Leaving SD and on to Missouri

As we leave South Dakota we are a little sad, as it seems we really are heading home. But we really do have a long way to go and lots more to see and do. Along the way, we had a very interesting stop at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. It's one of those things that I had heard of someplace, sometime. Even my neice suggested we make this unique stop. After going around a few blocks to find a parking spot for us with the RV, we ventured into a very interesting building...covered mostly with corn and corn stalks. Now this farm girl has seen many fields of corn, but wow...this was amazing. The building is also where the local high schools play basketball. It's obviously a big deal here! Lots of seats--like a small university arena! Our next stop was the Walmart parking lot in St. Joseph's MO. This was our noisiest over-night the whole trip. Ask Randy somtime about the guy worried about his balloon getting away at 3 AM!
St. Louis, MO provided us with a good time...the Budwiser Brewery (samples included), the beautiful Cathedral, dinner with friends I had'nt seen in many years, a ride to the top of the Arch, and a fun visit to the Queen's Casino.
Nest stop....Louisville!

Wind Caves, Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore & The Badlands!

JUNE 14, 15, 16, 2010....

Grr...I just lost what I had typed here and can't find it! Oh, well...here we go again!

The weather continued to dictate to us...rain, rain, rain. So we headed for the Wind Cave National Park. Below ground, it doesn't matter whether it rains or not! This cave was quite different from any cave/cavern we had ever visited. The formations were very unique and when the entrance door was opened, you could hear the wind. Our ranger guide was very good and shared all the history of the exploration of the cave and the formations. The cave is still being explored and mapped. Many miles of tunnels... We took an elevator down and then walked 450 steps further down. When you think that the early explorers of this cave had only a candle to see, it is amazing that they had any idea of what was there. The pictures were hard to get here, but let your imagination fill in the gaps. It was a great way to spend a rainy day. Never fear, the rain cleared and we made our way a little south to visit the Crazy Horse Memorial. Sculptor Zorczak Ziolowski was invited by the Indian Nations to create this monument to "Let the white man know the red man has great heroes, too." (Chief Standing Bear) The monument was started in 1948 and work continues today. No public funds have been used because, Zorczak was a believer in private enterprise. There was a blasting planned for the day after we were there. As evening approached we headed to Mt. Rushmore to see the presidents...after dark and beautifully lite. As we sat waiting for darkness to fall, a ranger came on stage and delivered a monologue about the "What if's" of several great men in history, including some presidents, and how history might have been different if things had been different in these men's lives...a father had not died young, a different education....really interesting concept. She then called all the veterans in the audience to the stage to be recognized. These men and women received a standing ovation! (I was proud that Randy was one of them.) And then the lights hit the monument...Wow! We are so blessed in this country...at the same time, we really have to get grip and figure out how to get back on track! It was a full day of memorials and monuments. For our last day in this area, we drove through the Badlands and guess what we saw...yup...ROCKS! Just a little different than others, but we are beginning to see similarities as well. We are no geologists, but... We do make up some stories as we go!
Once again, we are so fortunate to be able to experience this amazing adventure. We are not really looking forward to the traffic and busy life that we will soon be encountering as we head east and south. Traffic...ugh.

From Cody to Buffalo, WY and on to Rapid City,SD

DATES OF TRAVEL: JUNE 11-13, 2010
This post is a little different than what I've done before...And I hope you get a chuckle with me.
As we left one of our favorite stops...Cody, WY...we felt like we were beginning our trek eastward and home. Strange thought with still many days and stops to go. But here's the deal as we made our way to Rapid City, SD...with an overnight stop in a quaint little town, Buffalo, WY. The drive to Buffalo was interesting because we did take the road less traveled and it was beautiful. There was one stretch of 50 - 60 miles and we saw only 6 or so vehicles! And we passed through Tensleep...population 304! The farms were prosperous and green. It was a nice change from the interstate. BUT..as we drove through the Bighorn National Forest "enjoying" all the 7% inclines and switchback curves, brakes heated and transmissions heated...and Rick's brakes went mushy. We made an emergency stop in one of the pullout vistas to give the vehicles and drivers a break. After an hour or so, away we went. As we came off the highway, Rick felt like he had no brakes left. It was a bit stressful, but by morning all seemed OK. Our overnight in Buffalo allowed the wash to get done...while Betty and I shopped in the RV gift shop. Nice and convenient, huh? The men may not have thought so, but... Before our trip, I purchased an electric pressure cooker/slow cooker/rice cooker. For this quick stop over, I used it to prepare dinner...quickly. The cooker has become known as "The Pot" and maybe I'll write a cookbook with our RV recipes! Yum, yum---pork roast, chicken, roast beef, pork chops...even chicken and dunplings!
I digress...we made our way to Black Hawk, SD...location of 3 Rivers RV Park...near Rapid City, SD. This is our home base as we visit Wall Drug..and other point of interest. The trip to Wall was made on a rainy day when we just didn't want to be outside, so enjoy the chronicles of the trip via bill boards!

Rodeo Night in Cody, WY

Cody Night Rodeo! When we started making our plans for this trip, see a rodeo was on the list of things to do. Now we can check "Rodeo" off the list. Every night during the summer months there is a rodeo in Cody, WY. What fun we had...it did rain just a little, but we are tough when it comes to weather! It was a great family evening--as you can see from the pictures, there were participants of all ages, boys and girls,...and clowns! While in Cody, we also visited the Buffalo Bill Cody Historical Museum and learned a lot about this amazing man. He did it all and certainly deserves to be remebered in history. He was quite a guy. Goggle him and refresh your memory! Randy especially enjoyed the firearms collection that was part of the museum.
We head to Rapid City next...Mt. Rushmore, Badlands and, of course, Wall Drug Store!
We are heading east! Enjoy the pictures...

Jackson, WY and the Grand Tetons

OK...can you believe it? Two posts in 1 evening/late night! But I was anxious to tell the story of today's adventure on the Snake River. We were so fortunate the sun was on our side of the mountains today! We booked ourselves on a calm float trip - we thought! Turns out the water is at it's highest level in 13 years and it is moving very fast...something like 18,000 cubic feet per second. (Don't hold me to that, but that's what I understood! All was going pretty well as our guide, Eric, worked hard to keep us smoothly floating...a tree fell near us but he managed to keep us clear of it as it floated down river with us! But...as we approached the area we were to "land" he gave us the run down of how we were going to get to shore. But...the river had a different idea! As we swiftly went past the spot we were supposed to land, Eric paddled like crazy and yelled to his partner on shore to come down stream a little and help us...as we were just about to go by our 2nd option for landing, Eric yelled to Zack..."Get in the water, Dude!" and he came in up to his waist and caught our rope to pull us to safety. If he had missed, we would have traveled at least another 8 miles before we would have had an opportunity to "land." And the water would have been faster and rougher we were told! But, we are safe and really had the ride of our lives. It usually takes about 2 1/2 hours to make the float...we did it in 1 hour 40 minites! Fast, huh?!
The rest of the day was calm and beautiful as we drove around the Grand Teton National Park. The pictures tell the rest of the story. Jenny Lake was serene and we enjoyed just sitting on a log watching the water falls. Click and enjoy!

Yellowstone National Park

The past week has presented us with lots of rain and drizzle but fear not...neither rain nor snow will stop this crew from enjoying the next chapter in the "Great Road Trip Adventure!" As we made our way to Yellowstone, the weather took a "wet" turn. So we just got our the rain jackets and long johns and away we went. We spent 3 days exploring Yellowstone National Park. Our home campground was in West Yellowstone, MT, while the park is in WY. We were able to do the 2 loops through the park and see quite a few animals and lots of beautiful scenery. And thanks to many of you, Randy had a nice birthday surprise, reading all the emails. He was really surprised and sends a big "Thank You" to all of you. His day was the sunny day of our 3 days at YNP. I do think it's a birthday he'll long remember! Hope you enjoy the photos...it was a wonderful experience. The park is about 2.2 million acres, so there is no way to share the whole story. And the next chapter should be ready very soon...The Grand Tetons. Love to all and thanks for your comments and emails. We really enjoy hearing from you. We will start our eastern movement in 2-3 days.
Click on the picture--enjoy the animals!

Wyoming and Salt Lake City, Utah

Here's an update of our travels since we left Woodland Park, CO. First stop...Cheyenne, WY and our first sighting of Bison...at the RV Park/The Terry Bison Ranch. The plan was to take a walk around the ranch, but hail and torando warnings kept us in the RV! We are keeping a weather log to see what's left that we haven't experience. On we went across Wyoming via I-80, formally known as the Lincoln Highway. The road goes coast to coast from NYC to San Francisco. Our next over-night was at the Walmart parking lot in Rock Springs, WY. There were 24 other RV's with us! When we parked at about 4 pm there were 3-4 other units parked. It was amazing to watch everyone come in from the interstate! Then we made our way to Salt Lake City, UT. We think Utah is our favorite state...so clean and friendly. Our visit to Temple Square was informative. We met 2 young women who are on their mission for 1 1/2years, serving there in SLC. We attended a pipe organ concert in the Tabernacle and on Sunday we had hope to see the choir, but the crowds were so large, we had to watch on a movie screen in the conference center. This was all due to the special muscic and recognitions for memorial day. It was still worth it. It was indeed a special day. Our other adventures around Salt Lake included a visit to the Kennecutt Mine. Copper is mined there (along with gold and silver mined as copper by-products). The pit is huge and so are the trucks!! On Memorial Day we made our way to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. What a treat that was! The island was site of the farming operation of the Morman settlers to produce food for the group called Fielding Gal Ranch. As we drove around the island, we watched a herd of bison graze freely on the open range. Neat! At the ranch we found a Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival. The musicans, storytellers and poets were fun and really good at their art!
We had a "cowboy" lunch...cooked in iron Dutch ovens, yummy! It was relaxing and lots of fun. And today, we finally had to leave Utah and make our way to Idaho Falls, ID. We are parked at the Elks Club with electric for our RV's provided. We enjoyed cocktail time in the club and met a couple nice folks who gave us advice about our next destinations: Yellowstone and the Grand Teton Mountains! So tomorrow we'll be on our way again, cameras poised. Weather forcast: rain...grrrrr. But, it just might change for us! Enjoy your days...check the pictures...click, click!