is Custer State Park.  A beautiful area with several lakes and roads that wind through the park including one called the Wildlife Loop.  This was the first time we actually saw all of the promised wildlife; pronghorns, burros, prairie dogs, bison, coyotes, and bighorn sheep.  It was so fun.  Prairie dogs act just like that arcade game popping up and down out of their holes and you are suppose to hit them with a soft mallet before they jump back down into their holes.  We got out and watched and entire community scurrying about, they were all making the cutest little chirping noise.  We even saw attempted bison sex, she schooched out from under him in the nick of time!  We took the dogs on a strenuous hike near the French Creek and were treated to some beautiful views of the area. 

One from a herd of burros wandering in the road

Took us 20 min to get thru the bison, really neat to look out the window and see them up close.  You could hear them breathe and snort.  Oh, you could smell them too!

Up close and personal

 

                                     
                                                        Pronghorn - a type of antelope

 

Prairie Dogs - so cute

 

MK's Family Trail :)

The colors in the hills are vibrant. Red color is due to iron in the sediment.

The south end of the Black Hills contains another national park called Wind Cave.  It is a very unique cave as the water that once was present to form the cave originally left the area completely during the uplift of the tectonic plates that formed the Black Hills.  Now there is no water present so there are no stalactites or stalagmites that form from thousands of years of mineral rich dripping water.  There is a unique formation called boxwork.  It is a thin lattice structure, made of calcite attached to the ceiling and it looks like the inside of a wine box divided by corrugated cardboard.  95% of all the boxwork formations are in this cave.  The remaining 5% are in Canada and some in Europe. Scientists are still trying to figure out exactly how it formed and why it was not destroyed by the carbonic acid that contributed to the cave formation.  The cave system is huge and it was a great tour.  The south end also contains a huge Mammoth excavation site that has been enclosed in a museum building, but the fossils have been left in place.  26,000 years ago these Mammoth's and other animals fell into a sinkhole and were immediately buried in sediment.  As the bones were protected from the environment and that nasty oxygen they were found in pristine condition.  62 Columbian and woolly mammoths have been unearthed and there is still 60 feet below this layer yet to be probed.

Boxwork formation

 

Mammoth tusks and bones

See him smiling at you?

The Badlands were about an hour's drive from our campsite, but something we had to see.  The visitor center was great showing exactly how they were formed and what makes up each colored layer.  This area looks so different from the neighboring Black Hills.  We drove the 30 mile scenic drive stopping at all of the outlooks.

 

It is a fantastic part of the country with so many different things to see and do.  We really enjoyed our time here.

Coming soon.... Glacier National Park, Montana.

Where does all of the corn go?

Kansas City, KS  August 9 - 11, 2013

We said good-bye to Pat and Carol with heavy hearts and a few tears.  We had such a great time and no one can compete with Carol for hostess with the most-ess.  Thanks Carol and Pat for all of the wonderful meals, conversation and laughter.  It was a much needed family boost. 

We decided to stop in Kansas City, Kansas so that we could see Melissa and Jerad's house and get one more fix from our 5 H's.  On the morning of our departure it was pouring rain!  And we had neither cell-phone nor internet nor T.V. to check the forecast.  I drove through two "rivers" to get to the adjacent restaurant (Papa Chubby's - Who's motto is "You can't beat our meat" - seriously) to see what they knew, but their T.V.'s were also knocked out.  I drove back to the rig while chanting "Turn Around Don't Drown".  Since the rain all week didn't seem to last very long we decided to wait a while instead of trying to drive on the little, windy roads - some gravel.  Fortunately it stopped around 12:30 and we were on the road by 1:00.  The drive was uneventful until we reached the Walnut Grove RV park - "The only game in town".  When I made the reservation I was told that the pull through sites were too tight for us and that she would help me get into the back-in spot.  The site was very wide, but only long enough to barely fit us and there were big rigs both across the "road" and adjacent.  UGH.  Peg got out to protect my nose and the park manager directed me into the spot.  For once the help was welcome and actually helpful.  It was a very small RV Park, but it did have a nice area in the back for the dogs.  We spent Saturday with the Adams family and had a great time. Their new house is fabulous and fits all 7 of them, Astro the Great Dane and Holly the Beagle very comfortably.  The basement of this house is fantastic.  Complete with Hannah's spacious room, Astro's bed, Jerad's "man cave", a kitchen and ping pong table.  Jerad has a sign on his man cave that says "No pink, No drama, No girls".  That means only he and Astro can go in there!  The back yard is spacious and houses, 5 box turtles all captured from Noni and Gpa's new lake house, a pumpkin patch, Jerad's garden and a trampoline.  We brought along five loads of laundry as our last park didn't have laundry and Carol's septic was flooded from all of the rain.  Grateful for Melissa's large machines!  We were able to go to HelenRose's first soccer game of the season.  This is her first year with a goalie on the field and she was brave enough to take a shot at it herself.  She proved to be a very quick study, blocking shots and throwing the ball to her open teammates.  It was a lot of fun and reminded me of all of the great days I spent watching Alex play soccer.  We returned home to find Jerad slaving away in the kitchen preparing our gourmet feast of Guinness Beef Pot Pie, which you have to prepare while you drink a Guinness - It was fabulous. After our wonderful meal we sat around the big family table and chatted about life which can't be done without awesome wine!  What a great family!  Hannah, we hope you had a great first day of high school.

Really?  Not a turd in the bunch!

 Left to Right:  Hadley, HelenRose, Jerad, Hilary, Melissa, Hope and Hannah 

Big family needs a big dog.  Astro and Hannah

Professional goalie in our future?  Great game HelenRose!

Onawa, Iowa  August 11 - 13, 2013

We hit the road to start our trek to Mount Rushmore.  We have decided we really only like to drive about 250 - 300 miles at a stretch and that a two night stay is perfect to rejuvenate us.  We also are trying to hit as many states as possible.  Since we started our U.S. sticker map we have become a little obsessed with hitting all of the states.  We chose Onawa, Iowa partly because it was 5 miles from Nebraska and partly because the name of the RV park was On-Ur-Wa... get it?  On your way?  It turned out to be a great stop.  A very nice park with the longest pull through spots I have ever seen.  We used our off day to drive into Nebraska to take a hike in the Pelican Point State Recreation Area.  We followed the signs and soon found ourselves Chaco'd - lost in the middle of acres of corn fields.  We turned around and headed back to the safety of Iowa.  We spent two hours driving in Nebraska so we earned that sticker!

Proof!

Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota?  Who knows?

Lillypads for our Lillypad back in Gloucester

Chamberlain, South Dakota  August 13 - 15, 2013

It was a very easy drive from Onawa to Chamberlain on the straight flat roads with corn fields, grazing cows and what we finally found out to be soy bean fields all along the route.  Starting in upstate New York and all through our drive south and west there have been hundreds and hundreds of acres of corn fields..... it begs the question where does all this corn go?  Are we really using all of it?  We made really good time and made it to the Happy Campers RV park.  There was a sign on the office to pick a site and pay later.  There were only a few sites open, but they were pull-thru and next to a big grass area.  That'll do Peg; That'll do.  (Remember the movie Babe?)  We used our free day to grocery shop thinking that Chamberlain was a fairly good size town.  Ooops.  One very small grocery store which actually had a pretty good produce and meat section, but lacked some of life's necessities like Claritin, basil, eggplant and there was no pharmacy in town.  The people in Chamberlain have obviously never seen two women drive a B.A.T. (Big Ass Truck for those who might have forgotten) either.... we have never gotten so many strange looks in our entire year of travel.

Roadside sculpture somewhere in SD

Look at us go!  How did we miss Connecticut Peg's mother wants to know.  I don't know Mom, I can't figure it out either

Coming soon.... Mount Rushmore, SD

MO Rain

Sunrise Beach, MO  August 4 - 9, 2013

We left Oaktown, IN knowing we had a long drive ahead of us, but glad for the beautiful weather.  The drive was completely uneventful until about 100 miles out and it started to rain.  It started slowly and then was pouring.  I slowed way down and made sure I had plenty of stopping room in front of us.  It was raining so hard, the visibility was about 50 feet.  A large motor home passed us in the fast lane going way to fast and tailgating the car in front of him.  Not five minutes later, traffic came to a dead stop as there was a 10 car pile up including the motor home that had passed us.  Luckily I had barely enough room to stop.  We sat at in park for about 20 minutes as the wrecked vehicles all moved themselves out of one lane of traffic. We went by before any emergency vehicles had arrived.  So scary.

We continued our drive in the rain following our GPS on a couple of very windy, narrow roads to get to Sunrise Beach on the Lake of the Ozarks.  We reached a confusing intersection of two gravel roads and chose the wrong direction.  Our GPS quickly adjusts to get us back on track by having us make a couple of turns on tiny, gravel roads that we are not sure we can even fit on.  One turn is a hard left and straight up a gravel road and remember it has been raining.  It goes up and over a hill and the downhill is worse with big gullies in the road that I try to not get Suni stuck in.  We make it back to the road we were supposed to be on and let out a big exhale.  We are almost to the RV park when we reach another confusing intersection, not labeled and again make a wrong turn!  UGH really?  Peg has just about had it with me by this point.  Nadine again quickly adjusts with some more gravel road turns.  At one point we come around a corner and it looks like a dead end, but thankfully it isn't.  But we do have to go up a very wet, gravel uphill.  We start to slip backwards almost immediately, so I throw her in to 4 wheel drive and creep up the hill with Suni dutifully following behind.  We just went four-wheeling with a forty foot, 15,000 pound house!  OMG.  We finally arrive at the Peaceful Valley RV park, which we thankfully have almost to ourselves.

We spent a fabulous four days at Pat and Carol's new lake house on the Lake of the Ozarks with my niece Melissa and her five, count 'em five, beautiful daughters.  Our first night we had a fun dinner for twelve as Tom and Paula (Mo and G'pa Tom) were visiting as well.  The entire week had rain in the forecast, but it cooperated nicely by raining at night.  The thunderstorms were amazing.  We had a great time swimming, boating and riding the wave runners as well as catching up with these fabulous people.  The lake is beautiful and reminds me of the early days of Lake Travis when there was actually water.  We drove to Coconuts one night where Pat treated us to a lakeside dinner with a great view.

The oldest daughter, Hannah is getting ready to start high school and has her driver's license.... where did the time go? 

Hillary, Helen Rose, Carol, Hope, Hadley, Hannah

 

Everyone loves Zoe

Lake fun!

 

How many girls does it take to drain a boat?  All of them!

Pat loves his grandchildren

First time all five are on the tube.

Coming soon... Kansas City, KS

Race to Missouri

Pit Stop 1:  Marengo, OH  July 30 - August 2, 2013

We broke up the 933 mile drive from Niagara Falls to Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri with two short stops.  We spent quite a bit of time trying to find RV parks that were on the way and were reasonably priced.  We chose the Cardinal Center Campground and Shooting Center in Marengo, Ohio as our first stop.  It was a longer drive than we are used to, but went smoothly.  It is a beautiful campground with really large sites, lots of open spaces and very few other people.  We were hoping to get to shoot some skeet while we were there, but they didn't rent guns darn it.  Miciou came with us on our first walk with the dogs and was pleased to find a nice young chipmunk couple that she chased down to bat around for a few seconds.  Luckily I was able to distract her for a minute so they could get away.  She has become quite the successful huntress.  We used our time there to catch up on the chores... grocery, pet store, hair cuts, truck service, laundry etc...  They also had the Taj Mahal of laundry facilities.  Huge commercial machines that had everything done in a hour.  We were going to go to the Columbus zoo, but the weather didn't cooperate. 

Cardinal Center wide open spaces

Everyone loves it here

 

Pit Stop 2:  Oaktown, IN  August 2 - 4, 2013

Our second stop was in Oaktown, Indiana at New Vision RV Park.  It was a little park with a pond and lots of wide open spaces as well and only 12.50 a night... woo hoo.  The park itself was great and really quiet, but it did have the required train which was about 100 feet from our campsite on one side of our site complete with whistle and a 24 hour asphalt plant behind the campground on the other side of our site. It looked like a science fiction movie when you looked out your window at 2:00 a.m.  It was all lit up with the tractors hauling the asphalt all lit up too, crawling over this huge mound of asphalt.  When we arrived our GFI breaker plug that had been acting up finally quit all together.  When I asked the park manager about a mobile repair service he said he knew a little about electricity and would come by to take a look.  He replaced the switch, but it still didn't work darn it.  We used the day just to relax and get ready for the longest leg of the drive.

New Vision RV Park.  Yup, Calcite played some fetch out there!

Path to the spot that led to the above picture

Coming soon... Sunrise Beach, MO to see the Nex's and Adam's.

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls - Akron, NY  July 26 - 30, 2013

We had trouble finding a park near Niagara Falls as we are in the peak of summer tourist season, but we finally found one in Akron which is about 30 miles from the Falls.  It was more of a destination park with a lake, mini golf, tennis, a petting zoo and lots and lots of playgrounds.  They had just added their "big rig" sites and their hook ups are on the wrong side!  So we pulled into a back-in site with the promise that there wouldn't be anyone camping in front of us so we could pull out.  Then we realize their "full hook up" sites don't have sewer and no laundry facilities either.  Not our worst park ever, but close!  Luckily we shared our front door grass area with a really nice couple from New York.

We got all set up and since it was still early, we hopped in the truck and headed to the Falls to check out Niagara Falls State Park - the US side of the Falls.  It was 30 miles on very busy highways, but so fun to see the mist as we were driving in.  I found myself really excited to see this natural wonder.  We found parking and made our way to the visitor center to check it out.  The state park feels like Disneyland - people everywhere with shops and ticket booths.  We spent a few minutes reading about the geologic history of the Falls and then made our way out to the observation area.  I'm sure you all know this but Niagara Falls is actually three different falls - American, Bridal Veil, and Horseshoe.  The view from the U.S. side is from the top of the American Falls.  While viewing you are standing behind the falls so all you can see is the massive amount of water flowing over the top.  It is a beautiful color.  We decided to take the little trolley that goes around the park so we could hear about the falls and get a feel for the layout of the land.  It was horribly crowded with ill-mannered children and adults from all over the world.  We got off the trolley at the other end of the park to see the Horseshoe Falls and again the US side is kind of on top and behind the actual falls, but you are really close to the rushing water and standing in the falls mist.  Very impressive.

American Falls US side

Horseshoe Falls US side

 

Beautiful Clear Water

 

 I decided I wanted to return to the Falls on my birthday so we had an extra day to see something before returning to the falls.  We had read about Letchworth State Park and our neighbors said we shouldn't miss it so we drove the 40 miles to see the "Grand Canyon of East".  It was a gorgeous drive through New York farm land.  Acres and acres of corn growing in all stages.  We had a little mishap on the way when we stopped to get fuel.  We usually have to pump twice since the pumps shut off at $100.  So when Peg pulls the nozzle out for the second fill-up diesel shoots out and rains down on her.  A diesel shower.  She quickly shoved the nozzel into the truck, but not after it was everywhere.  Note to self: diesel fuel is incredibly slippery.  Of course there were no restrooms at this gas station so we clean up the best we can and endure the smell the rest of the way to the park.  We entered the state park and were not disappointed.  The Genesee River runs through a gorge with three different waterfalls.  The river winds through the park with lots of look-out spots at different points.  We make a beeline for the visitor center 9 miles into the park so Peg can purchase some new clothing and try to clean up better - the longest nine miles of our lives.  She ends up with a really fun shirt.  We then re-drove the length of the park stopping at the different spots to see the gorge and all of the waterfalls.  It was quite beautiful.

Genesee River Gorge

Upper Falls

Middle Falls

We headed back to Niagara for my birthday to see the falls from the Canadian side.  With passports in hand we crossed the border.  It is a completely different experience on this side.  There are still crowds of people, but the view is better, there are beautiful gardens all around and NICE people from all over the world.  The Canadian's put the American's to shame!  We found parking and walked the length of the falls.  From this side you can see the entire face of all three of the falls.  Amazing!  We picked out a restaurant with a huge deck overlooking Horseshoe Falls for my birthday lunch.  It was wonderful.  We checked into the Journey Behind the Falls tour, but there was a 2 hour wait so we headed back to the US side to experience the "Caves of the Wind".  Luckily the US version had no wait and was half the price!  We suited up in our complementary rain ponchos and headed out onto the walkway to get up and personal with the Bridal Veil Falls.  This is the smallest of the three, but it sure doesn't feel that way.  We braved our way to the Hurricane deck where we had to hold on not be blown away.  It was so fun.  The fall was windier, quieter, and the water was warmer than I thought it would be and it tasted delicious!  My beautiful day was topped off with lots of birthday wishes from friends and a delicious feast back at home including some fresh picked corn from a roadside stand. 

I love a birthday in another country

View of the falls from our lunch table

American Falls Canadian side

Horseshoe Falls Canadian side

 

Hokey birthday Souvenir Picture a must

Up close and personal

 

Hurricane Deck

Aaaaaahhhhhh.  I'm the one in the back!

 

Coming soon.... Marengo, OH; Oaktown, IN and Sunrise Beach, MO