Friday, July 15
We headed out and to Lee's Summit, Missouri. We were back on interstates - UGH! As we crossed the Missouri River from Kansas into Missouri we saw flooding for the first time on the whole trip. We arrived at Blue Springs Lake Campground about 12:00 and set up, then put in a call to Chuck. He planned to arrive at our camper about 4:00-ish to visit for a while before our dinner/show, so Rick headed out for an oil change and I did a little cleaning and resting.
We visited with Chuck, then headed to the Starlight, and outdoor theater where they do 6 productions each summer. The theater is located in the Kansas Zoo. Chuck and Jamie have season tickets, and Jamie was on the plane heading home from a week-long conference in Las Vegas, so she was not able to join us. We ate a buffet dinner outside under a HUGE umbrella (covering several tables) while we waited for the shade to reach our seats in the theater, and about 10 minutes before showtime, headed to our seats. We saw Guys and Dolls, which was wonderfully done. The heat was amazing, but an occasional breeze helped. We arrived back at camp about 11:00.
Saturday, July 16
We arrived at Chuck and Jamie's house about 10:00 for brunch and checked out thier new (in-progress) patio before leaving for a tour of Kansas City (MO and KS). Chuck had gotten special permission to have a tour of the data center where he works, and we saw 'the cloud'! We saw Jamie's school, and toured the beautiful church associated with her school. They recently added on to the church, but unless told, you would not know it given the details in architecture and interior design. We saw the high school Jennifer went to, passed the sports complex for Kansas City baseball and football, drove aroudn the Kansas Motor Speedway (around as in the perimeter of the grounds, not the racetrack itself!), saw the Plaza - a beautiful downtown shopping area, and many other sights. We also drove past Jennifer and Jay's new house - they close and move at the end of the month.
Then we met Jennifer and Jay at the Oklahoma Joe's BBQ for dinner and were able to visit with them for a while. We stopped at the camper to let the dog out then went back to Chuck and Jamie's for a few more hours of visiting before finally tearing ourselves away to get back to the camper and ready for a long push toward home.
Sunday, July 17
Travel day - hoped to get to near Columbus, Ohio to overnight in a truck stop. However, just as we passed Exit 23 on Rt. 70 just across the state line from Illinois into Indiana about 6:00 pm, Rick groaned and quickly pulled over, with smoke coming out from the back of the trailer. We had a burned out wheel bearing in the trailer. We made a U-turn and crawled back to the exit and parked in the Pilot Truck Stop, then started hunting for help. RV Road Help has been RV NO Help. It is now Monday, 10:00 am and we are still stranded, looking for help. I am thankful that we have not had to take any humans to hospitals, but this vehicle stuff is starting to get old!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Utah, Part 4, July 10-14
Sunday, July 10
We got up and headed to town for breakfast (not anywhere near the good breakfast we had yesterday). As we ate, I proposed Plan J. We had given up doing Capitol Reef National Park this trip, but yesterday as we toured the 2 parks, we drove through the campground and wished we were camping there. I proposed that instead of touring southwest Colorado (we would never have enough time to do all we wanted there), we should get up tomorrow and take the trailer to Capitol Reef, camp there and tour the National Park, then leave from there the next day. That would mean going back Rt. 70 through the Colorado Passes and Denver (ugh), but we would accomplish our goal. We pondered that option the rest of the day.
We headed to Arches National Park, just 4 miles north of Moab. Arches, as the rest of the area, lies atop an underground salt bed that is responsible for the arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins and eroded monoliths in the area. While Canyonland National Park, just 30 miles away, is formed by the water erosion from the Colorado and Green Rivers, water and ice, extreme temperatures, and underground salt movement are responsible for the wonderland that makes up Arches National Park. Arches contained over 2000 recorded arch formations, but that number changes constantly as older arches fall and newer arches are formed.
Arches and formations were named mostly on initial appearances - The 3 Gossips, the Organ, the Tower of Babel, Balanced Rock, Ham Rock, Delicate Arch are just a few of the ones we saw. Landscape Arch, perhaps one of the most famous in the park, was more difficult to get to, so we skipped that one.
One of the treasures we encountered was Sand Dune Arch, a 3/10 of a mile hike into the fins of one formation (it was short, but in deep sand, so yes, it was a hike!) took us to an arch that is hidden from the outside. What an amazing feeling.
The tour of the park took most of the day, and we stopped to eat a very late lunch on the way back to the camper. I did laundry, and by the time it was almost finished, the week caught up to me. I went back to nap as Rick finished up laundry, and was asleep by 6:00. Sometime later he woke me up to see if I wanted to do something about dinner or just keep sleeping. I ended up crawling into bed a little later, and sleeping 12 hours! By the time I got out of bed at 7:00 am I was refreshed and ready to hit the road!
Monday, July 11
Happy Birthday Abbie!
I got up and showered and prepared everything as I normally do for a travel day. As we ate breakfast, I checked mapquest and saw that Capitol Reef was 3 hours, conflicting with the 4 hours the GPS told us. That was more in line with what someone had told us 2 days ago. We continued to debate, and decided to do the trip as a day trip, not taking the camper. Plan K!
We registered for another night at the KOA and hit the road, traveling the 150 miles to Capitol Reef in 2 1/2 hours. Part of the Colorado Plateau, this was again different scenery than anything we've seen. The park and area we traveled is in what is known as the Waterpocket Fold and Cathedral Valley. This is a giant buckle in the earth’s crust, which stretches across south-central Utah, created by the same great forces later uplifting the Colorado Plateau. The area is a jumble of colorful cliffs, massive domes, soaring spires, stark monoliths, twisted canyons and graceful arches. The Fremont River winds through the Waterpocket Fold, and desert lies beyond. It was home to Mormon pioneers for many years. Fruita Historic District is contained in the park. Fruita was a Mormon settlement dating from the late 1800s. Still standing is the 1-room schoolhouse which was used until the 1940s. Apple, peach, cherry, pear and apricot orchards grow in the Fruita orchards. Historic and heirloom varieties of some of the fruits are still found here. Ripe fruit may be picked and eaten free, and there is a small fee for taking some along. The Historic Gifford Farmhouse is not only a glimpse into the past, but it sells home made ice cream and fruit pies and products. I bought a freshly made sour cherry crumb pie that tasted wonderful!
Indian Petroglyphs are evident on the sheer monoliths along the drive through the park, and we explored several along a walkway. It was beginning to drip a bit as we returned to the truck, and as we headed to the Visitor’s Center, the rain started in earnest. We watched 2 youngsters receive their Junior Ranger Badges (something our kids loved doing when they were younger). We watched the movie about the park, and as the movie ended and it talked about the influence of water in the park, the curtain above the screen opened to a view of the surrounding mountains – and a downpour!
We headed for the 16 mile round-trip Scenic Drive as the rain was picking up. A day or two earlier, Rick mentioned that he would love to see a flash-flood in the desert. The road itself was pretty much empty, so we pulled over to watch a dry creekbed (well – it was wet from the rain, but not with running water) as the flash flood formed and the creekbed became a raging torrent of water. Very exciting! Around us, waterfalls began pouring off the tops of the monoliths where they had been dry before. We continued on the Scenic Drive, crossing road level bridges where water was rushing underneath. A mile or two down the road, we were stopped by a Ranger who told us to turn around –the road was washed out ahead. We turned – and prayed as we crossed those same bridges with water rushing OVER them now, instead of under them. We made it out safely, and passed the entrance as they were closing the entire road.
We only say a mile or two of the scenic drive, but the experience of the flash flood made missing the rest of the drive worth it. We continued on the through road through the park before turning and going back the way we came (the through road, with no fee for driving, is about 12 miles long). We saw several places where the road had been underwater, now covered in sand and mud.
On the way back through the desert, we watched 2 storms develop around us. We had some sprinkles, but no major rain. We stopped at the Sunset Grill for dinner, on the north end of Moab. Known as Dining with a Million Dollar View, I had earlier made fun of it, sitting on top of a cliff. This area is known for the erosion of the rocks. Who would build a restaurant on the top of one of the cliffs?! It was originally built by Charlie Steen as his home. He came to Moab with others in the 1950s when the government offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who could fill a dump truck full of uranium. Many miners were able to find small amounts, but Charlie was a geologist and knew there was much more than what they found on the surface. Just as he was about to give up, with his family nearly destitute, he found the vein in the earth that would set the world on fire. The uranium in the first mine was worth over $60 million. Moab changed from a small agricultural town to a major mining hub overnight, and Charlie was the king. He built his mansion on the top of the cliff, and when he moved just recently, the home became a restaurant with an amazing view of the Moab valley. The home itself, called a mansion, is pretty underwhelming by today’s standards, but the view is worth a fortune,
As we were eating dinner, I wandered through the Moab tour book one more time, and found that there were Petroglyphs and Pictographs very close by. The Pictographs were in Arches, and I was upset that we missed them – didn’t see anything in the Arches literature about them – and we were so close! The Petroglyphs were on a road just across from Arches, which I had been wondering about anyway, so we decided to go explore before going back to camp.
Within the first 5 miles of the 16 mile road, there were several places where we saw Petroglyphs. One was a 125 foot panel of Petroglyphs! In one area, we saw dinosaur footprint fossils on a slab of stone. Thank goodness for zoom on cameras, as we could not get up close and personal to the slab.
By now it was getting dark, and we needed to rescue Haley. We took her for a walk around the campground, amazed at the number of people out playing catch with baseballs or footballs. We finished packing up and got ready for a travel day tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 12
We headed out early, going south on 191 to 491 toward Colorado. We stopped at Wilson’s Arch along 191, and waved at Four Corners, Hovenweep National Park, Mesa Verde National Park and other places we will visit next time. We ended up at Alamosa KOA, where we had stayed 2 years ago. As we traveled, we were hoping to find a nice rest area with a picnic table, perhaps a stream, to pull over to have lunch. We traveled down 491 to 160 and headed east, and for over 2 hours did not see any place to pull over, even in the little towns we passed through. Finally we saw a pull-off (just a gravel half-circle on the other side of the road that was large enough for our rig), so we pulled off there and ate a snack – by now it was almost 4:00. No sooner than we were back on the road then there were picnic areas and beautiful pull-offs mile after mile after mile! As we left our stop, we noticed a significant crack in the windshield, extending toward Rick’s side of the glass. Another vehicle repair coming up! We stopped in Alamosa to camp, and Rick found an auto glass repair place that could fix the windshield first thing in the morning. We enjoyed an evening overlooking the Great Sand Dunes National Park and the mountains – and an amazing storm to the east with lots of lightning.
Wednesday, July 13
Rick went to get the windshield replaced while I blogged part of our trip. Then we were back on the road heading to Colorado Springs and out the east side of the state. A pretty uneventful day today, we stopped at Camping World in Colorado Springs, a mile from where we camped 2 years ago, then continued on to Goodland, Kansas, to the KOA where we camped 2 years ago (there is a theme here!)
Thursday, July 14, 2011
We headed up to Rt. 36, which is a 2-lane highway parallel and in between Rt. 80 in Nebraska to the north, and Rt. 70 in Kansas to the south. A beautiful drive through Kansas farmland and prairie, with small towns dotting the way, we enjoyed 65 mph most of the way – a nicer drive than the interstate, but almost as fast! We stopped in Lebanon to stand in the geographic center of the contiguous 48 continental states! Toward the end of our day, Rick noticed that the emergency trailer brake cord had disconnected from the trailer – not good. We now have no trailer brakes! He says the truck can handle the braking, and we only have to worry about the mountains at home, not the passes we went through in Colorado, so the trailer is looking at a major brake repair when we get home. We are camping in a cute little campground behind a hotel, overlooking a small lake in Seneca, Kansas, The temperature is very HOT, and we are thankful for air conditioning. This is one of the first days we have not had rain of some kind, and the first day we have been bothered by the heat.
We got up and headed to town for breakfast (not anywhere near the good breakfast we had yesterday). As we ate, I proposed Plan J. We had given up doing Capitol Reef National Park this trip, but yesterday as we toured the 2 parks, we drove through the campground and wished we were camping there. I proposed that instead of touring southwest Colorado (we would never have enough time to do all we wanted there), we should get up tomorrow and take the trailer to Capitol Reef, camp there and tour the National Park, then leave from there the next day. That would mean going back Rt. 70 through the Colorado Passes and Denver (ugh), but we would accomplish our goal. We pondered that option the rest of the day.
We headed to Arches National Park, just 4 miles north of Moab. Arches, as the rest of the area, lies atop an underground salt bed that is responsible for the arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins and eroded monoliths in the area. While Canyonland National Park, just 30 miles away, is formed by the water erosion from the Colorado and Green Rivers, water and ice, extreme temperatures, and underground salt movement are responsible for the wonderland that makes up Arches National Park. Arches contained over 2000 recorded arch formations, but that number changes constantly as older arches fall and newer arches are formed.
Arches and formations were named mostly on initial appearances - The 3 Gossips, the Organ, the Tower of Babel, Balanced Rock, Ham Rock, Delicate Arch are just a few of the ones we saw. Landscape Arch, perhaps one of the most famous in the park, was more difficult to get to, so we skipped that one.
One of the treasures we encountered was Sand Dune Arch, a 3/10 of a mile hike into the fins of one formation (it was short, but in deep sand, so yes, it was a hike!) took us to an arch that is hidden from the outside. What an amazing feeling.
The tour of the park took most of the day, and we stopped to eat a very late lunch on the way back to the camper. I did laundry, and by the time it was almost finished, the week caught up to me. I went back to nap as Rick finished up laundry, and was asleep by 6:00. Sometime later he woke me up to see if I wanted to do something about dinner or just keep sleeping. I ended up crawling into bed a little later, and sleeping 12 hours! By the time I got out of bed at 7:00 am I was refreshed and ready to hit the road!
Monday, July 11
Happy Birthday Abbie!
I got up and showered and prepared everything as I normally do for a travel day. As we ate breakfast, I checked mapquest and saw that Capitol Reef was 3 hours, conflicting with the 4 hours the GPS told us. That was more in line with what someone had told us 2 days ago. We continued to debate, and decided to do the trip as a day trip, not taking the camper. Plan K!
We registered for another night at the KOA and hit the road, traveling the 150 miles to Capitol Reef in 2 1/2 hours. Part of the Colorado Plateau, this was again different scenery than anything we've seen. The park and area we traveled is in what is known as the Waterpocket Fold and Cathedral Valley. This is a giant buckle in the earth’s crust, which stretches across south-central Utah, created by the same great forces later uplifting the Colorado Plateau. The area is a jumble of colorful cliffs, massive domes, soaring spires, stark monoliths, twisted canyons and graceful arches. The Fremont River winds through the Waterpocket Fold, and desert lies beyond. It was home to Mormon pioneers for many years. Fruita Historic District is contained in the park. Fruita was a Mormon settlement dating from the late 1800s. Still standing is the 1-room schoolhouse which was used until the 1940s. Apple, peach, cherry, pear and apricot orchards grow in the Fruita orchards. Historic and heirloom varieties of some of the fruits are still found here. Ripe fruit may be picked and eaten free, and there is a small fee for taking some along. The Historic Gifford Farmhouse is not only a glimpse into the past, but it sells home made ice cream and fruit pies and products. I bought a freshly made sour cherry crumb pie that tasted wonderful!
Indian Petroglyphs are evident on the sheer monoliths along the drive through the park, and we explored several along a walkway. It was beginning to drip a bit as we returned to the truck, and as we headed to the Visitor’s Center, the rain started in earnest. We watched 2 youngsters receive their Junior Ranger Badges (something our kids loved doing when they were younger). We watched the movie about the park, and as the movie ended and it talked about the influence of water in the park, the curtain above the screen opened to a view of the surrounding mountains – and a downpour!
We headed for the 16 mile round-trip Scenic Drive as the rain was picking up. A day or two earlier, Rick mentioned that he would love to see a flash-flood in the desert. The road itself was pretty much empty, so we pulled over to watch a dry creekbed (well – it was wet from the rain, but not with running water) as the flash flood formed and the creekbed became a raging torrent of water. Very exciting! Around us, waterfalls began pouring off the tops of the monoliths where they had been dry before. We continued on the Scenic Drive, crossing road level bridges where water was rushing underneath. A mile or two down the road, we were stopped by a Ranger who told us to turn around –the road was washed out ahead. We turned – and prayed as we crossed those same bridges with water rushing OVER them now, instead of under them. We made it out safely, and passed the entrance as they were closing the entire road.
We only say a mile or two of the scenic drive, but the experience of the flash flood made missing the rest of the drive worth it. We continued on the through road through the park before turning and going back the way we came (the through road, with no fee for driving, is about 12 miles long). We saw several places where the road had been underwater, now covered in sand and mud.
On the way back through the desert, we watched 2 storms develop around us. We had some sprinkles, but no major rain. We stopped at the Sunset Grill for dinner, on the north end of Moab. Known as Dining with a Million Dollar View, I had earlier made fun of it, sitting on top of a cliff. This area is known for the erosion of the rocks. Who would build a restaurant on the top of one of the cliffs?! It was originally built by Charlie Steen as his home. He came to Moab with others in the 1950s when the government offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who could fill a dump truck full of uranium. Many miners were able to find small amounts, but Charlie was a geologist and knew there was much more than what they found on the surface. Just as he was about to give up, with his family nearly destitute, he found the vein in the earth that would set the world on fire. The uranium in the first mine was worth over $60 million. Moab changed from a small agricultural town to a major mining hub overnight, and Charlie was the king. He built his mansion on the top of the cliff, and when he moved just recently, the home became a restaurant with an amazing view of the Moab valley. The home itself, called a mansion, is pretty underwhelming by today’s standards, but the view is worth a fortune,
As we were eating dinner, I wandered through the Moab tour book one more time, and found that there were Petroglyphs and Pictographs very close by. The Pictographs were in Arches, and I was upset that we missed them – didn’t see anything in the Arches literature about them – and we were so close! The Petroglyphs were on a road just across from Arches, which I had been wondering about anyway, so we decided to go explore before going back to camp.
Within the first 5 miles of the 16 mile road, there were several places where we saw Petroglyphs. One was a 125 foot panel of Petroglyphs! In one area, we saw dinosaur footprint fossils on a slab of stone. Thank goodness for zoom on cameras, as we could not get up close and personal to the slab.
By now it was getting dark, and we needed to rescue Haley. We took her for a walk around the campground, amazed at the number of people out playing catch with baseballs or footballs. We finished packing up and got ready for a travel day tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 12
We headed out early, going south on 191 to 491 toward Colorado. We stopped at Wilson’s Arch along 191, and waved at Four Corners, Hovenweep National Park, Mesa Verde National Park and other places we will visit next time. We ended up at Alamosa KOA, where we had stayed 2 years ago. As we traveled, we were hoping to find a nice rest area with a picnic table, perhaps a stream, to pull over to have lunch. We traveled down 491 to 160 and headed east, and for over 2 hours did not see any place to pull over, even in the little towns we passed through. Finally we saw a pull-off (just a gravel half-circle on the other side of the road that was large enough for our rig), so we pulled off there and ate a snack – by now it was almost 4:00. No sooner than we were back on the road then there were picnic areas and beautiful pull-offs mile after mile after mile! As we left our stop, we noticed a significant crack in the windshield, extending toward Rick’s side of the glass. Another vehicle repair coming up! We stopped in Alamosa to camp, and Rick found an auto glass repair place that could fix the windshield first thing in the morning. We enjoyed an evening overlooking the Great Sand Dunes National Park and the mountains – and an amazing storm to the east with lots of lightning.
Wednesday, July 13
Rick went to get the windshield replaced while I blogged part of our trip. Then we were back on the road heading to Colorado Springs and out the east side of the state. A pretty uneventful day today, we stopped at Camping World in Colorado Springs, a mile from where we camped 2 years ago, then continued on to Goodland, Kansas, to the KOA where we camped 2 years ago (there is a theme here!)
Thursday, July 14, 2011
We headed up to Rt. 36, which is a 2-lane highway parallel and in between Rt. 80 in Nebraska to the north, and Rt. 70 in Kansas to the south. A beautiful drive through Kansas farmland and prairie, with small towns dotting the way, we enjoyed 65 mph most of the way – a nicer drive than the interstate, but almost as fast! We stopped in Lebanon to stand in the geographic center of the contiguous 48 continental states! Toward the end of our day, Rick noticed that the emergency trailer brake cord had disconnected from the trailer – not good. We now have no trailer brakes! He says the truck can handle the braking, and we only have to worry about the mountains at home, not the passes we went through in Colorado, so the trailer is looking at a major brake repair when we get home. We are camping in a cute little campground behind a hotel, overlooking a small lake in Seneca, Kansas, The temperature is very HOT, and we are thankful for air conditioning. This is one of the first days we have not had rain of some kind, and the first day we have been bothered by the heat.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Utah trip, Part 3 July 8-9
Friday, July 8
The truck was done by 4:00 just as predicted, and we were on the road headed to Moab, Utah by 5:00.
At Colorado National Park, one of the employees recommended a scenic route for us to take to Moab, and as we crossed into Utah, it was easy to find. A 2-lane road cutting the corner from the interstate and main road leading into Moab, there was a sign at the beginning warning of sharp 25-mph curves and narrow road. But the beginning began as high desert. Wide open road, desert, and only an occasional car passing up in either direction. When we entered the road, Rick said, “You could drive on this road”, but when I saw the sign, declined. However, the wide open desert lulled me into a sense of security, and after a while, I told him to pull over at one of the pullouts. He thought I meant for pictures (because the camera was a permanent attachment in my hand), so after he passed 2, I reitereated my request, and told him I intended to try to drive the truck pulling the trailer. (on my 50 List, something I’ve never done). We found a little camping area and pulled into the loop, did a Chinese fire drill, and I began. Shortly before I started to drive, we encountered the Colorado River, and it meandered along with us on Rick’s side, with beautiful rock formations along the road. As I took a turn at the wheel, we had just crossed over the river and behold – there were the sharp curves and narrow roads we were warned about 10 miles back! And suddenly, 2 cars were following me and a steady stream (maybe a car or two every ½ mile) was approaching me! Talk about baptism by fire – I sure got it! I also put Rick in charge of the camera – and he doesn’t do well with cameras to begin with (not seeing the need to take many) and had not yet used the new camera. As I drove along the narrow road along the edge of the Colorado River, trying to see the scenery, and making sure Rick took lots of pictures, I also had to keep the trailer on the road and not dump us down into the Colorado River! Not an easy task. I drove several miles before pulling over for Rick to drive again – and of course timing is everything! We were back out in wide open desert spaces!!
We arrived at Moab KOA about 7:30. This is one of the most beautiful campgrounds we have ever stayed in – and the most beautiful desert campground by far. There were apricot trees growing in the campground and the apricots were free for the picking. Neither of us are fans of apricots, but we each picked one to try, at least.
After setting up, we headed into town to find dinner. At this point it was 8:00 local time (10:00 home time) – way too late for me to eat dinner no matter what time zone I’m in! However, Rick was set on pasta, so we went to Pasta Jays, recommended by campground staff. We ate on the covered patio along the sidewalk so we could ‘people-watch.” It had sprinkled as we pulled into camp and on and off since – but the air was fresh and cool.
We headed back to camp and to bed, not quite sure what plans were for the next day. In the area were Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park. Further away, in what we thought was driving distance, was Capitol Reef National Park – the 3rd of Rick’s goals to see this trip. The GPS indicated it was almost 4 hours away, so rather than tour Arches/Canyonland one day and Capitol Reef the next, we decided to skip Capitol Reef and divide the other 2 into 2 days. I think we are on Plan I.
Saturday, July 9
We headed to town for breakfast, and found Zax. They had the eggs benedict that Rick wanted, and I tried Chai, Ginger whole wheat pancakes. They were interesting – very ginger-y. Not sure if I would order them again, but good to try once! Then we headed for Canyonlands National Park. We passed Arches and Dead Horse Point on the way.
All of these parks, along with Colorado National Monument, Bryce National Park, the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde National Park form what is know as the Colorado Plateau. Many years ago, this area was lifted about 3000 feet straight up with the movement of tectonic plates. While the land remained relatively intact, the areas along the edges exposed layers of rock, and what had once been at or under sea level now became a high desert. Water and wind contributed to erosion of the layers of rock, giving us the fins, hoodoos, arches, canyons and other magnificent and other-worldly landscape of the plateau.
Canyonlands National Park is divided into 3 distinct sections, with the division coming from the Colorado and Green River converging. Island in the Sky is a broad mesa wedged between the Colorado and Green Rivers in the north part of the park. Closest to the mesa’s edge is the White Rim, a nearly continuous sandstone bench 1,200 feet below the island. Another 1,000 feet below that are the rivers, shadowed by sheer canyon cliffs. Views from Island in the Sky reach for 100 miles, with landscape too difficult to put into words. Every pullout and vista is different and amazing. The area receives about 9 inches of rain per year, but surrounding La Sal, Abajos and Henry mountain ranges are snow-capped even in July.
We headed to Upheaval Dome, where we took a strenuous be rewarding hike up the mountain (200 feet up in ¼ mile) to view the unique geological feature. What looks like something from the moon is actually a dome of salt, One theory of its creation is a direct hit from a meteor years ago, which vaporzed everything around it, and caused the salt to push up from under the earth.
We continued to Grand View, the southernmost point of the Island. From here, we could see the Needles District of the park to the east, on the other side of the Colorado River. The Needles District is characterized by till rock spires, and is accessible by car to the interior, about 75 miles away. However, once there, a 4 wheel drive vehicle is required. The Maze District, to the west, is on the other side of the Green River, and is the most remote part of the park. There are no paved road into the area, and the travel is rugged. It is believed that Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch holed up in this area because no lawmen were confident enough of the region to go in looking for him.
After touring the park, with some longer walks to viewpoints (no major hiking because Rick’s knee was being a problem), we headed to Dead Horse Point State Park, which is located along the Colorado River just north of Canyonlands. Legend has it that in the 1800s, cowboys used Dead Horse Point to catch wild horses. With sheer cliffs on all sides and an access only 30 yards wide, they would corral the horses into the canyon and build a fence to create a natural corral. According to legend, a band of horses left corralled on the waterless point died of thirst within view of the Colorado River 2,000 feet below.
We had a late lunch at the Visitor’s Center, sitting on a high deck overlooking the canyon and enjoying the quiet. We then drove the road to Dead Horse Point overlook, enjoying canyon views before returning to camp. We headed into town for dinner at the Moab Brewery, where I had an amazing honey-almond chicken. I don’t normally talk about food, because food doesn’t excite me – but this was good enough that I took it back to eat the rest for leftovers (something else I never do!). We took Haley for a walk, and sat outside enjoying the sunset before heading to bed.
The truck was done by 4:00 just as predicted, and we were on the road headed to Moab, Utah by 5:00.
At Colorado National Park, one of the employees recommended a scenic route for us to take to Moab, and as we crossed into Utah, it was easy to find. A 2-lane road cutting the corner from the interstate and main road leading into Moab, there was a sign at the beginning warning of sharp 25-mph curves and narrow road. But the beginning began as high desert. Wide open road, desert, and only an occasional car passing up in either direction. When we entered the road, Rick said, “You could drive on this road”, but when I saw the sign, declined. However, the wide open desert lulled me into a sense of security, and after a while, I told him to pull over at one of the pullouts. He thought I meant for pictures (because the camera was a permanent attachment in my hand), so after he passed 2, I reitereated my request, and told him I intended to try to drive the truck pulling the trailer. (on my 50 List, something I’ve never done). We found a little camping area and pulled into the loop, did a Chinese fire drill, and I began. Shortly before I started to drive, we encountered the Colorado River, and it meandered along with us on Rick’s side, with beautiful rock formations along the road. As I took a turn at the wheel, we had just crossed over the river and behold – there were the sharp curves and narrow roads we were warned about 10 miles back! And suddenly, 2 cars were following me and a steady stream (maybe a car or two every ½ mile) was approaching me! Talk about baptism by fire – I sure got it! I also put Rick in charge of the camera – and he doesn’t do well with cameras to begin with (not seeing the need to take many) and had not yet used the new camera. As I drove along the narrow road along the edge of the Colorado River, trying to see the scenery, and making sure Rick took lots of pictures, I also had to keep the trailer on the road and not dump us down into the Colorado River! Not an easy task. I drove several miles before pulling over for Rick to drive again – and of course timing is everything! We were back out in wide open desert spaces!!
We arrived at Moab KOA about 7:30. This is one of the most beautiful campgrounds we have ever stayed in – and the most beautiful desert campground by far. There were apricot trees growing in the campground and the apricots were free for the picking. Neither of us are fans of apricots, but we each picked one to try, at least.
After setting up, we headed into town to find dinner. At this point it was 8:00 local time (10:00 home time) – way too late for me to eat dinner no matter what time zone I’m in! However, Rick was set on pasta, so we went to Pasta Jays, recommended by campground staff. We ate on the covered patio along the sidewalk so we could ‘people-watch.” It had sprinkled as we pulled into camp and on and off since – but the air was fresh and cool.
We headed back to camp and to bed, not quite sure what plans were for the next day. In the area were Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park. Further away, in what we thought was driving distance, was Capitol Reef National Park – the 3rd of Rick’s goals to see this trip. The GPS indicated it was almost 4 hours away, so rather than tour Arches/Canyonland one day and Capitol Reef the next, we decided to skip Capitol Reef and divide the other 2 into 2 days. I think we are on Plan I.
Saturday, July 9
We headed to town for breakfast, and found Zax. They had the eggs benedict that Rick wanted, and I tried Chai, Ginger whole wheat pancakes. They were interesting – very ginger-y. Not sure if I would order them again, but good to try once! Then we headed for Canyonlands National Park. We passed Arches and Dead Horse Point on the way.
All of these parks, along with Colorado National Monument, Bryce National Park, the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde National Park form what is know as the Colorado Plateau. Many years ago, this area was lifted about 3000 feet straight up with the movement of tectonic plates. While the land remained relatively intact, the areas along the edges exposed layers of rock, and what had once been at or under sea level now became a high desert. Water and wind contributed to erosion of the layers of rock, giving us the fins, hoodoos, arches, canyons and other magnificent and other-worldly landscape of the plateau.
Canyonlands National Park is divided into 3 distinct sections, with the division coming from the Colorado and Green River converging. Island in the Sky is a broad mesa wedged between the Colorado and Green Rivers in the north part of the park. Closest to the mesa’s edge is the White Rim, a nearly continuous sandstone bench 1,200 feet below the island. Another 1,000 feet below that are the rivers, shadowed by sheer canyon cliffs. Views from Island in the Sky reach for 100 miles, with landscape too difficult to put into words. Every pullout and vista is different and amazing. The area receives about 9 inches of rain per year, but surrounding La Sal, Abajos and Henry mountain ranges are snow-capped even in July.
We headed to Upheaval Dome, where we took a strenuous be rewarding hike up the mountain (200 feet up in ¼ mile) to view the unique geological feature. What looks like something from the moon is actually a dome of salt, One theory of its creation is a direct hit from a meteor years ago, which vaporzed everything around it, and caused the salt to push up from under the earth.
We continued to Grand View, the southernmost point of the Island. From here, we could see the Needles District of the park to the east, on the other side of the Colorado River. The Needles District is characterized by till rock spires, and is accessible by car to the interior, about 75 miles away. However, once there, a 4 wheel drive vehicle is required. The Maze District, to the west, is on the other side of the Green River, and is the most remote part of the park. There are no paved road into the area, and the travel is rugged. It is believed that Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch holed up in this area because no lawmen were confident enough of the region to go in looking for him.
After touring the park, with some longer walks to viewpoints (no major hiking because Rick’s knee was being a problem), we headed to Dead Horse Point State Park, which is located along the Colorado River just north of Canyonlands. Legend has it that in the 1800s, cowboys used Dead Horse Point to catch wild horses. With sheer cliffs on all sides and an access only 30 yards wide, they would corral the horses into the canyon and build a fence to create a natural corral. According to legend, a band of horses left corralled on the waterless point died of thirst within view of the Colorado River 2,000 feet below.
We had a late lunch at the Visitor’s Center, sitting on a high deck overlooking the canyon and enjoying the quiet. We then drove the road to Dead Horse Point overlook, enjoying canyon views before returning to camp. We headed into town for dinner at the Moab Brewery, where I had an amazing honey-almond chicken. I don’t normally talk about food, because food doesn’t excite me – but this was good enough that I took it back to eat the rest for leftovers (something else I never do!). We took Haley for a walk, and sat outside enjoying the sunset before heading to bed.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Utah trip, Part 2 July 4-8
Monday, July 4
May the fourth be with you!
We were hooked up and ready to roll by 8:50. We had discussed routes for the trip. Rick planned Rt. 70 out and back (Plan A). I like variety, and suggested Rt. 80 out (70 past Chicago) and 70 back (Plan B). As we examined maps, I saw Rt. 36, a thick grey line road that was directly between Rt. 70 and 80, in northern Kansas. I thought it would be great to be off the interstate, and in our experience on Rt. 30 in Nebraska, we could make almost as good time. So we talked about going north from 70 to 80, then dropping down into Kansas on Rt. 36 for a while. That was Plan C.
We stopped at Sidling Hill for a rest stop, and there was a Farm Market open. I bought fresh peaches and the sweetest plums I ever tasted. Heaven! Later, we stopped at a Flying J outside Columbus, Ohio, for fuel and there was a man making Kettle Corn outside. Another Yum! I called these my truckstop treasures, and hope to find more on the trip. Pretty uneventful day. Pulled into a Flying J west of Dayton - same one we slept at the last night of last year's trip. All Flying Js are now owned by Pilot, and all Iron Skillet restaurants attached have been changed to Denny's.
Tuesday, July 5
Ate breakfast at Denny's before leaving Flying J. Got around Indianapolis (ugh - way to many cars!) and headed west toward Rt. 36 straight through Missouri and Kansas. (Plan D). However, we obviously are not in charge of our itinerary, because on the interstate, as I was talking to Abbie, a trailer tire blew. It was the one beside the one that blew last year, but this time we knew it went - loud pop, and Rick said the trailer flew into the air. Fortunately we were on a very lightly traveled interstate. Rick changed the tire quickly - noted the damage to the wheel shroud that he had just replaced from last year's blowout, and was very concerned about a tire on the opposite side. So, as we slowly drove to the Rest Stop 3 miles away to check that tire again, I got on the phone and googled tire places in Decatur, the next town - 13 miles away. I found one that had several locations across the state, and 2 in Decatur. Seemed a safe bet. Of course, when we pulled in, they had to get the tires from the OTHER location! So, we pulled behind the store, parallel parked the truck/trailer on a cement slab so the guy could change the tires easier (I was very impressed with the park job in the small area), and settled in to have lunch while we waited for the guy to get the tires and take his lunch break. We decided to replace all 4 tires and use the one we bought last year as the spare. As we started getting lunch out, we discovered the water pump was not working! It is amazing the amount of things we rely on water from the tap for! Seemed to be a result of the blowout.
Wednesday, July 6
We got back on the road, discussing travel plans - again! Decided to head back north to 80, heading for Rock Island KOA just on the border of Illinois and Iowa, Davenport area. Rick planned to look at and fix the water pump, but found the problem was more than he thought. The on-site repairman has a day-job, so he was not able to come first thing in the morning. We headed to Thompson RV, just across the border in Iowa, hoping they could fix it. They could not fit us in, but had one that Rick bought. We stopped at a Rest Stop for lunch, and Rick replaced the pump then. By now it was early afternoon and we had not gone far, so we set out on Rt. 80, thinking we could still drop down into Kansas Rt. 36. (Plan E). As we approaced the exit we would have to get off to go south, we were not in the right timing for finding a place to stop for the night, so we decided to go for it, and get as far as we could on Rt. 80 - hoping to do some of Rt. 36 on the way back. (Plan F). We stopped at a Bosselman's truck stop - our new favorite truck stop! Lots of food choices, huge store to wander through, good prices for fuel. We ate dinner at Grandma Max's - better than the regular truck stop fare! We continued on to North Platte, where we settled in to sleep at a Flying J. About an hour after getting there, we had a storm with heavy rain, wind and bolts of lightening. I was in bed, just hoping Rick was monitoring the weather on his phone! One bolt knocked out power to the place for over an hour, he said. 12 1/2 hour day in the truck. Whew!
Thursday, July 7
Continued heading west, soon heading directly toward Denver on Rt. 76. We strained all morning watching to see who would see the mountains first. Its funny - we see the clouds in the distance and... it could be - is it? No, not this time. But then, when the mountains appear, there is no question! Today, the cloud bank was settled on the western horizon - no other clouds in the sky - and totally covering Denver, so when we finally saw the mountains they were just shadows along with the clouds.
Got through Denver relatively easily. The past 2 times, it was not fun with the horrendous traffic and road construction. Now to tackle the mountains and passes. The first time we went through Denver was from Utah, and I was on the floor the whole time, after almost dying in Death Valley with no brakes. At that point, all I wanted to do was get to Kansas. Now I would see what I missed. Today, I scoped out the 4 passes we would go over - all worse heading west than east, but the truck did great, and I survived! Rick discovered that one of the trailer brakes was not working (another casualty of the blowout), but wasn't concerned since 3 were working! However, the Low Coolant light went on in the truck. We stopped at a WalMart for coolant, and he took care of that. We headed to Grand Junction, KOA, where we decided to stop overnight, then tour Colorado National Monument Friday morning before hooking up and going to Moab. (Plan G - we had planned to base camp in Moab and come back to CNM).
We set up, and asked at the camp store for dinner recommendations. The owner directed us to town, giving us one of his favorites as a suggestion, but naming several. As we drove to town, we encountered a detour. It looked like there were lots of people walking on the block we were headed, and I mentioned that something was going on. We turned and tried the next street, and realized there was some kind of street fair, so we scrapped the restaurant idea, parked and went to explore. There were food vendors, produce stands, crafts, entertainment, a few service stands (solar energy, PBS, etc.) - for 3 blocks the main street was closed to traffic and the stands were set up. We strolled all 3 blocks surveying before deciding what we would eat. The town (Grand Junction) has lots of unique statues along the main street. The street itself was mobbed with people. At the end of the 3 blocks I found crepes - that was my dinner choice! Rick found a fajita pita. We sat and ate and people-watched, then strolled back the 3 blocks. We stopped for a drink and asked what this was (Thursday night - seemed a strange time for a street fair), and were told that it was a weekly Farmer's Market. What a great way to get people downtown - very fun! We didn't have a good impression of Grand Junction driving into the camproung. This changed our impression drastically.
The Low Coolant light was back on - after Rick had filled the coolant. He checked under the hood but could find no obvious leaks. He decided to watch it and perhaps have it checked in Moab.
Friday, July 8
Got up early (local time, late our time!) and headed to Colorado National Monument. There is a 23-mile rim drive through the monument, and the "Plan" was to drive through, go back and hook up, and continue to Moab, about 2 hours west. As we drove into the park, Rick debated - fix it here after we drive through the park, fix it at Moab, possibly waiting until Monday - but lots of touring driving between now and then. As we got the the Visitor's Center, I went in while he researched Chevy dealers in Grand Junction. He made and appointment for 11:00 (it was 9:30 -we had an hour to tour the monument, get back to camp and get to the repair shop).
So - we had a 'super-fast' microwave tour of the 23-mile park drive - in one side and out the other (I always call our form of touring 'microwave touring' because we do as much as we can in the least amount of time.) We stopped at most of the scenic overviews, but didn't do any of the short trails as I was hoping. The park itself if simply breathtaking. It is 32 square miles of brilliantly colored rock formations and canyons. We saw collared lizards and antelope ground squirrels. The park is also home to Desert Bighorn sheep, coyote and mountain lion, none of which we saw.
The CNM highcountry rises over 2,000 feet above the Grand Valley of the Colorado River. It is at the edge of the Uncompahgre Uplift, and is part of the greater Colorado Plateau, which includes the Grand Canyon, Arches, Bryce and Zion National Parks. It is semi-desert land, known as the high desert, with about 10-14 inches of precipitation per year. The views of the Colorado Valley and the purple-grey Book Cliffs were amazing.
We arrived back at the campground in time for Rick to drop me off and get to the repair shop. Diagnosis: water pump and rear axle seal. The rear axle seal was replaced before we left - so that will be covered. The water pump was original. Not bad, but it would have been nice to have done this BEFORE we left! I am getting tired of water pumps - hopefully our own water pumps will hold out! So - I am blogging as Rick is sitting at the repair shop waiting for the truck to be fixed. We should be out of here by 5:00 (mountain time) and in Moab by 7:00-ish. On to Plan H - no touring tonight. Plenty of time to tour 3 parks Saturday and Sunday, but no time to do laundry, as we switched our rest afternoon from Sunday to today! We'll figure it out!
Things to ponder:
Sign: Amish cheese made from Amish milk. (Ewww!)
On a bag of candy: King sized Reese's minis
In a restaurant: large jumbo shrimp
May the fourth be with you!
We were hooked up and ready to roll by 8:50. We had discussed routes for the trip. Rick planned Rt. 70 out and back (Plan A). I like variety, and suggested Rt. 80 out (70 past Chicago) and 70 back (Plan B). As we examined maps, I saw Rt. 36, a thick grey line road that was directly between Rt. 70 and 80, in northern Kansas. I thought it would be great to be off the interstate, and in our experience on Rt. 30 in Nebraska, we could make almost as good time. So we talked about going north from 70 to 80, then dropping down into Kansas on Rt. 36 for a while. That was Plan C.
We stopped at Sidling Hill for a rest stop, and there was a Farm Market open. I bought fresh peaches and the sweetest plums I ever tasted. Heaven! Later, we stopped at a Flying J outside Columbus, Ohio, for fuel and there was a man making Kettle Corn outside. Another Yum! I called these my truckstop treasures, and hope to find more on the trip. Pretty uneventful day. Pulled into a Flying J west of Dayton - same one we slept at the last night of last year's trip. All Flying Js are now owned by Pilot, and all Iron Skillet restaurants attached have been changed to Denny's.
Tuesday, July 5
Ate breakfast at Denny's before leaving Flying J. Got around Indianapolis (ugh - way to many cars!) and headed west toward Rt. 36 straight through Missouri and Kansas. (Plan D). However, we obviously are not in charge of our itinerary, because on the interstate, as I was talking to Abbie, a trailer tire blew. It was the one beside the one that blew last year, but this time we knew it went - loud pop, and Rick said the trailer flew into the air. Fortunately we were on a very lightly traveled interstate. Rick changed the tire quickly - noted the damage to the wheel shroud that he had just replaced from last year's blowout, and was very concerned about a tire on the opposite side. So, as we slowly drove to the Rest Stop 3 miles away to check that tire again, I got on the phone and googled tire places in Decatur, the next town - 13 miles away. I found one that had several locations across the state, and 2 in Decatur. Seemed a safe bet. Of course, when we pulled in, they had to get the tires from the OTHER location! So, we pulled behind the store, parallel parked the truck/trailer on a cement slab so the guy could change the tires easier (I was very impressed with the park job in the small area), and settled in to have lunch while we waited for the guy to get the tires and take his lunch break. We decided to replace all 4 tires and use the one we bought last year as the spare. As we started getting lunch out, we discovered the water pump was not working! It is amazing the amount of things we rely on water from the tap for! Seemed to be a result of the blowout.
Wednesday, July 6
We got back on the road, discussing travel plans - again! Decided to head back north to 80, heading for Rock Island KOA just on the border of Illinois and Iowa, Davenport area. Rick planned to look at and fix the water pump, but found the problem was more than he thought. The on-site repairman has a day-job, so he was not able to come first thing in the morning. We headed to Thompson RV, just across the border in Iowa, hoping they could fix it. They could not fit us in, but had one that Rick bought. We stopped at a Rest Stop for lunch, and Rick replaced the pump then. By now it was early afternoon and we had not gone far, so we set out on Rt. 80, thinking we could still drop down into Kansas Rt. 36. (Plan E). As we approaced the exit we would have to get off to go south, we were not in the right timing for finding a place to stop for the night, so we decided to go for it, and get as far as we could on Rt. 80 - hoping to do some of Rt. 36 on the way back. (Plan F). We stopped at a Bosselman's truck stop - our new favorite truck stop! Lots of food choices, huge store to wander through, good prices for fuel. We ate dinner at Grandma Max's - better than the regular truck stop fare! We continued on to North Platte, where we settled in to sleep at a Flying J. About an hour after getting there, we had a storm with heavy rain, wind and bolts of lightening. I was in bed, just hoping Rick was monitoring the weather on his phone! One bolt knocked out power to the place for over an hour, he said. 12 1/2 hour day in the truck. Whew!
Thursday, July 7
Continued heading west, soon heading directly toward Denver on Rt. 76. We strained all morning watching to see who would see the mountains first. Its funny - we see the clouds in the distance and... it could be - is it? No, not this time. But then, when the mountains appear, there is no question! Today, the cloud bank was settled on the western horizon - no other clouds in the sky - and totally covering Denver, so when we finally saw the mountains they were just shadows along with the clouds.
Got through Denver relatively easily. The past 2 times, it was not fun with the horrendous traffic and road construction. Now to tackle the mountains and passes. The first time we went through Denver was from Utah, and I was on the floor the whole time, after almost dying in Death Valley with no brakes. At that point, all I wanted to do was get to Kansas. Now I would see what I missed. Today, I scoped out the 4 passes we would go over - all worse heading west than east, but the truck did great, and I survived! Rick discovered that one of the trailer brakes was not working (another casualty of the blowout), but wasn't concerned since 3 were working! However, the Low Coolant light went on in the truck. We stopped at a WalMart for coolant, and he took care of that. We headed to Grand Junction, KOA, where we decided to stop overnight, then tour Colorado National Monument Friday morning before hooking up and going to Moab. (Plan G - we had planned to base camp in Moab and come back to CNM).
We set up, and asked at the camp store for dinner recommendations. The owner directed us to town, giving us one of his favorites as a suggestion, but naming several. As we drove to town, we encountered a detour. It looked like there were lots of people walking on the block we were headed, and I mentioned that something was going on. We turned and tried the next street, and realized there was some kind of street fair, so we scrapped the restaurant idea, parked and went to explore. There were food vendors, produce stands, crafts, entertainment, a few service stands (solar energy, PBS, etc.) - for 3 blocks the main street was closed to traffic and the stands were set up. We strolled all 3 blocks surveying before deciding what we would eat. The town (Grand Junction) has lots of unique statues along the main street. The street itself was mobbed with people. At the end of the 3 blocks I found crepes - that was my dinner choice! Rick found a fajita pita. We sat and ate and people-watched, then strolled back the 3 blocks. We stopped for a drink and asked what this was (Thursday night - seemed a strange time for a street fair), and were told that it was a weekly Farmer's Market. What a great way to get people downtown - very fun! We didn't have a good impression of Grand Junction driving into the camproung. This changed our impression drastically.
The Low Coolant light was back on - after Rick had filled the coolant. He checked under the hood but could find no obvious leaks. He decided to watch it and perhaps have it checked in Moab.
Friday, July 8
Got up early (local time, late our time!) and headed to Colorado National Monument. There is a 23-mile rim drive through the monument, and the "Plan" was to drive through, go back and hook up, and continue to Moab, about 2 hours west. As we drove into the park, Rick debated - fix it here after we drive through the park, fix it at Moab, possibly waiting until Monday - but lots of touring driving between now and then. As we got the the Visitor's Center, I went in while he researched Chevy dealers in Grand Junction. He made and appointment for 11:00 (it was 9:30 -we had an hour to tour the monument, get back to camp and get to the repair shop).
So - we had a 'super-fast' microwave tour of the 23-mile park drive - in one side and out the other (I always call our form of touring 'microwave touring' because we do as much as we can in the least amount of time.) We stopped at most of the scenic overviews, but didn't do any of the short trails as I was hoping. The park itself if simply breathtaking. It is 32 square miles of brilliantly colored rock formations and canyons. We saw collared lizards and antelope ground squirrels. The park is also home to Desert Bighorn sheep, coyote and mountain lion, none of which we saw.
The CNM highcountry rises over 2,000 feet above the Grand Valley of the Colorado River. It is at the edge of the Uncompahgre Uplift, and is part of the greater Colorado Plateau, which includes the Grand Canyon, Arches, Bryce and Zion National Parks. It is semi-desert land, known as the high desert, with about 10-14 inches of precipitation per year. The views of the Colorado Valley and the purple-grey Book Cliffs were amazing.
We arrived back at the campground in time for Rick to drop me off and get to the repair shop. Diagnosis: water pump and rear axle seal. The rear axle seal was replaced before we left - so that will be covered. The water pump was original. Not bad, but it would have been nice to have done this BEFORE we left! I am getting tired of water pumps - hopefully our own water pumps will hold out! So - I am blogging as Rick is sitting at the repair shop waiting for the truck to be fixed. We should be out of here by 5:00 (mountain time) and in Moab by 7:00-ish. On to Plan H - no touring tonight. Plenty of time to tour 3 parks Saturday and Sunday, but no time to do laundry, as we switched our rest afternoon from Sunday to today! We'll figure it out!
Things to ponder:
Sign: Amish cheese made from Amish milk. (Ewww!)
On a bag of candy: King sized Reese's minis
In a restaurant: large jumbo shrimp
July 8, 2011
This blog is intended to be a journal of our trip to Utah, so that I don't have to rely on memory when I get around to creating the scrapbook for the trip. You are welcome to come along for the trip, just keep in mind that I am writing for my memory!
Friday, July 1, 2011
We arrived at Lickdale Campground mid-afternoon for our traditional Other Family Camp Out (OFCO). Camping this year were Rick, Deb and Haley; Mother and Dad Koelsch; Pete, Regi, Ryan and Buddy; and Abbie, Jeff, Maggie and Kota in the brand-new tent Abbie got for Jeff for his birthday. When we arrived, only Abbie and Jeff were not yet there.
Pete and Rick went together to do a Low Country Boil for dinner - something that Rick fell in love with in Tybee Island, Georgia. The weather was beautiful, and we enjoyed a campfire and s'mores after dinner.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Saturday was 'family day' - something we started for those who could not camp for the weekend but still wanted to be involved. This is usually when we do a planned community dinner (the rest of the meals, with the exception of last night's dinner, are either on own or impromptu covered dishes). Mom and Dad Mohr, and Patti and Heidi came for the day. We had a potluck lunch without meatloaf and without pierogies (teasing!!!) That left the afternoon for whatever anyone wanted to do. Abbie and Heidi went back to Abbie's house to move her piano out (sold it), and the rest of us sat and tried not to be hot (warm day, starting to get humid), and chatted. Ryan and Heidi rented pedal bikes for 1/2 hour and toured the campground. Most of us decided to go to the store for ice cream for dinner. We enjoyed a good campfire and played Balderdash.
Saturday night we woke up to rain, and didn't think a whole lot of it. I woke up sometime later to hear Haley scratching at her door and whining to come out after we heard thunder, so Rick got up to let her out. She was happy when she could be up in the bedroom with us. Sometime later I heard my phone 'pop' indicating a text. That was about 3:35 am. Here is the text message exchange for the next hour:
Abbie: We are in the car waiting this one out. BIG bolts!
Abbie: Thinking about going home to sleep and then coming back in the morning, but we aren't sure.
Deb: What does the radar show?
Abbie: A long line of storms not moving. They seem to be moving northeat, which would explain the storms starting a while ago and not ending.
Deb: What time did they start? I didn't look at the time.
Abbie: 12:50. I came out during the first sprinkles to bring everything in. 2:50 we came out to the car.
Abbie: Radar shows storms moving south to southeast.
Deb: I'd say come on over - but it would be a mess with the dogs...
Abbie: Yea, it would be.
Abbie: And the dogs were being SO good tonight! No barking! Even now in the car they are just sleeping.
Deb: Of course!
Abbie: Wish I had my camera! These bolts are amazing!
Deb: Looks like we might be getting to calmer skies soon. Come on over and get your camera.
Abbie: Nah. I will wait here. These bolts are amazingly dangerous, too.
Deb: Dad just unlocked the door if you want to come get your camera or need anything. They don't seem too close.
Abbie: They are close. We are watching them. The whole sky lights up. It is beautiful. But we will keep that in mind.
Abbie: It might be hailing.
Deb: Really?
Abbie: I think it stopped. We were hearing a tinny sound of the roof and during a bolt we saw stuff bouncing off the tent.
Abbie: Radar was indicating hail.
Deb: Hmmm
Abbie: No tornado, there is no wind and no indications on the radar of a tornado.
Deb: Flood watch - but not for here.
Abbie: Good to know sine we eventually will be back in the tent.
Deb: Seems like we are on the back end of the weather.
Abbie: Let's hope! Just when we think it passes there is another close bolt.
We stopped texting after that, and then, about 7:30, the fire sirens at the local fire house about one block away went off!
Abbie: WHAT was that!
Deb: Fire house. Good morning!
Abbie and Jeff got up, packed up and left by about 10:00. We spent a lazy day trying to stay cool, although the humidity at times dropped off. Reig fiddled a bit - great to listen to as I rested my eyes (they would be busy during the next 2 weeks - had to have some down-time!) Later afternoon Pete, Regi, Ryan, Buddy, Rick, Haley and I walked to the far end of the campground where stream access was easy, and Pete and Ryan enjoyed a bit of rafting, Buddy enjoyed swimming, and Haley, when she was not trying to get out of the water, enjoyed ridding the stream of all the branches. She dragged several large branches out of the water. She was also very curious about the stones Pete and Ryan were skipping, and very concerned for Buddy swimming in the water.
We had dinner separately together - each at our own campers but about the same time. Ryan ate steak with Rick. We again walked up to the store for ice cream - good thing we don't live in walking distance of ice cream! We also enjoyed a campfire, but turned in earlier than the past 2 nights. We were pretty much packed up and ready to travel.
Friday, July 1, 2011
We arrived at Lickdale Campground mid-afternoon for our traditional Other Family Camp Out (OFCO). Camping this year were Rick, Deb and Haley; Mother and Dad Koelsch; Pete, Regi, Ryan and Buddy; and Abbie, Jeff, Maggie and Kota in the brand-new tent Abbie got for Jeff for his birthday. When we arrived, only Abbie and Jeff were not yet there.
Pete and Rick went together to do a Low Country Boil for dinner - something that Rick fell in love with in Tybee Island, Georgia. The weather was beautiful, and we enjoyed a campfire and s'mores after dinner.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Saturday was 'family day' - something we started for those who could not camp for the weekend but still wanted to be involved. This is usually when we do a planned community dinner (the rest of the meals, with the exception of last night's dinner, are either on own or impromptu covered dishes). Mom and Dad Mohr, and Patti and Heidi came for the day. We had a potluck lunch without meatloaf and without pierogies (teasing!!!) That left the afternoon for whatever anyone wanted to do. Abbie and Heidi went back to Abbie's house to move her piano out (sold it), and the rest of us sat and tried not to be hot (warm day, starting to get humid), and chatted. Ryan and Heidi rented pedal bikes for 1/2 hour and toured the campground. Most of us decided to go to the store for ice cream for dinner. We enjoyed a good campfire and played Balderdash.
Saturday night we woke up to rain, and didn't think a whole lot of it. I woke up sometime later to hear Haley scratching at her door and whining to come out after we heard thunder, so Rick got up to let her out. She was happy when she could be up in the bedroom with us. Sometime later I heard my phone 'pop' indicating a text. That was about 3:35 am. Here is the text message exchange for the next hour:
Abbie: We are in the car waiting this one out. BIG bolts!
Abbie: Thinking about going home to sleep and then coming back in the morning, but we aren't sure.
Deb: What does the radar show?
Abbie: A long line of storms not moving. They seem to be moving northeat, which would explain the storms starting a while ago and not ending.
Deb: What time did they start? I didn't look at the time.
Abbie: 12:50. I came out during the first sprinkles to bring everything in. 2:50 we came out to the car.
Abbie: Radar shows storms moving south to southeast.
Deb: I'd say come on over - but it would be a mess with the dogs...
Abbie: Yea, it would be.
Abbie: And the dogs were being SO good tonight! No barking! Even now in the car they are just sleeping.
Deb: Of course!
Abbie: Wish I had my camera! These bolts are amazing!
Deb: Looks like we might be getting to calmer skies soon. Come on over and get your camera.
Abbie: Nah. I will wait here. These bolts are amazingly dangerous, too.
Deb: Dad just unlocked the door if you want to come get your camera or need anything. They don't seem too close.
Abbie: They are close. We are watching them. The whole sky lights up. It is beautiful. But we will keep that in mind.
Abbie: It might be hailing.
Deb: Really?
Abbie: I think it stopped. We were hearing a tinny sound of the roof and during a bolt we saw stuff bouncing off the tent.
Abbie: Radar was indicating hail.
Deb: Hmmm
Abbie: No tornado, there is no wind and no indications on the radar of a tornado.
Deb: Flood watch - but not for here.
Abbie: Good to know sine we eventually will be back in the tent.
Deb: Seems like we are on the back end of the weather.
Abbie: Let's hope! Just when we think it passes there is another close bolt.
We stopped texting after that, and then, about 7:30, the fire sirens at the local fire house about one block away went off!
Abbie: WHAT was that!
Deb: Fire house. Good morning!
Abbie and Jeff got up, packed up and left by about 10:00. We spent a lazy day trying to stay cool, although the humidity at times dropped off. Reig fiddled a bit - great to listen to as I rested my eyes (they would be busy during the next 2 weeks - had to have some down-time!) Later afternoon Pete, Regi, Ryan, Buddy, Rick, Haley and I walked to the far end of the campground where stream access was easy, and Pete and Ryan enjoyed a bit of rafting, Buddy enjoyed swimming, and Haley, when she was not trying to get out of the water, enjoyed ridding the stream of all the branches. She dragged several large branches out of the water. She was also very curious about the stones Pete and Ryan were skipping, and very concerned for Buddy swimming in the water.
We had dinner separately together - each at our own campers but about the same time. Ryan ate steak with Rick. We again walked up to the store for ice cream - good thing we don't live in walking distance of ice cream! We also enjoyed a campfire, but turned in earlier than the past 2 nights. We were pretty much packed up and ready to travel.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Friday, July 16
Up early and headed for home :( Most of the day was pretty uneventful, and we planned to stay in a Flying J truckstop for the night. We stopped at a Culver's for lunch, because in Wisconsin the man at the KOA highly recommended it. We thought it was good but not exceptional. Better than McD's, anyway :)
Late afternoon, we stopped for fuel and as we pulled off the interstate, smelled a terrible sewer/sulpher type smell. We thought it was the area we were in. As we were stopped, Rick noticed a flat tire on the trailer on the driver's side. We pulled out of the way so he could fill it, and checked about tire repair places. The next exit had a tire repair shop, so we headed 6 miles up the road. We noticed that the smell followed us!
Took some time for the tire to be repaired, then on we went. We stopped mid-Iowa around Des Moines at a former Flying J, now Love's to sleep. Tire was doing fine.
Saturday, July 17
As we got ready to leave, as Rick tried to start the truck for travel, we discovered the source of the smell. One of the truck batteries died. A call to AAA for a jump, with plans to find a Sear's Automotive to replace the batteries, a long wait in the hot, hot heat (thankfully Haley and I relaxed in the trailer in the AC), and a service man who loved his job and brought batteries to replace rather than just jump the truck, and we were off by about 11:15.
About an hour later, just as we passed a rest stop that Rick decided to skip, a couple in a car frantically motioned for us to pull over. They watched as, just past the rest area, the repaired trailer tire blew apart. We were stopped on Rt. 70 with traffic blowing by at 75 mph, with a blown tire on the highway side. The nice man stayed and helped Rick change the tire in the hot, hot heat, and after about 20 minutes we were on our way and looking for a place to replace the tire so we had a spare. We found one with the tire we needed, but there was a 3 hour wait, and we were still in Iowa in late afternoon! We decided to wait.
We continued to Indianapolis, IN, where we stopped for the night. As we crossed into Indiana, we encountered a gianormous thunderstorm. We skirted the clouds, but just after stopping for fuel, the rain started. We were with the storm for 70 miles. The sky turned greenish-yellow, and the lightening bolts slammed down all around us - not one at a time, but 3, 4, 5 at a time. There were fingers of lightening slashing straight across the sky - we have never seen lightening like this. We waited for the twister to drop from the sky - fortunately that didn't happen!
Se stopped at a Flying J, settled in, and I went to explore a little farmers market set up at the store. It was 11:00 - I asked when they closed, and they said they were open 24/7! Thier relief would be there about 4 am. I bought a bottle of blackberry cider to use in my smoothies.
While all of our adventures were going on, Abbie and Jeff were having their own adventures. They were to take off from Minneapolis at 4:08. She called about 3:50 saying the plane was having some kind of problem. The pilot turned it off and back on (sounds like our 'Service Engine Soon" light issue that we've had all week!), and when that didn't work, they had to go back to the terminal. But - they couldn't go back because there was a thunderstorm. They were convinced that they would miss their connecting flight from Phila to Baltimore, and were thinking about Plan B.
We next heard from them when they touched down in Phila with 1/2 to make their connecting flight. However, they could not get to the terminal, and ended up missing their connecting flight. They had made arrangements for Jim and Lisa to pick them up in Philly and get them to Lancaster, where Jeff's mom would meet them, but they cancelled everything and sent Jeff's mom toward the Baltimore airport to pick them up when they arrived in Phila in time. They found a flight to Harrisburg and booked that, leaving Philly at 10:50, and told Jeff's mom to head there. As they got on the shuttle minutes later, they got an e-mail that the Harrisburg flight they had JUST booked was cancelled! Back to Plan B - Jim and Lisa graciously said they'd pick up Abbie and Jeff in Phila - met Jeff's mom in Centerville to take them to Hanover to collect their car and dogs. They finally got home at 2:30 am!
Sunday, July 18
Woke up to showers, which didn't last long. We have been blessed with sunny weather this trip - very little rain, and hardly any while driving (yay!). We had a LONG drive to get home, about 600 miles. Not fun driving, since we are back in populated areas, and the closer we got to home, the narrower and more crowded the roads became. Ugh! In the past 2 days I read 2 books! We arrived home about 8 pm.
Up early and headed for home :( Most of the day was pretty uneventful, and we planned to stay in a Flying J truckstop for the night. We stopped at a Culver's for lunch, because in Wisconsin the man at the KOA highly recommended it. We thought it was good but not exceptional. Better than McD's, anyway :)
Late afternoon, we stopped for fuel and as we pulled off the interstate, smelled a terrible sewer/sulpher type smell. We thought it was the area we were in. As we were stopped, Rick noticed a flat tire on the trailer on the driver's side. We pulled out of the way so he could fill it, and checked about tire repair places. The next exit had a tire repair shop, so we headed 6 miles up the road. We noticed that the smell followed us!
Took some time for the tire to be repaired, then on we went. We stopped mid-Iowa around Des Moines at a former Flying J, now Love's to sleep. Tire was doing fine.
Saturday, July 17
As we got ready to leave, as Rick tried to start the truck for travel, we discovered the source of the smell. One of the truck batteries died. A call to AAA for a jump, with plans to find a Sear's Automotive to replace the batteries, a long wait in the hot, hot heat (thankfully Haley and I relaxed in the trailer in the AC), and a service man who loved his job and brought batteries to replace rather than just jump the truck, and we were off by about 11:15.
About an hour later, just as we passed a rest stop that Rick decided to skip, a couple in a car frantically motioned for us to pull over. They watched as, just past the rest area, the repaired trailer tire blew apart. We were stopped on Rt. 70 with traffic blowing by at 75 mph, with a blown tire on the highway side. The nice man stayed and helped Rick change the tire in the hot, hot heat, and after about 20 minutes we were on our way and looking for a place to replace the tire so we had a spare. We found one with the tire we needed, but there was a 3 hour wait, and we were still in Iowa in late afternoon! We decided to wait.
We continued to Indianapolis, IN, where we stopped for the night. As we crossed into Indiana, we encountered a gianormous thunderstorm. We skirted the clouds, but just after stopping for fuel, the rain started. We were with the storm for 70 miles. The sky turned greenish-yellow, and the lightening bolts slammed down all around us - not one at a time, but 3, 4, 5 at a time. There were fingers of lightening slashing straight across the sky - we have never seen lightening like this. We waited for the twister to drop from the sky - fortunately that didn't happen!
Se stopped at a Flying J, settled in, and I went to explore a little farmers market set up at the store. It was 11:00 - I asked when they closed, and they said they were open 24/7! Thier relief would be there about 4 am. I bought a bottle of blackberry cider to use in my smoothies.
While all of our adventures were going on, Abbie and Jeff were having their own adventures. They were to take off from Minneapolis at 4:08. She called about 3:50 saying the plane was having some kind of problem. The pilot turned it off and back on (sounds like our 'Service Engine Soon" light issue that we've had all week!), and when that didn't work, they had to go back to the terminal. But - they couldn't go back because there was a thunderstorm. They were convinced that they would miss their connecting flight from Phila to Baltimore, and were thinking about Plan B.
We next heard from them when they touched down in Phila with 1/2 to make their connecting flight. However, they could not get to the terminal, and ended up missing their connecting flight. They had made arrangements for Jim and Lisa to pick them up in Philly and get them to Lancaster, where Jeff's mom would meet them, but they cancelled everything and sent Jeff's mom toward the Baltimore airport to pick them up when they arrived in Phila in time. They found a flight to Harrisburg and booked that, leaving Philly at 10:50, and told Jeff's mom to head there. As they got on the shuttle minutes later, they got an e-mail that the Harrisburg flight they had JUST booked was cancelled! Back to Plan B - Jim and Lisa graciously said they'd pick up Abbie and Jeff in Phila - met Jeff's mom in Centerville to take them to Hanover to collect their car and dogs. They finally got home at 2:30 am!
Sunday, July 18
Woke up to showers, which didn't last long. We have been blessed with sunny weather this trip - very little rain, and hardly any while driving (yay!). We had a LONG drive to get home, about 600 miles. Not fun driving, since we are back in populated areas, and the closer we got to home, the narrower and more crowded the roads became. Ugh! In the past 2 days I read 2 books! We arrived home about 8 pm.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
West Yellowstone, MT to Rapid City, SD
Sunday, July 11 - Happy Birthday Abbie!
After a good night's sleep, especially for Abbie and Jeff who were up almost 23 hours, we got up early and made breakfast before heading into Yellowstone. Yellowstone's roads are in a figure 8. When we were here 16 years ago, we 'did' Yellowstone in a day - traveling the outside of the figure 8 in a circle, clockwise. This time, we have two days, and planned a loop a day. We decided to do the lower loop first - because that was the area we did at the end of our day the first time in Yellowstone and we were tired, so don't remember as much, and because the one thing Jeff was looking forward to most was Old Faithful. So - lower loop, counter-clockwise it was!
We drove in the West Entrance and were enthralled even before getting to the loops. The beautiful Madison River paralleled the road, and we were greeted by several bison along the way. We were amazed that people were fly fishing in the water as the bison were grazing along the banks - neither seeming to care much about the other.
We stopped in the Lower Geyser Basin along Fountain Flat Drive to take a .6 mile walk to some geysers. One was at the edge of a stream, much like a hot tub on the edge of a pool. Several were in an area where bubbles, steam and the smell of sulpher were abundant. It was fascinating to watch the water bubbling - actually boiling up from the earth.
We stopped at the Fountain Paint Pots, where we took a 1/2 mile walk on the boardwalks out into the field of geysers. Many areas are fragile with thin crusts and dangerous boiling water or acid, and the only way to see things up close is to walk on the boardwalks. My question was 'how did they put the boardwalks in such dangerous areas?"!
The Fountain Paint Pots had areas that just blurped and bubbled mud, some were small holes with occasional fountains of water splashing out, and others were geysers which erupted every so often, but generally not in a predictable pattern.
We drove the Firehole Lake Drive, stopping to see several other geysers. The one which would have been great to see was not expected to go off until the evening, with a 4-hour window. It flowed into terraces, and the color patterns were fascinating without the geyser!
We arrived at Old Faithful about 11:05, and joined the throngs of people all heading in one direction. We guessed (correctly) that they were heading to the geyser, and discovered the predicted time to go off was 11:20, give or take 10 minutes. We joined everyone in the viewing area and waited. The geyser would start to steam more, then little bursts of water would come up, everyone would point their camers, snap a few shots and say 'ahhh' - 'ohh' as the geyser quieted down again. This happened several times before the 'official' eruption. When Abbie said "Happy Birthday to ME", we looked at the clock and realized it was spouting at 1:27 (home time) - the time of her birth!! After the eruption, we headed to find food (not great fast food), then shopped a little. We were leaving as the next eruption was starting, about 1:00. Old Faithful erupts about every 90 minutes +/- 10 minutes. The area was a mobhouse, with zillions of people and construction of a new Visitor's Education Center taking up a lot of space and parking.
We continued on our loop, heading over Craig Pass at 8626', then down into West Thumb and Grant Village. My goal was to stop at every Visitor's Center to have my passport stamped, and in Grant Village I also joined the park association which benefitted the park with additional funds to keep the park going and help pay for improvements and conservation efforts. I received a free tote bag in return, as well as 15% off purchases in Yellowstone and other National Parks for a year. On our way in to Grant Village, we spotted 2 elk beside the road. We stayed in the truck and took pictures, being careful not to disturb the elk. A family, however, stopped and the 3 kids piled out and headed to within yards of the elk. We left before we saw something we didn't want to see!
We skirted the western edge of Yellowstone Lake, which is North America's largest mountain lake. It is 20 miles long, 14 miles wide, 430 feet deep at its deepest point. Average surface temps are 60 degrees, with bottom temps never rising above 42 degrees. It currently drains into the Gulf of Mexico, but has over time drained into the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. As we drove, we saw several deer grazing, and stopped to take pictures.
The weather was turning cloudy, with sprinkles on and off.
The lower loop of the park is inside the 30 x 45 mile caldera, or basin, of the volcano which created Yellowstone. The magmatic heat from the latest eruption (640,000 years ago) is what powers the park's geysers, hot springs, fumaroles and mudpots today.
After stopping at the Fishing Bridge Visitor's Center, where we had showers and hail, and saw the forecast was for 61 degrees, we headed north on the eastern part of the loop, stopping at the Mud Volcano, where we saw one of the most intersting geysers, the Dragon's Mouth Spring. Shaped like a dragon's mouth, with steam spewing out, and water coming out in waves, with the smell of sulphur and the groaning like a dragon, the sight was eerie at best! We stopped at the Sulphur Caldron and discovered the acidity level of the area was just below that of battery acid, which topped the scale for acidity.
We headed across the middle of the figure 8 to leave the park, stopping for construction along a beautiful stream. As we were leaving the park, we saw a bald eagle and several more elk.
We went into West Yellowstone and stopped at the 3 Bears Restaurant for Abbie's birthday dinner. Rick and Jeff tried bison ribs, which they liked. We took photos of several decorated bison in the town, and stopped at a grocery store to pick up a few things. We tried to find ice cream cake or birthday cake for Abbie's birthday, but had to settle for fudge at the camp store (what a sacrifice!)
Monday, July 12
We were up even earlier today, and after breakfast headed in to tour the northern loop of the park, again going counter-clockwise.
On our way in to the park, we encountered an 'animal jam' (which occurs when motorists spot wildlife and everyone stops). The cause - a coyote wandering along the road! We saw it ahead, and watched it wander from the left side of the road to our side, walking right past our truck! It didn't seem bothered by the people or cars, and thankfully no one was crazy and got out to take pictures!
We re-traced our steps across the center of the park, taking a one-way narrow road to the Virginia Cascades. We were treated not only to the waterfalls, but to the quiet stream above. I couldn't resist, and peeled off shoes and socks to dip my feet into the stream. Cold - but ah, so good! We stopped at a beautiful meadow - the wind in the trees and birds were the only sounds.
We crossed Yellowstone River and took the South Rim Drive to the Upper and Lower Falls. This area is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, where the Yellowstone River drops 1000 feet over 2 falls. The Upper Falls drops a total of 109 feet. The Lower Falls are visible from Artist's Point, and while there, photographed 2 people who were painting pictures of the falls. Both views were breathtaking, but I think we all agreed that the Lower Falls were the best. When we stopped at Uncle Tom's Trail for a view of the Upper Falls, we discovered a bull elk wandering through the area. Rangers were there to be sure people weren't stupid (as they were), making people back up and clear the area so as not to scare the elk and get hurt.
We then drove the North Rim Drive, stopping at the brink of the Upper Falls for a different perspective, then continuing to the Canyon Village Visitor's Center where we stopped to get an ice cream snack and shop a little after I got my passport stamped. I bought a coat! Only $28, with the 15% discount on that. Now I can't wait for it to be cold :) As we were eating our ice cream, a pica was running around (about the size of a chipmunk or praire dog), and stood up and posed for several pictures for me.
We continued north on the eastern side of the upper loop road, seeing snow, waterfalls and beautiful scenery. We were on the lookout for bear, and were not disappointed! We encountered an 'animal jam', and found an adorable black bear in the center of it. Rick was able to park as a car pulled out, and we had front-row seats to the bear munching flowers in the field only about 25 feet from us. As it ambled toward the cars, people scattered (smart move), moving to put the cars between the bear and themselves. We saw people driving by with someone standing up through the sunroof to get photos, others standing on top of their truck roofs to get photos.
We stopped at Roosevelt Lodge for lunch, getting there at 2:50, with lunch hours listed until 3:00. Abbie tried the bison chili, and Rick and Jeff got elk burgers. I had a salad, and tried the huckleberry vinagarette dressing. Huckleberry is a huge product in this area. We had eaten here when we were at the park the first time, and Rick was determined to eat here again.
After lunch, we continued on to Mammoth Hot Springs, the park's headquarters. After getting the passport stamped (5th and final time for Yellowstone), we did the Upper Terrace Drive, stopping to examine this area carefully. There are no words to describe this hot spring area - other-worldy, with fascinating colors and patterns created by the hot springs. We followed the boardwalks again to see close-up the various springs and pools.
After we left, we headed on our final part of the loop. We missed the Obsidian Cliffs as we were distracted by - a grizzly bear! We had seen one earlier from a distance across a large meadow. This one was close to the road, but in trees where it was hard to get a picture. The rangers were on top of this 'animal jam' in a hurry, not allowing people to stop or get out, so we could not get a good photo of the bear. But we saw it - that's what counts! A short time later, Jeff and Abbie spotted a wolf heading into the trees along a meadow. Again, it was gone before we could stop and get photos but it counted in our animal count! A few more bison and elk ended our day. We headed back to the camper to start packing for our trip the next day.
When we got back to the trailer, we had a note on the door from people from Strasburg, PA, who camp with Rick in the Crossroads rallies! They were parked a few sites away, and recognized the trailer. Rick visited with them as we snacked for dinner.
Tuesday, July 13
We were up early and headed out of West Yellowstone along the western edge of the park, going north to Bozman, MT and Rt. 90. As we were traveling, I spotted a moose along the road! Rick missed it, and we had no cell signal for me to call Abbie and Jeff, who were behind us. We had arranged a signal - Rick would put the left or right turn signal on, depending on what side of the road I may have seen wildlife. We didn't have time to signal - it was right beside us when I saw it.
We traveled from Bozman to Billings, then stopped for lunch before continuing on through Wyoming into South Dakota on Rt. 90. What we originally thought would be about an 8 hour trip turned into 12 hours total - mapquest said 8 1/2, GPS said 10 1/2. With stops, it was a long day! We saw antelope herds in Wyoming. We continued to see beehives - something we've seen throughout the trip. In Billings, we were surprised to see PPL! What are they doing in Montana?
One of my goals this trip was to visit Devil's Tower in northeast Wyoming. We have been near, but not visited it, several times. However, because of our change to North Dakota on the way out, and the unexpectedly longer travel time today, we again were not able to stop. We DID see it, though, from about 25 miles away! No photos, but at least I can say I saw it! (Devil's Tower NP was featured in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" in the 1970s as the tower where mysterious extraterrestrial beings were gathering.)
We arrived about 6:00 local time, and Rick didn't want to go out to eat. After talking to our new neighbor, from Scranton, for a while, he checked out what we had in the fridge/freezer, and realized he'd better head to a grocery store. By the time he got back and cooked, it was 10:00 local time! Way too late for dinner no matter how you look at it! We were all grateful for bed after clean-up.
Wednesday, July 14
Up early, again, and ready to hit the Black Hills. We decided to take advantage of the all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast at the campground, then head to Mt. Rushmore. We traveled through some very tourist-y areas on the way. The little towns may have been fun to tour in the middle of no-where, but for an area ripe with natural wonders, they were very out of place. Its a shame people flock to these areas, ignoring nature!
At Mt. Rushmore, we took many photos of the same 4 heads :) We saw the movie (first one for this trip - at least Jeff had that experience!), bought a few souviniers. I ducked into the last gift shop unexpectedly, and was glad I did. In the shop was a man who had worked on the making of Mt. Rushmore. He worked on it for 3 years, when he was 17-20 years old. He published a book about his experience - answering questions he has had about his experience. He also played on a baseball team, made up of people who worked on the mountain. He appeared pretty fragile, but his wife was energetic and helpful. We bought an autographed book before leaving.
We then traveled the corkscrew highway - a road that actually wraps around itself. The very narrow road has bridges that wind in a narrow corkscrew, and there were tunnels that were one-lane. We saw some deer along the way. We then went to the Needles Highway. Highway is a misnomer, as the road is barely one car-width wide in places. It winds through forest areas and through oddly-shaped granite spires - a mini-badlands of sorts.
The Needles Highway took us near the Crazy Horse monument, where we stopped (outside the park) just to take pictures before heading into Custer for lunch. Rick and Jeff tried lamb sausage soup, and Rick had a bison burger.
We then headed to Custer State Park in search of wildlife. This was the park where we first ever encountered bison. We saw lots of pronghorn, and about half-way through the drive found the burrow. The borros are not native to the Black Hills - there are descendants from the herd that once hauled visitors up to the top of Harney Peak. The rides were discontinued years ago and the borros released into the park. The borros have become a popular attraction in the park, and stop traffic to search for food. They walk along the road poking their heads into vehicles to see if they get food - if not, they go to the next car. It was very entertaining to watch them. We had one come and scratch his head against the side mirror!
We were almost out of the park, and still had not seen anything other than pronghorns and bison, when we started spotting bison droppings. Lots and lots of them. Fresh. We knew bison had passed through here recently. A little way down the road, Abbie spotted a bison trudging along behind a hill, and we definitely smelled them! At last, as we came over a rise, there was an 'animal jam' and bison in the woods. This turned out to be the tail end of a herd of bison going - somewhere. Where, we don't know, but they were not grazing, they were walking, trotting with a purpose. We saw several babies, and the granddaddy - perhaps the one that chased Rick 16 years ago! We watched them surround cars as they crossed 2 roads near an intersection, and heard them bleating.Whew - they are monstrous things! It is impressive seeing one or two bison, but we wanted Jeff to get the full bison experience of being in the middle of a herd - and we got that experience!
Our tour complete, we headed to the camper to freshen up and let Haley out before heading to the Circle B Chuckwagon Dinner and Cowboy Show. We had also done this 16 years ago - our first chuckwagon experience of many. There were a few shops to browse through, horse rides for the children, and pistol shooting. About 10 minutes before dinner, there was a hokey shootout which was fun when our kids were small. Then in to a dinner that cowboys out on the prairie might experience. Chicken, steak or bison, baked potato, beans, peaches, a biscuit and ginger cake, with lemonade or coffee to drink. After dinner, we had cowboy music. Circle B is currently owned by a family (not the same singers we saw 16 years ago), who do almost everything. The music was the father and 2 sons, with the wife occasionally singing along. A few silly jokes rounded out the hour of entertainment. The father and one son staged the pre-dinner shoot-out, with the help of the children attending the dinner.
On the way home, we saw several deer. We passed through an area warning about big-horned sheep, but did not see any in any part of our trip.
We got back to camp and decided to try Haley in Kamp K9, their doggie park. Complete with an upside-down V shaped climbing mountain, a bridge and a teeter-totter, we hoped we could get her relaxed and on something. She resisted going near the park - but in the power struggle, Rick eventually won and got her in the park. She drooled but ran around checking things out. When Abbie and Jeff arrived, we ganged up on her, and before we knew it, she was going up and over the mountain! With all 4 of us praising and petting her, she was eating up the attention - maybe even grinned a few times! We then tried her on the bridge and once again, she was going up and over. We ran her back and forth between the two, and she was loving the attention and working off lots of energy. It only took about 1o minutes for her to learn those 2 new tricks! Then we tried the teeter-totter. When she eventually got on it and it tottered down the other side, she freaked and was not going near anything again! We got her back on the other two before heading back to camp. For that, she got an ice cream treat!
Thursday, July 15
Abbie and Jeff decided, after examining their route, to leave today after touring in order to get to Minneapolis with plenty of time to visit the friends they were staying with, so they packed up, and organized for the trip home. We again took advantage of the campground pancake breakfast (I've eaten more pancakes on this trip then I have in the past year! In fact, I started to collect them - saving and freezing leftovers on 3 separate occasions!)
We headed east, traveling in caravan to Wall, where they parked at Wall Drug, and joined us in the truck. We then traveled south to the Badlands National Park to do their loop drive. Again, no words can describe this land. Where you see seeminlgy endless prarie, suddenly you round a curve or come over a rise and see spires and sharp drop-offs and desolate areas. We wondered how the pioneers felt as they came over a rise and discovered virtually impassable land, with no way through it, and days and days around it. We say a prarie dog town and some pronghorns, but no other wildlife, although lots live in the park.
After stopping at the Visitor's Center (of course!), we headed back to Wall via Rt. 90. Wall DRug began in 1931 when a family bought the drug store in the middle 0f - nowhere. They gave it 5 years to make a go of it, and at the end were ready to give up when they decided they needed a way to get people in to their store from the highway. What did people need as they traveled on the hot, dusty road? Ice water! They put up signs similar to the Burma Shave signs, and before their last sign was out, people were flocking to their store for free ice water. While there, they bought ice cream cones and other things - and Wall Drug was in business for good. Now a popular tourist area, similar but better than South of the Border, it is a very busy place. We got there at lunch time and ate lunch - just minutes before the lunch rush. We meandered the different shops within the drug store (it covers a whole block), and Abbie and Jeff bought souviniers.
My right hand started hurting yesterday - a good case of 'camera hand', from gripping the camera to be ready for any photo. My thumb, especially, hurts, as that controls the on/off switch and the telephoto. I have a sore spot that feels like a bruise at the base of my thumb in my palm! I'll be in heaven when I get home - with Abbie and Jeff both taking photos, we'll share all the photos and have three times as many to choose from!
It was time to say goodby to Abbie and Jeff as they headed toward Souix City to spend the night before getting to Minneapolis Friday. Their flight leaves Minneapolis on Saturday. We headed south into Badland National Park again, this time taking a little-used dirt road through the west side of the park to Highway 44, which took us right to our campground. In our ride through the west side of the park, we saw Robert's Prarie Dog Town - which is more of a city, covering several miles! We saw a bison in the distance. We saw maybe 6 cars. And lots of prairie and badlands.
Back at camp, Rick headed out for an oil change and truck wash while I blogged the past 5 days! Dinner is cooking and then it is time to pack up and head toward home. We have about 27 hours to drive! Lots of time to review the trip and add stuff I forgot about to the blog :)
We took Haley to the dog park again - she was hesitant, and did not look too happy going through the routine, but remembered from last night. Another dog came to play shortly after we got there, so we took her out and will try again later. Maybe then she will be more relaxed and ready to play!
After a good night's sleep, especially for Abbie and Jeff who were up almost 23 hours, we got up early and made breakfast before heading into Yellowstone. Yellowstone's roads are in a figure 8. When we were here 16 years ago, we 'did' Yellowstone in a day - traveling the outside of the figure 8 in a circle, clockwise. This time, we have two days, and planned a loop a day. We decided to do the lower loop first - because that was the area we did at the end of our day the first time in Yellowstone and we were tired, so don't remember as much, and because the one thing Jeff was looking forward to most was Old Faithful. So - lower loop, counter-clockwise it was!
We drove in the West Entrance and were enthralled even before getting to the loops. The beautiful Madison River paralleled the road, and we were greeted by several bison along the way. We were amazed that people were fly fishing in the water as the bison were grazing along the banks - neither seeming to care much about the other.
We stopped in the Lower Geyser Basin along Fountain Flat Drive to take a .6 mile walk to some geysers. One was at the edge of a stream, much like a hot tub on the edge of a pool. Several were in an area where bubbles, steam and the smell of sulpher were abundant. It was fascinating to watch the water bubbling - actually boiling up from the earth.
We stopped at the Fountain Paint Pots, where we took a 1/2 mile walk on the boardwalks out into the field of geysers. Many areas are fragile with thin crusts and dangerous boiling water or acid, and the only way to see things up close is to walk on the boardwalks. My question was 'how did they put the boardwalks in such dangerous areas?"!
The Fountain Paint Pots had areas that just blurped and bubbled mud, some were small holes with occasional fountains of water splashing out, and others were geysers which erupted every so often, but generally not in a predictable pattern.
We drove the Firehole Lake Drive, stopping to see several other geysers. The one which would have been great to see was not expected to go off until the evening, with a 4-hour window. It flowed into terraces, and the color patterns were fascinating without the geyser!
We arrived at Old Faithful about 11:05, and joined the throngs of people all heading in one direction. We guessed (correctly) that they were heading to the geyser, and discovered the predicted time to go off was 11:20, give or take 10 minutes. We joined everyone in the viewing area and waited. The geyser would start to steam more, then little bursts of water would come up, everyone would point their camers, snap a few shots and say 'ahhh' - 'ohh' as the geyser quieted down again. This happened several times before the 'official' eruption. When Abbie said "Happy Birthday to ME", we looked at the clock and realized it was spouting at 1:27 (home time) - the time of her birth!! After the eruption, we headed to find food (not great fast food), then shopped a little. We were leaving as the next eruption was starting, about 1:00. Old Faithful erupts about every 90 minutes +/- 10 minutes. The area was a mobhouse, with zillions of people and construction of a new Visitor's Education Center taking up a lot of space and parking.
We continued on our loop, heading over Craig Pass at 8626', then down into West Thumb and Grant Village. My goal was to stop at every Visitor's Center to have my passport stamped, and in Grant Village I also joined the park association which benefitted the park with additional funds to keep the park going and help pay for improvements and conservation efforts. I received a free tote bag in return, as well as 15% off purchases in Yellowstone and other National Parks for a year. On our way in to Grant Village, we spotted 2 elk beside the road. We stayed in the truck and took pictures, being careful not to disturb the elk. A family, however, stopped and the 3 kids piled out and headed to within yards of the elk. We left before we saw something we didn't want to see!
We skirted the western edge of Yellowstone Lake, which is North America's largest mountain lake. It is 20 miles long, 14 miles wide, 430 feet deep at its deepest point. Average surface temps are 60 degrees, with bottom temps never rising above 42 degrees. It currently drains into the Gulf of Mexico, but has over time drained into the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. As we drove, we saw several deer grazing, and stopped to take pictures.
The weather was turning cloudy, with sprinkles on and off.
The lower loop of the park is inside the 30 x 45 mile caldera, or basin, of the volcano which created Yellowstone. The magmatic heat from the latest eruption (640,000 years ago) is what powers the park's geysers, hot springs, fumaroles and mudpots today.
After stopping at the Fishing Bridge Visitor's Center, where we had showers and hail, and saw the forecast was for 61 degrees, we headed north on the eastern part of the loop, stopping at the Mud Volcano, where we saw one of the most intersting geysers, the Dragon's Mouth Spring. Shaped like a dragon's mouth, with steam spewing out, and water coming out in waves, with the smell of sulphur and the groaning like a dragon, the sight was eerie at best! We stopped at the Sulphur Caldron and discovered the acidity level of the area was just below that of battery acid, which topped the scale for acidity.
We headed across the middle of the figure 8 to leave the park, stopping for construction along a beautiful stream. As we were leaving the park, we saw a bald eagle and several more elk.
We went into West Yellowstone and stopped at the 3 Bears Restaurant for Abbie's birthday dinner. Rick and Jeff tried bison ribs, which they liked. We took photos of several decorated bison in the town, and stopped at a grocery store to pick up a few things. We tried to find ice cream cake or birthday cake for Abbie's birthday, but had to settle for fudge at the camp store (what a sacrifice!)
Monday, July 12
We were up even earlier today, and after breakfast headed in to tour the northern loop of the park, again going counter-clockwise.
On our way in to the park, we encountered an 'animal jam' (which occurs when motorists spot wildlife and everyone stops). The cause - a coyote wandering along the road! We saw it ahead, and watched it wander from the left side of the road to our side, walking right past our truck! It didn't seem bothered by the people or cars, and thankfully no one was crazy and got out to take pictures!
We re-traced our steps across the center of the park, taking a one-way narrow road to the Virginia Cascades. We were treated not only to the waterfalls, but to the quiet stream above. I couldn't resist, and peeled off shoes and socks to dip my feet into the stream. Cold - but ah, so good! We stopped at a beautiful meadow - the wind in the trees and birds were the only sounds.
We crossed Yellowstone River and took the South Rim Drive to the Upper and Lower Falls. This area is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, where the Yellowstone River drops 1000 feet over 2 falls. The Upper Falls drops a total of 109 feet. The Lower Falls are visible from Artist's Point, and while there, photographed 2 people who were painting pictures of the falls. Both views were breathtaking, but I think we all agreed that the Lower Falls were the best. When we stopped at Uncle Tom's Trail for a view of the Upper Falls, we discovered a bull elk wandering through the area. Rangers were there to be sure people weren't stupid (as they were), making people back up and clear the area so as not to scare the elk and get hurt.
We then drove the North Rim Drive, stopping at the brink of the Upper Falls for a different perspective, then continuing to the Canyon Village Visitor's Center where we stopped to get an ice cream snack and shop a little after I got my passport stamped. I bought a coat! Only $28, with the 15% discount on that. Now I can't wait for it to be cold :) As we were eating our ice cream, a pica was running around (about the size of a chipmunk or praire dog), and stood up and posed for several pictures for me.
We continued north on the eastern side of the upper loop road, seeing snow, waterfalls and beautiful scenery. We were on the lookout for bear, and were not disappointed! We encountered an 'animal jam', and found an adorable black bear in the center of it. Rick was able to park as a car pulled out, and we had front-row seats to the bear munching flowers in the field only about 25 feet from us. As it ambled toward the cars, people scattered (smart move), moving to put the cars between the bear and themselves. We saw people driving by with someone standing up through the sunroof to get photos, others standing on top of their truck roofs to get photos.
We stopped at Roosevelt Lodge for lunch, getting there at 2:50, with lunch hours listed until 3:00. Abbie tried the bison chili, and Rick and Jeff got elk burgers. I had a salad, and tried the huckleberry vinagarette dressing. Huckleberry is a huge product in this area. We had eaten here when we were at the park the first time, and Rick was determined to eat here again.
After lunch, we continued on to Mammoth Hot Springs, the park's headquarters. After getting the passport stamped (5th and final time for Yellowstone), we did the Upper Terrace Drive, stopping to examine this area carefully. There are no words to describe this hot spring area - other-worldy, with fascinating colors and patterns created by the hot springs. We followed the boardwalks again to see close-up the various springs and pools.
After we left, we headed on our final part of the loop. We missed the Obsidian Cliffs as we were distracted by - a grizzly bear! We had seen one earlier from a distance across a large meadow. This one was close to the road, but in trees where it was hard to get a picture. The rangers were on top of this 'animal jam' in a hurry, not allowing people to stop or get out, so we could not get a good photo of the bear. But we saw it - that's what counts! A short time later, Jeff and Abbie spotted a wolf heading into the trees along a meadow. Again, it was gone before we could stop and get photos but it counted in our animal count! A few more bison and elk ended our day. We headed back to the camper to start packing for our trip the next day.
When we got back to the trailer, we had a note on the door from people from Strasburg, PA, who camp with Rick in the Crossroads rallies! They were parked a few sites away, and recognized the trailer. Rick visited with them as we snacked for dinner.
Tuesday, July 13
We were up early and headed out of West Yellowstone along the western edge of the park, going north to Bozman, MT and Rt. 90. As we were traveling, I spotted a moose along the road! Rick missed it, and we had no cell signal for me to call Abbie and Jeff, who were behind us. We had arranged a signal - Rick would put the left or right turn signal on, depending on what side of the road I may have seen wildlife. We didn't have time to signal - it was right beside us when I saw it.
We traveled from Bozman to Billings, then stopped for lunch before continuing on through Wyoming into South Dakota on Rt. 90. What we originally thought would be about an 8 hour trip turned into 12 hours total - mapquest said 8 1/2, GPS said 10 1/2. With stops, it was a long day! We saw antelope herds in Wyoming. We continued to see beehives - something we've seen throughout the trip. In Billings, we were surprised to see PPL! What are they doing in Montana?
One of my goals this trip was to visit Devil's Tower in northeast Wyoming. We have been near, but not visited it, several times. However, because of our change to North Dakota on the way out, and the unexpectedly longer travel time today, we again were not able to stop. We DID see it, though, from about 25 miles away! No photos, but at least I can say I saw it! (Devil's Tower NP was featured in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" in the 1970s as the tower where mysterious extraterrestrial beings were gathering.)
We arrived about 6:00 local time, and Rick didn't want to go out to eat. After talking to our new neighbor, from Scranton, for a while, he checked out what we had in the fridge/freezer, and realized he'd better head to a grocery store. By the time he got back and cooked, it was 10:00 local time! Way too late for dinner no matter how you look at it! We were all grateful for bed after clean-up.
Wednesday, July 14
Up early, again, and ready to hit the Black Hills. We decided to take advantage of the all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast at the campground, then head to Mt. Rushmore. We traveled through some very tourist-y areas on the way. The little towns may have been fun to tour in the middle of no-where, but for an area ripe with natural wonders, they were very out of place. Its a shame people flock to these areas, ignoring nature!
At Mt. Rushmore, we took many photos of the same 4 heads :) We saw the movie (first one for this trip - at least Jeff had that experience!), bought a few souviniers. I ducked into the last gift shop unexpectedly, and was glad I did. In the shop was a man who had worked on the making of Mt. Rushmore. He worked on it for 3 years, when he was 17-20 years old. He published a book about his experience - answering questions he has had about his experience. He also played on a baseball team, made up of people who worked on the mountain. He appeared pretty fragile, but his wife was energetic and helpful. We bought an autographed book before leaving.
We then traveled the corkscrew highway - a road that actually wraps around itself. The very narrow road has bridges that wind in a narrow corkscrew, and there were tunnels that were one-lane. We saw some deer along the way. We then went to the Needles Highway. Highway is a misnomer, as the road is barely one car-width wide in places. It winds through forest areas and through oddly-shaped granite spires - a mini-badlands of sorts.
The Needles Highway took us near the Crazy Horse monument, where we stopped (outside the park) just to take pictures before heading into Custer for lunch. Rick and Jeff tried lamb sausage soup, and Rick had a bison burger.
We then headed to Custer State Park in search of wildlife. This was the park where we first ever encountered bison. We saw lots of pronghorn, and about half-way through the drive found the burrow. The borros are not native to the Black Hills - there are descendants from the herd that once hauled visitors up to the top of Harney Peak. The rides were discontinued years ago and the borros released into the park. The borros have become a popular attraction in the park, and stop traffic to search for food. They walk along the road poking their heads into vehicles to see if they get food - if not, they go to the next car. It was very entertaining to watch them. We had one come and scratch his head against the side mirror!
We were almost out of the park, and still had not seen anything other than pronghorns and bison, when we started spotting bison droppings. Lots and lots of them. Fresh. We knew bison had passed through here recently. A little way down the road, Abbie spotted a bison trudging along behind a hill, and we definitely smelled them! At last, as we came over a rise, there was an 'animal jam' and bison in the woods. This turned out to be the tail end of a herd of bison going - somewhere. Where, we don't know, but they were not grazing, they were walking, trotting with a purpose. We saw several babies, and the granddaddy - perhaps the one that chased Rick 16 years ago! We watched them surround cars as they crossed 2 roads near an intersection, and heard them bleating.Whew - they are monstrous things! It is impressive seeing one or two bison, but we wanted Jeff to get the full bison experience of being in the middle of a herd - and we got that experience!
Our tour complete, we headed to the camper to freshen up and let Haley out before heading to the Circle B Chuckwagon Dinner and Cowboy Show. We had also done this 16 years ago - our first chuckwagon experience of many. There were a few shops to browse through, horse rides for the children, and pistol shooting. About 10 minutes before dinner, there was a hokey shootout which was fun when our kids were small. Then in to a dinner that cowboys out on the prairie might experience. Chicken, steak or bison, baked potato, beans, peaches, a biscuit and ginger cake, with lemonade or coffee to drink. After dinner, we had cowboy music. Circle B is currently owned by a family (not the same singers we saw 16 years ago), who do almost everything. The music was the father and 2 sons, with the wife occasionally singing along. A few silly jokes rounded out the hour of entertainment. The father and one son staged the pre-dinner shoot-out, with the help of the children attending the dinner.
On the way home, we saw several deer. We passed through an area warning about big-horned sheep, but did not see any in any part of our trip.
We got back to camp and decided to try Haley in Kamp K9, their doggie park. Complete with an upside-down V shaped climbing mountain, a bridge and a teeter-totter, we hoped we could get her relaxed and on something. She resisted going near the park - but in the power struggle, Rick eventually won and got her in the park. She drooled but ran around checking things out. When Abbie and Jeff arrived, we ganged up on her, and before we knew it, she was going up and over the mountain! With all 4 of us praising and petting her, she was eating up the attention - maybe even grinned a few times! We then tried her on the bridge and once again, she was going up and over. We ran her back and forth between the two, and she was loving the attention and working off lots of energy. It only took about 1o minutes for her to learn those 2 new tricks! Then we tried the teeter-totter. When she eventually got on it and it tottered down the other side, she freaked and was not going near anything again! We got her back on the other two before heading back to camp. For that, she got an ice cream treat!
Thursday, July 15
Abbie and Jeff decided, after examining their route, to leave today after touring in order to get to Minneapolis with plenty of time to visit the friends they were staying with, so they packed up, and organized for the trip home. We again took advantage of the campground pancake breakfast (I've eaten more pancakes on this trip then I have in the past year! In fact, I started to collect them - saving and freezing leftovers on 3 separate occasions!)
We headed east, traveling in caravan to Wall, where they parked at Wall Drug, and joined us in the truck. We then traveled south to the Badlands National Park to do their loop drive. Again, no words can describe this land. Where you see seeminlgy endless prarie, suddenly you round a curve or come over a rise and see spires and sharp drop-offs and desolate areas. We wondered how the pioneers felt as they came over a rise and discovered virtually impassable land, with no way through it, and days and days around it. We say a prarie dog town and some pronghorns, but no other wildlife, although lots live in the park.
After stopping at the Visitor's Center (of course!), we headed back to Wall via Rt. 90. Wall DRug began in 1931 when a family bought the drug store in the middle 0f - nowhere. They gave it 5 years to make a go of it, and at the end were ready to give up when they decided they needed a way to get people in to their store from the highway. What did people need as they traveled on the hot, dusty road? Ice water! They put up signs similar to the Burma Shave signs, and before their last sign was out, people were flocking to their store for free ice water. While there, they bought ice cream cones and other things - and Wall Drug was in business for good. Now a popular tourist area, similar but better than South of the Border, it is a very busy place. We got there at lunch time and ate lunch - just minutes before the lunch rush. We meandered the different shops within the drug store (it covers a whole block), and Abbie and Jeff bought souviniers.
My right hand started hurting yesterday - a good case of 'camera hand', from gripping the camera to be ready for any photo. My thumb, especially, hurts, as that controls the on/off switch and the telephoto. I have a sore spot that feels like a bruise at the base of my thumb in my palm! I'll be in heaven when I get home - with Abbie and Jeff both taking photos, we'll share all the photos and have three times as many to choose from!
It was time to say goodby to Abbie and Jeff as they headed toward Souix City to spend the night before getting to Minneapolis Friday. Their flight leaves Minneapolis on Saturday. We headed south into Badland National Park again, this time taking a little-used dirt road through the west side of the park to Highway 44, which took us right to our campground. In our ride through the west side of the park, we saw Robert's Prarie Dog Town - which is more of a city, covering several miles! We saw a bison in the distance. We saw maybe 6 cars. And lots of prairie and badlands.
Back at camp, Rick headed out for an oil change and truck wash while I blogged the past 5 days! Dinner is cooking and then it is time to pack up and head toward home. We have about 27 hours to drive! Lots of time to review the trip and add stuff I forgot about to the blog :)
We took Haley to the dog park again - she was hesitant, and did not look too happy going through the routine, but remembered from last night. Another dog came to play shortly after we got there, so we took her out and will try again later. Maybe then she will be more relaxed and ready to play!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Billings to West Yellowstone
Saturday, July 10
As Rick was packing up outside this morning, he called me to come out, but said Haley could not come. From his tone, I figured there was something to see, and asked if I should bring the camera - he said probably. So I grabbed the camera and headed outside, and he pointed to a fence separating two campsites right across the road from us. Perched on top of the fence was - a peacock! Just sitting there minding his own business. The people in the next site went about their business. The man in the tent at that site got out of his tent and walked toward the store, past us. I asked Rick is we were seeing things, since no one seemed to notice this HUGE bird sitting on a fence! Rick asked the man walking by "Do you need a leash for that thing?" The guy looked at us like we were crazy, and Rick pointed out the peacock. I won't repeat what he said, but he was more suprised by the bird - that he had just walked by! - than we were!
We went to the campground breakfast (pancakes, eggs, bacon/sausage), and on the way asked one of the employees about the peacock. He said he doesn't know where it is from - it shows up often and walks around, then may disappear for a while before coming back.
We headed out about 9:00, traveling Rt. 90 to Bozeman, MT, then heading down 191 along the Gallatin River. Rt. 90 follows the Yellowstone River, and I must say, I think I have found a rival to 'my river', the Susquehanna. It is not nearly as wide as the SusQ, but very beautiful. We had 88 miles on 191 - a 2-lane road through the Gallatin National Forest, with 20 miles in the western edge of Yellowstone. We saw kayakers, white water rafters and fly fishermen everywhere. Saw a deer, and a herd of antelope (when we were on 90).
Haley was not a good traveler today. Yesterday she started her stressing - panting, not wanting to lay down. Today was worse, as she trembled most of the day. also. I hadn't tried Rescue Remedy because she had been so good so far - will get it out Tuesday for our trip to South Dakota! Good thing she has 2 days to relax in the camper :)
Abbie texted at 9:40 MT - they had landed early in Salt Lake City, but were waiting for another plane to leave. At 10:10 they were still sitting on the plane, so early became late. The next text was of Jeff eating - guess they hadn't had food for a while. I talked to her when they were about 3 hours away - she said they were both loving it, especially Jeff, who was seeing all this for the first time. He wondered where people from here go on vacation. Good question!!
We pulled into the campground about 2:00, and had just finished setting up when a thunderstorm hit. It was deja vu all over again. When we were in this same campground 16 years ago, we had just finished setting up when a storm hit. That one was more severe, as we watched awnings being torn apart in the wind.
We headed for the grocery store, I did laundry, and Rick started cooking for our travelers. Abbie and Jeff are due within the 1/2 hour (by 7:00 MT) - LET THE VACATION BEGIN!
Actually - they pulled up just as I wrote that - What timing!
As Rick was packing up outside this morning, he called me to come out, but said Haley could not come. From his tone, I figured there was something to see, and asked if I should bring the camera - he said probably. So I grabbed the camera and headed outside, and he pointed to a fence separating two campsites right across the road from us. Perched on top of the fence was - a peacock! Just sitting there minding his own business. The people in the next site went about their business. The man in the tent at that site got out of his tent and walked toward the store, past us. I asked Rick is we were seeing things, since no one seemed to notice this HUGE bird sitting on a fence! Rick asked the man walking by "Do you need a leash for that thing?" The guy looked at us like we were crazy, and Rick pointed out the peacock. I won't repeat what he said, but he was more suprised by the bird - that he had just walked by! - than we were!
We went to the campground breakfast (pancakes, eggs, bacon/sausage), and on the way asked one of the employees about the peacock. He said he doesn't know where it is from - it shows up often and walks around, then may disappear for a while before coming back.
We headed out about 9:00, traveling Rt. 90 to Bozeman, MT, then heading down 191 along the Gallatin River. Rt. 90 follows the Yellowstone River, and I must say, I think I have found a rival to 'my river', the Susquehanna. It is not nearly as wide as the SusQ, but very beautiful. We had 88 miles on 191 - a 2-lane road through the Gallatin National Forest, with 20 miles in the western edge of Yellowstone. We saw kayakers, white water rafters and fly fishermen everywhere. Saw a deer, and a herd of antelope (when we were on 90).
Haley was not a good traveler today. Yesterday she started her stressing - panting, not wanting to lay down. Today was worse, as she trembled most of the day. also. I hadn't tried Rescue Remedy because she had been so good so far - will get it out Tuesday for our trip to South Dakota! Good thing she has 2 days to relax in the camper :)
Abbie texted at 9:40 MT - they had landed early in Salt Lake City, but were waiting for another plane to leave. At 10:10 they were still sitting on the plane, so early became late. The next text was of Jeff eating - guess they hadn't had food for a while. I talked to her when they were about 3 hours away - she said they were both loving it, especially Jeff, who was seeing all this for the first time. He wondered where people from here go on vacation. Good question!!
We pulled into the campground about 2:00, and had just finished setting up when a thunderstorm hit. It was deja vu all over again. When we were in this same campground 16 years ago, we had just finished setting up when a storm hit. That one was more severe, as we watched awnings being torn apart in the wind.
We headed for the grocery store, I did laundry, and Rick started cooking for our travelers. Abbie and Jeff are due within the 1/2 hour (by 7:00 MT) - LET THE VACATION BEGIN!
Actually - they pulled up just as I wrote that - What timing!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Fargo, ND to Medora, ND
Thursday, July 8
We were up early and headed out to get to Medora, ND by early afternoon. Weather was pleasant - sunny and not too warm. Traveling through ND was beautiful - THIS is WEST! Wide open spaces, beautiful rock formations, no people.
As we exited 94 into Medora, a large deer (mule deer, probably) crossed the road in front of us. A full rack indicated it was a male.
We arrived at Theodore Roosevelt National Park about 2:00 and headed in to find a campsite. They are first come-first served. No hookups (water, sewer, electric - truly 'dry camping'), and only $10 a night. We settled in site #27 and Haley and I took a walk to 'register' (fill in the info on the envelope and put the $10 in, and drop it in the box), and to give Haley a chance to stretch her legs while Rick set up. On the 5 mile drive in to the camprground from the main gate, we saw a mama deer and her 2 babies, passed a prarie dog village and a bison hanging out in the village. Haley was excited. By 3:00 we were ready to head into Medora.
We wandered through some of the shops (looking for unique and hand-made items rather than the trinkets and clothing that were popular), enjoying an ice cream cone while we wandered. The town, a true western town with boardwalks, is tiny, only about 4 square blocks total, with the main shopping and restaurants on 2 of the main roads, so it didn't take us long to walk around. We settled on the Theodore Roosevelt Hotel for dinner - a very fancy restaurant. My food (coconut shrimp) came with the shrimp (4) placed artfully on the pineapple dipping sauce, with a flower in the center. Had to take a photo, since it was so expensive and pretty :) Rick had seafood fettucini. We were in North Dakota. What was wrong with this picture!? Full as I was, when our waitress came to offer dessert, she didn't ask if she could interest us in dessert (to which the answer would have been 'no'), she asked if she could interest us in Creme Brulee! Well, for me, that is a no-brainer, and Creme Brulee it was!
After dinner, we went back to the camper and got Haley to take her on the 36 mile loop road through the park to see wildlife. (Its her vacation, too!) We saw wild horses just a mile from our campground - she was VERY excited about that. For about 20 miles, we enjoyed the 'eye candy' (awesome scenery), while she popped up once in a while to check out what was going on. No wildlife at all, though. THEN we encountered a bison. The bison was on our side of the road - right on the edge line. After making sure my window and Haley's window were closed, we pulled up along side it so Haley could get a good look. She was inside out with excitement! We traveled on a little more, and saw another horse, a herd of antelope, complete with 2 babies, and 2 more bison - one on each side of the road, but again standing on the edge line. By now she was beside herself with excitement of all these creatures. Finally, we saw a deer cross over the road in front of us and pose for a photo as she stood in the woods.
So, today Haley learned several new words: Bison, prairie dogs and antelope. She really liked those words!
Being in the national park, in a campground with no hookups, the evening was very peaceful - no lights, no extraneous sounds, just nature at its finest. Rick said the sky was brilliant with stars, including several shooting starts (I headed to bed by dark-time, as we are now in Mountain Time Zone and I was exhausted from the early start and long day).
Friday, July 9 - Happy Birthday Cheryl!
Destination - Billings, Montana
Since we didn't have as far to go today, we had a leisurely morning, leaving the campground by 10:00 MT. We stopped at the NP Visitor's Center to get the passport stamped and to watch the 13 minute film about the park. We were on the road by 10:30. We were about 20 miles from the Montana border, so Haley was now in 2 more new states - North Dakota and Montana. It is truly 'Big Sky Country' - with the blue sky dominating the view. The scenery is what my idea of the west should be - lots of hills and gullies, rock outcrops and rock formations, cattle ranches, lots of green and brown, and lots of blue, blue sky.
We arrived at Billings KOA - the world's first KOA campground - about 4:00. We stayed here on our Washington trip. We are camped under cottonwood trees, and as I look out the window, I see a snowglobe that has just been shaken with cottonwood cotton floating everywhere. Almost as much as our 'blizzards' in February at times! The campground has a BBQ restaurant where we will enjoy dinner.
We were up early and headed out to get to Medora, ND by early afternoon. Weather was pleasant - sunny and not too warm. Traveling through ND was beautiful - THIS is WEST! Wide open spaces, beautiful rock formations, no people.
As we exited 94 into Medora, a large deer (mule deer, probably) crossed the road in front of us. A full rack indicated it was a male.
We arrived at Theodore Roosevelt National Park about 2:00 and headed in to find a campsite. They are first come-first served. No hookups (water, sewer, electric - truly 'dry camping'), and only $10 a night. We settled in site #27 and Haley and I took a walk to 'register' (fill in the info on the envelope and put the $10 in, and drop it in the box), and to give Haley a chance to stretch her legs while Rick set up. On the 5 mile drive in to the camprground from the main gate, we saw a mama deer and her 2 babies, passed a prarie dog village and a bison hanging out in the village. Haley was excited. By 3:00 we were ready to head into Medora.
We wandered through some of the shops (looking for unique and hand-made items rather than the trinkets and clothing that were popular), enjoying an ice cream cone while we wandered. The town, a true western town with boardwalks, is tiny, only about 4 square blocks total, with the main shopping and restaurants on 2 of the main roads, so it didn't take us long to walk around. We settled on the Theodore Roosevelt Hotel for dinner - a very fancy restaurant. My food (coconut shrimp) came with the shrimp (4) placed artfully on the pineapple dipping sauce, with a flower in the center. Had to take a photo, since it was so expensive and pretty :) Rick had seafood fettucini. We were in North Dakota. What was wrong with this picture!? Full as I was, when our waitress came to offer dessert, she didn't ask if she could interest us in dessert (to which the answer would have been 'no'), she asked if she could interest us in Creme Brulee! Well, for me, that is a no-brainer, and Creme Brulee it was!
After dinner, we went back to the camper and got Haley to take her on the 36 mile loop road through the park to see wildlife. (Its her vacation, too!) We saw wild horses just a mile from our campground - she was VERY excited about that. For about 20 miles, we enjoyed the 'eye candy' (awesome scenery), while she popped up once in a while to check out what was going on. No wildlife at all, though. THEN we encountered a bison. The bison was on our side of the road - right on the edge line. After making sure my window and Haley's window were closed, we pulled up along side it so Haley could get a good look. She was inside out with excitement! We traveled on a little more, and saw another horse, a herd of antelope, complete with 2 babies, and 2 more bison - one on each side of the road, but again standing on the edge line. By now she was beside herself with excitement of all these creatures. Finally, we saw a deer cross over the road in front of us and pose for a photo as she stood in the woods.
So, today Haley learned several new words: Bison, prairie dogs and antelope. She really liked those words!
Being in the national park, in a campground with no hookups, the evening was very peaceful - no lights, no extraneous sounds, just nature at its finest. Rick said the sky was brilliant with stars, including several shooting starts (I headed to bed by dark-time, as we are now in Mountain Time Zone and I was exhausted from the early start and long day).
Friday, July 9 - Happy Birthday Cheryl!
Destination - Billings, Montana
Since we didn't have as far to go today, we had a leisurely morning, leaving the campground by 10:00 MT. We stopped at the NP Visitor's Center to get the passport stamped and to watch the 13 minute film about the park. We were on the road by 10:30. We were about 20 miles from the Montana border, so Haley was now in 2 more new states - North Dakota and Montana. It is truly 'Big Sky Country' - with the blue sky dominating the view. The scenery is what my idea of the west should be - lots of hills and gullies, rock outcrops and rock formations, cattle ranches, lots of green and brown, and lots of blue, blue sky.
We arrived at Billings KOA - the world's first KOA campground - about 4:00. We stayed here on our Washington trip. We are camped under cottonwood trees, and as I look out the window, I see a snowglobe that has just been shaken with cottonwood cotton floating everywhere. Almost as much as our 'blizzards' in February at times! The campground has a BBQ restaurant where we will enjoy dinner.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Madison. WI to Fargo, ND
Wednesday, July 7
Mom had successful surgery today - praise God! Lots of prayer time while traveling sure helped.
As we were traveling our first day, I suddenly realized - I did not bring the Woodall's or KOA campground directories. As I rummaged through my travel bag later, I noticed that, if I had gotten the maps for the trip (months ago), I didn't pack them. And the Mountain Pass guide was also at home. Boy, having a GPS, Mapquest and internet access sure is making me lazy, but it doesn't help to anticipate stopping places :) Good thing the EXIT guide stays in the truck - that at least got us to the first night's KOA, where we could get a directory.
Last night, as we perused the KOA map at the campground, then did further research via Mapquest, we decided that instead of taking Rt. 90 out to Yellowstone, we could easily head north and go across North Dakota - to our FAVORITE National Park - Theodore Roosevelt NP and Medora!! Yippee! We'll get to camp with the bison, and Haley will learn some new words (bison, prairie dogs, rattlesnakes, and maybe a few others) as she tours the park in the safety of the truck!
We woke up to temps about 76 with 100% humidity - yes, it was raining. We had rain for about an hour, then wonderful clouds all day. In fact, late in the afternoon, we had a 3D sky - I love those, and we only see them out west. It occurs when there are high, wispy clouds, then lower cotton-ball clouds so close you can almost touch them. With unlimited visibility because everything is flat and wide open, it makes the sky look 3D. Awesome.
So, we left this morning about 7:45 local time, heading up 94 through Wisconsin and Minnesota. I saw a fox and cranberry bogs. Fascinating. As we drove past St. Cloud, MN, I had one of those moments when I could not speak, followed by the sinking realization that I had just missed a golden opportunity as we passed the world headquarters for Creative Memories!! I could have had a free tour as a consultant - but St. Cloud never sent up fireworks in my brain as we looked at the map and planned the route for today. AHHHHHHH!! So close! The huge building sits right along Rt. 94 - but at this point, we had many hours to go to get to Medora.
Our destination today was Fargo, ND, and we ended up stopping about 5:00 in Moorhead, MN at the Moorhead KOA - 2 miles from the MN, ND border and just east of Fargo. With the time change tomorrow (I love traveling west and getting extra hours!), we should be in Medora about lunch time. We now have temps in the 70s as highs - loving this, and glad we're not home, where temps have been high 90s to 100+. Abbie called today when her electric went out - ouch. However, mosquitoes the past 2 days have driving us inside earlier than we wanted.
There is a dog park here - a large fenced in area for dogs to play. I took Haley over while Rick was setting up - she was petrified. Stayed at the gate wanting out, or near me trembling. I walked around a bit and after a while she loosened up and wandered around 'reading messages', but was quite glad to leave. Time to put on bug spray, grab Haley and a ball, and encourage some exercise for her!
Speaking of Haley - she has ventured into 2 new states - WI and MN. She wasn't too impressed, but we were!
Mom had successful surgery today - praise God! Lots of prayer time while traveling sure helped.
As we were traveling our first day, I suddenly realized - I did not bring the Woodall's or KOA campground directories. As I rummaged through my travel bag later, I noticed that, if I had gotten the maps for the trip (months ago), I didn't pack them. And the Mountain Pass guide was also at home. Boy, having a GPS, Mapquest and internet access sure is making me lazy, but it doesn't help to anticipate stopping places :) Good thing the EXIT guide stays in the truck - that at least got us to the first night's KOA, where we could get a directory.
Last night, as we perused the KOA map at the campground, then did further research via Mapquest, we decided that instead of taking Rt. 90 out to Yellowstone, we could easily head north and go across North Dakota - to our FAVORITE National Park - Theodore Roosevelt NP and Medora!! Yippee! We'll get to camp with the bison, and Haley will learn some new words (bison, prairie dogs, rattlesnakes, and maybe a few others) as she tours the park in the safety of the truck!
We woke up to temps about 76 with 100% humidity - yes, it was raining. We had rain for about an hour, then wonderful clouds all day. In fact, late in the afternoon, we had a 3D sky - I love those, and we only see them out west. It occurs when there are high, wispy clouds, then lower cotton-ball clouds so close you can almost touch them. With unlimited visibility because everything is flat and wide open, it makes the sky look 3D. Awesome.
So, we left this morning about 7:45 local time, heading up 94 through Wisconsin and Minnesota. I saw a fox and cranberry bogs. Fascinating. As we drove past St. Cloud, MN, I had one of those moments when I could not speak, followed by the sinking realization that I had just missed a golden opportunity as we passed the world headquarters for Creative Memories!! I could have had a free tour as a consultant - but St. Cloud never sent up fireworks in my brain as we looked at the map and planned the route for today. AHHHHHHH!! So close! The huge building sits right along Rt. 94 - but at this point, we had many hours to go to get to Medora.
Our destination today was Fargo, ND, and we ended up stopping about 5:00 in Moorhead, MN at the Moorhead KOA - 2 miles from the MN, ND border and just east of Fargo. With the time change tomorrow (I love traveling west and getting extra hours!), we should be in Medora about lunch time. We now have temps in the 70s as highs - loving this, and glad we're not home, where temps have been high 90s to 100+. Abbie called today when her electric went out - ouch. However, mosquitoes the past 2 days have driving us inside earlier than we wanted.
There is a dog park here - a large fenced in area for dogs to play. I took Haley over while Rick was setting up - she was petrified. Stayed at the gate wanting out, or near me trembling. I walked around a bit and after a while she loosened up and wandered around 'reading messages', but was quite glad to leave. Time to put on bug spray, grab Haley and a ball, and encourage some exercise for her!
Speaking of Haley - she has ventured into 2 new states - WI and MN. She wasn't too impressed, but we were!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
July 6, 2010 - OFCO to Middlebury, IN to Madison, WI
Disclaimer - this blog is written primarily so I can journal our vacation as it happens, in order to remember it when I scrap it. You are welcome to come along on our vacation, just know I am writing for me, not for you :)
Friday, July 2
We began our vacation as we have many times, by heading to OFCO (Other Family Camp Out). This year it was again held at Lickdale Campground in Jonestown, PA. Camping were us (Rick and Deb), Rick's parents, and my brother's family - Pete, Regi, Danny (until Sunday morning) and Ryan.
We arrived about 6:00, set up, and were surprised when Danny and Ryan drove up to our site. Pete and Regi were expecting to be there about 8:00, Danny was a surprise addition, arriving in advance of his parents. They waited at the campsite while the rest of us (Rick's parents and us) went out for dinner. We had hoped the Smokehouse BBQ place had re-opened after their fire, but instead a new restaurant, The Woods Creek Grill, had taken their place. The menu was quite - unusual - with elk chili, rattlesnake, bison burgers, and other 'interesting' meat choices. I found a lovely trail salad - nice and safe. Rick went nuts over the elk chili and the full rack of ribs - that he could not finish!
We enjoyed the campfire - even had to put on jeans and sweatshirts, the weather was beautiful, the skies clear and starry. Ryan had ginormous marshmallows that he was toasting. Because they were so big, the middle did not toast, so he toasted them in layers. At one point, he toasted one for me - I peeled off the toasted layer, and he toasted it again. Pete ate that layer, then he toasted it one last time and Regi ate that. 3 of us ate the same toasted marshmallow and had plenty!
Saturday, July 3 - Happy Birthday Heidi!!
This was designated 'Family Day' - the day when those not camping with us could join us for the day at the campground. Abbie; Patti, Paul, Heidi and her friend Haeden; Mom and Dad Mohr; Jim, Lisa, Courtney, Corissa, Caiti and Laurie's 4 kids all came for the day.
The 'kids' enjoyed stream stomping (kids included Pete and Danny), checking out crayfish and watching the fish. They also had fun at the playground, and the teenagers hung out talking and taking pictures of themselves :)
We had a covered dish meal, followed by birthday cake, as has been tradition to celebrate summer birthdays. Ryan, Heidi, Caiti and Abbie's birthdays are all within a few weeks either side of 4th of July.
About 5:00, a tractor pulling a hayride wagon drove by our campsite, and Lisa jumped up asking if there was a hayride. She kept encouraging us to get on - and we followed, trusting her completely. I heard the man say it was not on the weekend schedule. We drove down to the playground and picked up the rest of the kids (Lisa, Regi, Abbie and I had boarded with a few of the kids at the campsite, as well as a family from a site near ours), then we headed out on our ride. Typically, hayrides take a short tour of the campground. But we went beyond the campground into the woods, talking, laughing and singing. About 20 minutes into the ride, though, we began to realize that we had hopped onto the wagon without knowing who the driver was, or where we were going! Some had recently seen a movie which had a simliar scenario. (Theme froms Jaws begins to play here). We were relieved when, somehow, we ended up back at the campground about 30 minutes after we hopped on the wagon.
We again enjoyed the campfire, with clear skies and cool temps in the evening, and warm, not hot, temps for the daytime.
Sunday, July 4 - Happy Birthday America!!
Pete and I started the day going kayaking at Memorial Lake State Park. We kayaked for over an hour, skirting the shore for the shade and to look for wildlife. We saw a bird - possibly a kingfisher - on a bush very close to us over the water. Pete floated by, and as I approached, the bird spooked and tried to fly, which is when we realized its foot was caught on fishing line. Pete circled back and tried to get it loose with his paddle. When that didn't work and the bird was hanging upside down trying to keep its head above water, Pete grabbed the line and broke it. The bird flew into the brush on shore - line still wrapped on its foot, but free. We saw turtles and a snake, also. We kayaked the perimiter of the lake, and were ready to be done. The heat was building!
We hung around the campsite talking for a while, and Regi introduced me to tomato sandwiches. Pete, Regi, Mother and Dad Koelsch and I enjoyed them - slices of garden fresh tomatoes, onions and lettuce with mayo on bread. Yum! By now, the heat was getting serious, so we retreated to our campers for some R&R. I caught up on e-mail and downloading photos, then enjoyed a nap. By late afternoon, Regi got out her computer and we checked out niece Jennifer's wedding pictures. We had a pot-luck dinner, then enjoyed the campfire again - it cooled off nicely for the fire, at least!
Monday, July 5
We were up, packed up, and heading out before 9:00 am. The temps were already climbing. This is usually the worst travel day -through all the stuff we have seen a zillion times. We drove 322 to 80 (which at least was some different scenery), then followed 80 to Middlebury, Indiana, near Elkhard, Indiana. Hot through the day, but when we pulled into the Middlebury KOA the temps had cooled and there was a nice breeze. The staff was very friendly and helpful.
We set up, then called out for pizza - not wanting to unhook for the overnight to drive somewhere, and too hot to cook. It was also 7:00 when we pulled into camp, a bit late to start cooking.
Middlebury is right in the middle of RV country as well as Amish country. Shipshewana, the second largest Amish settlement in America, was just a few miles away. (Lancaster is the 4th largest in the US).
Tuesday, July 6 - Happy Birthday Caiti!
We got up, intending to head to the CrossRoads factory to check it out and hopefully get a tour. (CrossRoads made our Cruiser in 2006) Rick called, to find out they were on shutdown and there were no tours, and no activity making it worth going. As we were looking at the directions to get there, however, I realized that we were right in the middle of the Quilt Garden tour, which I had recently read about in a quilt magazine. The Quilt Garden Tour consists of a garden planted to look like a quilt square at different businesses. We decided to take a bit of a drive to see some - and found 4 Quilt Gardens. Haley thoroughly enjoyed greeting all the horses pulling buggies that we passed. We ended up at the RV/MH Hall of Fame and Museum, or original destination and purpose for stopping in this area.
The RV/MH HOF and Museum was built in 2007, totally funded by donations. All but 4 employees are volunteer. We walked through the Go RVing room, with a representation of current RVs - tent trailer, 'green' trailer, 5th wheel, and motorhomes.
We then walked through RV history, with tent trailers, motorhomes and trailers of all sizes and shapes, from the beginning of the 1900s to the 1970s. We were able to walk into most of them, and at least see in the door to others. Unique features, such as the toiled which swung into the bathroom when in use, and then swung into the wall (under the seat in the living area) when not in use; various forms of bunk beds; interesting amenities in the trailers...sure made us appreciate our luxury trailer! We were awed by the creativity of the people when designing the trailers of long ago. There was also a narrated display of the 16 steps of manufacturing trailers, which was a good alternative to our factory tour.
We ate lunch in the trailer, since it was cooled for Haley, then headed west again, following Rt. 90. We went through Chicago - oh, my! We are definitely avoiding that on the way home! We had a sprinkle in Chicago - about 33 small raindrops on the windshield from one cloud overhead that dripped a bit. Once we squirted out the other side of Chicago, we had a 2-minute sun shower. Otherwise, it was HOT, with clouds building up over the Great Lake.
We arrived in De Forest, WI about 5:30 local time (1 hour behind). We camped in the Madison KOA, very close to Madison, WI. It was HOT, HOT, HOT and the mosquitoes were biting that early. We decided to unhook and go find a restaurant. There were several fast food places in walking distance - but we don't do fast food, and we were not walking in this heat!
Spent the evening relaxing, catching up on e-mails, downloading photos and blogging.
Friday, July 2
We began our vacation as we have many times, by heading to OFCO (Other Family Camp Out). This year it was again held at Lickdale Campground in Jonestown, PA. Camping were us (Rick and Deb), Rick's parents, and my brother's family - Pete, Regi, Danny (until Sunday morning) and Ryan.
We arrived about 6:00, set up, and were surprised when Danny and Ryan drove up to our site. Pete and Regi were expecting to be there about 8:00, Danny was a surprise addition, arriving in advance of his parents. They waited at the campsite while the rest of us (Rick's parents and us) went out for dinner. We had hoped the Smokehouse BBQ place had re-opened after their fire, but instead a new restaurant, The Woods Creek Grill, had taken their place. The menu was quite - unusual - with elk chili, rattlesnake, bison burgers, and other 'interesting' meat choices. I found a lovely trail salad - nice and safe. Rick went nuts over the elk chili and the full rack of ribs - that he could not finish!
We enjoyed the campfire - even had to put on jeans and sweatshirts, the weather was beautiful, the skies clear and starry. Ryan had ginormous marshmallows that he was toasting. Because they were so big, the middle did not toast, so he toasted them in layers. At one point, he toasted one for me - I peeled off the toasted layer, and he toasted it again. Pete ate that layer, then he toasted it one last time and Regi ate that. 3 of us ate the same toasted marshmallow and had plenty!
Saturday, July 3 - Happy Birthday Heidi!!
This was designated 'Family Day' - the day when those not camping with us could join us for the day at the campground. Abbie; Patti, Paul, Heidi and her friend Haeden; Mom and Dad Mohr; Jim, Lisa, Courtney, Corissa, Caiti and Laurie's 4 kids all came for the day.
The 'kids' enjoyed stream stomping (kids included Pete and Danny), checking out crayfish and watching the fish. They also had fun at the playground, and the teenagers hung out talking and taking pictures of themselves :)
We had a covered dish meal, followed by birthday cake, as has been tradition to celebrate summer birthdays. Ryan, Heidi, Caiti and Abbie's birthdays are all within a few weeks either side of 4th of July.
About 5:00, a tractor pulling a hayride wagon drove by our campsite, and Lisa jumped up asking if there was a hayride. She kept encouraging us to get on - and we followed, trusting her completely. I heard the man say it was not on the weekend schedule. We drove down to the playground and picked up the rest of the kids (Lisa, Regi, Abbie and I had boarded with a few of the kids at the campsite, as well as a family from a site near ours), then we headed out on our ride. Typically, hayrides take a short tour of the campground. But we went beyond the campground into the woods, talking, laughing and singing. About 20 minutes into the ride, though, we began to realize that we had hopped onto the wagon without knowing who the driver was, or where we were going! Some had recently seen a movie which had a simliar scenario. (Theme froms Jaws begins to play here). We were relieved when, somehow, we ended up back at the campground about 30 minutes after we hopped on the wagon.
We again enjoyed the campfire, with clear skies and cool temps in the evening, and warm, not hot, temps for the daytime.
Sunday, July 4 - Happy Birthday America!!
Pete and I started the day going kayaking at Memorial Lake State Park. We kayaked for over an hour, skirting the shore for the shade and to look for wildlife. We saw a bird - possibly a kingfisher - on a bush very close to us over the water. Pete floated by, and as I approached, the bird spooked and tried to fly, which is when we realized its foot was caught on fishing line. Pete circled back and tried to get it loose with his paddle. When that didn't work and the bird was hanging upside down trying to keep its head above water, Pete grabbed the line and broke it. The bird flew into the brush on shore - line still wrapped on its foot, but free. We saw turtles and a snake, also. We kayaked the perimiter of the lake, and were ready to be done. The heat was building!
We hung around the campsite talking for a while, and Regi introduced me to tomato sandwiches. Pete, Regi, Mother and Dad Koelsch and I enjoyed them - slices of garden fresh tomatoes, onions and lettuce with mayo on bread. Yum! By now, the heat was getting serious, so we retreated to our campers for some R&R. I caught up on e-mail and downloading photos, then enjoyed a nap. By late afternoon, Regi got out her computer and we checked out niece Jennifer's wedding pictures. We had a pot-luck dinner, then enjoyed the campfire again - it cooled off nicely for the fire, at least!
Monday, July 5
We were up, packed up, and heading out before 9:00 am. The temps were already climbing. This is usually the worst travel day -through all the stuff we have seen a zillion times. We drove 322 to 80 (which at least was some different scenery), then followed 80 to Middlebury, Indiana, near Elkhard, Indiana. Hot through the day, but when we pulled into the Middlebury KOA the temps had cooled and there was a nice breeze. The staff was very friendly and helpful.
We set up, then called out for pizza - not wanting to unhook for the overnight to drive somewhere, and too hot to cook. It was also 7:00 when we pulled into camp, a bit late to start cooking.
Middlebury is right in the middle of RV country as well as Amish country. Shipshewana, the second largest Amish settlement in America, was just a few miles away. (Lancaster is the 4th largest in the US).
Tuesday, July 6 - Happy Birthday Caiti!
We got up, intending to head to the CrossRoads factory to check it out and hopefully get a tour. (CrossRoads made our Cruiser in 2006) Rick called, to find out they were on shutdown and there were no tours, and no activity making it worth going. As we were looking at the directions to get there, however, I realized that we were right in the middle of the Quilt Garden tour, which I had recently read about in a quilt magazine. The Quilt Garden Tour consists of a garden planted to look like a quilt square at different businesses. We decided to take a bit of a drive to see some - and found 4 Quilt Gardens. Haley thoroughly enjoyed greeting all the horses pulling buggies that we passed. We ended up at the RV/MH Hall of Fame and Museum, or original destination and purpose for stopping in this area.
The RV/MH HOF and Museum was built in 2007, totally funded by donations. All but 4 employees are volunteer. We walked through the Go RVing room, with a representation of current RVs - tent trailer, 'green' trailer, 5th wheel, and motorhomes.
We then walked through RV history, with tent trailers, motorhomes and trailers of all sizes and shapes, from the beginning of the 1900s to the 1970s. We were able to walk into most of them, and at least see in the door to others. Unique features, such as the toiled which swung into the bathroom when in use, and then swung into the wall (under the seat in the living area) when not in use; various forms of bunk beds; interesting amenities in the trailers...sure made us appreciate our luxury trailer! We were awed by the creativity of the people when designing the trailers of long ago. There was also a narrated display of the 16 steps of manufacturing trailers, which was a good alternative to our factory tour.
We ate lunch in the trailer, since it was cooled for Haley, then headed west again, following Rt. 90. We went through Chicago - oh, my! We are definitely avoiding that on the way home! We had a sprinkle in Chicago - about 33 small raindrops on the windshield from one cloud overhead that dripped a bit. Once we squirted out the other side of Chicago, we had a 2-minute sun shower. Otherwise, it was HOT, with clouds building up over the Great Lake.
We arrived in De Forest, WI about 5:30 local time (1 hour behind). We camped in the Madison KOA, very close to Madison, WI. It was HOT, HOT, HOT and the mosquitoes were biting that early. We decided to unhook and go find a restaurant. There were several fast food places in walking distance - but we don't do fast food, and we were not walking in this heat!
Spent the evening relaxing, catching up on e-mails, downloading photos and blogging.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
July 16
After breakfast in town, we fulfilled my mission of visiting Mountain Lady Quilt Shop, where I picked out a pattern, and Rick picked out fabric he liked (I told him HE could make something with it!), and I found more lollipop fabric. Then we headed to RMNP again.
We drove through the main, 48 mile road to Grand Lake yesterday. Today we decided to visit Bear Lake, a short, easy 10 mile drive. There were some twists and turns, and a small rise in elevation (about 1,000'), but in general, very relaxing. This area has shuttle buses to take visitors to the various parking lots, as parking is limited. We decided to take our chances and see what parking was available when we arrived at Bear Lake. We were lucky, and although the ranger said the lot was full, he told us he noticed a car leaving - and we were able to get that space.
On the way to Bear Lake...
Bear Lake is a shallow, 13 acre lake which was once a resort. The owner made the lake bigger by damming one end. There is an easy, 1/2 mile walk around the lake, which we decided we were up to trying. At 8,200', breathlessness was still something to contend with, but the other high altitude effects were all but gone. I could live here - the lake is beautiful, as are the surroundings. I took over 100 photos on the walk around the lake - but picked out the best dozen for here.
Greenback cutthroat trout are being restored to their native habitats, and fishing is not permitted in Bear Lake.
Blue dragonflies were everywhere. The only place they sat still for a photo was at the water :)
We drove through the main, 48 mile road to Grand Lake yesterday. Today we decided to visit Bear Lake, a short, easy 10 mile drive. There were some twists and turns, and a small rise in elevation (about 1,000'), but in general, very relaxing. This area has shuttle buses to take visitors to the various parking lots, as parking is limited. We decided to take our chances and see what parking was available when we arrived at Bear Lake. We were lucky, and although the ranger said the lot was full, he told us he noticed a car leaving - and we were able to get that space.
On the way to Bear Lake...
Bear Lake is a shallow, 13 acre lake which was once a resort. The owner made the lake bigger by damming one end. There is an easy, 1/2 mile walk around the lake, which we decided we were up to trying. At 8,200', breathlessness was still something to contend with, but the other high altitude effects were all but gone. I could live here - the lake is beautiful, as are the surroundings. I took over 100 photos on the walk around the lake - but picked out the best dozen for here.
Greenback cutthroat trout are being restored to their native habitats, and fishing is not permitted in Bear Lake.
Blue dragonflies were everywhere. The only place they sat still for a photo was at the water :)
Columbine - Colorado's state flower.
As we exited the park, we passed Elk Meadow campground, the sister campground to ours. Coming out of the campground, followed by a crowd of people, were 4 elk!
We headed back into town to explore, only to be reminded why we don't like 'tourist traps'. Estes Park is beautiful in the early morning, but the crowds of people in the afternoon were just like at the shore. There were lots of t-shirt and trinket shops, and ice cream and fudge shops. We lasted an hour before heading out of town to relax at the camper.
We ended the day at The Other Side restaurant, just across the Little Thompson River from our campsite. Our waitress was from Bulgaria, here on a summer work program. She came last summer to New Jersey (we apologized!!), and she decided to return this summer to see a different part of our country (smart).
On Friday morning (July 17), we were hooked up and ready to go by about 8:00 a.m. We drove out Rt. 34 to Loveland, where we picked up Rt. 25 - the road that runs north/south, down to Denver and further down to Colorado Springs. We headed north to Cheyenne, where we picked up I-80. We will be on I-80 for several days, until we get home! Rick is in travel mode now, and it is hard to get him to stop. If he had his way, now that we are headed east, he would drive until we got home - never mind that it could be 2 or 3 days early!
In our travels today, we saw antelope, camels, bison, and lots of horses and cows. Haley'e eyes were glued to the windshield, searching for stuff to see - I think she laid down a total of 10 minutes the entire day - one point was about 5 minutes total - the rest were just down and back up again. She is now comatose, she is so exhausted! We saw a storm in the distance - love those prairie storms, where you can see them miles and miles away! It was a pretty intense storm, as we were hearing on the radio, and we witnessed the aftermath when we saw piles of hail alongside the road.
We are camped in a campground in Grand Island, Nebraska, where we stayed in 2000. We remembered that is poured - nice summer storm with no lightening - so Rick decided to take advantage of the free water and wash the trailer. As he got it soaped up, the rain stopped! Oops!
We have just over 1200 miles left to travel - and expect to be home Monday or Tuesday (I'm betting on Monday - Rick will push it for his softball double-header on Tuesday!)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
July 15
View from our campground - Rocky Mountain National Park is only 2 miles away.
As we ascended, the valley fell away to my side - I'd much rather be on the upside of the mountain, not the downside! I didn't do much looking at this point! We entered into the Subalpine ecosystem, which lies between 9,000' and 11,400' above sea level. This area is charcterized by long, cold winters and short, cool summers, and lots of precipitation - 30" or more. It is the highest, windiest and snowiest forest. We noticed poles - skinny tree trunks, actually, of varying heights along the road. They turned out to be markers for the edge of the road to guide snowplows. The higher poles indicated areas where snowdrifts where high. Many were 20' or higher! Trees become shorter -shrubs, more than trees, and there are more rocks and scrub grasses.
We headed to town (Estes Park) in search of breakfast before entering Rocky Mountian National Park (RMNP). The town reminds us of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, TN. Lots of shops, restaurants, quiet in the morning, but wall to wall people later in the day. We found a great restaurant where we could eat on the patio, looking at the mountains and watching the magpies fly around. A pest to the locals, visitors love them - they are black with white wings, and rounded wings and tail when flying.
We headed into RMNP about 11:30, stopping of course at the Fall River Visitor Center (we have to stop at all Visitor's Centers to at least get our National Parks passport stamped), then continuing on Trail Ridge Road. We could have taken the optional one-way, dirt, narrow, twisty-turny road on which vehicles over 25' are not permitted, but I really wanted to enjoy the ride, so I would not let the park rangers tell Rick about that route!
Trail Ridge Road is the highest continually paved road in the US, and traverses the 3 different eco-systems in the park. The Montane ecosystem encompasses the lower portions of the park, below 9,000', and is characterized by pine forests and beautiful mountain meadows. We saw a moose in a meadow, and many elk in the higher areas of the Montane area.
As we ascended, the valley fell away to my side - I'd much rather be on the upside of the mountain, not the downside! I didn't do much looking at this point! We entered into the Subalpine ecosystem, which lies between 9,000' and 11,400' above sea level. This area is charcterized by long, cold winters and short, cool summers, and lots of precipitation - 30" or more. It is the highest, windiest and snowiest forest. We noticed poles - skinny tree trunks, actually, of varying heights along the road. They turned out to be markers for the edge of the road to guide snowplows. The higher poles indicated areas where snowdrifts where high. Many were 20' or higher! Trees become shorter -shrubs, more than trees, and there are more rocks and scrub grasses.The highest area of the park is the Alpine ecosystem - which is 11,400' and higher. This area occurs above the treeline and is very harsh. Fierce, drying winds, bitter cold, intense ultra-violet light, thin soil and brief growing seasons allow only very specialized plants and animals to survive here. Snow and glaciers are abundant here, even in July. Nearly 1/3 of the park is above the tree line at 11,400'. RMNP holds 72 named peaks above 12,000', and Long's Peak, at 14, 259', is the northernmost so-called 'Fourteener' (peaks rising above 14,000') in the Rocky Mountain chain. Trail Ridge Road tops out at 12, 183', not far from the Alpine Visitor's Center. We tried to stop there on our way through, but could not find a parking spot.
As we continued through the west side of the park, we noticed that people-life had thinned out considerably. When we stopped at the Kawuneeche Visitor's Center (8,720'), we talked to a park ranger who confirmed that the east side received about 2 million visitors per year, while the west side (the wetter and better side, the locals say), receives about 1 million visitors. Most people drive from Estes Park and turn around at the Alpine Visitor's Center.
Estes Park receives about 40" per year snowfall, Grand Lake receives over 150" per year, and snowfall is in 8-12" at a time, several times per week. The west side of the park is able to keep the first 10 miles of road open all winter, even with all the snowfall.
We continued on about 2 miles to Grand Lake, a little mountain town at the western gateway - similar but much smaller than Estes Park. I spotted a fabric shop, and Rick helped me pick out fabric for a class I am taking at the end of the month - choosing fabrics which remind us of Colorado. We found a 'Dairy King' restaurant for a quick lunch - again outside. The temperature was perfect, but the whole area is very windy.
We made our way back through the park, spotting a moose and many more elk. We were able to get into the Alpine Visitor's Center this time, and I was able to see more on the way back, since I was on the upside of the mountain for the most part. We exited the park at Beaver Meadows Visitor Center (7,840'), which was only about 2 miles from our campground.
My grandmother's favorite Bible verse has been running continuously through my mind :Lift up your eyes to the hills. From where does your help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1
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