More pix..
Sunday, June 27, 2010
June 27, 2010
OK friends,
While in Cody we went on the scooter to the Tecumseh Trading Post Miniature Village & Museum (free) where there were many stuffed wild animals & horns on exhibit, and the town of Cody from the 1800's in miniature, with working train and audio. Museum has many artifacts and info. Next onto Old Trail Town, where the past is preserved (old buildings, fixtures, artifacts)..then 6 miles down the road thru 2 short tunnels & 1 longer tunnel to the Buffalo Bill Dam, on the Shoshoni River built in 1910 (free). Dam is in a very scenic location on the river! While we were there the weather turned colder & ominous--remember we are on a scooter--we froze going back to base. That evening we had a good chuckwagon dinner buffet & western musical entertainment at the Cody Cattle Company.
The next day after a little maintenance & shopping we took off on the 120 along the Wind River-the canyons along the river are spectacular! Got on the 20 at Thermopolis (hot springs there), saw the scenic features of Boysen St. Park & reservoir, thru Shoshoni to Riverton-a large town with all the facilities-had lunch at Taco Bell & observed many seagulls (what are they doing there?). Then it was on to Dubois, WY, the route taking us thru some very scenic hills, mntns, buttes & canyons. BTW Dubois has a giant Jackalope..we stayed the night in a city park.
Next day (Thurs) we headed to Grand Teton Nat'l Park. Beautiful drive and saw much wildlife. Arrived in Jackson, had lunch near visitor center then drove over to Jackson Hole @ the Teton Village. Nice rustic shops & inns catering to the skiers..got on the tramway 2 and 1/2 miles up to the top of Mt Rendezvous-10,400 ft- view was like no other! Could see the entire Teton range almost at eye level; many lakes, other ranges, many miles of the Snake River. Had hot chocolate at the top cafe (they served waffles there for some reason). The trip up took us over 4000 ft up in elevation-rough climbing stairs! And yes, it was pretty cold up there..After coming back down we figured we had seen the Tetons; no need to go into the park. So we left heading south on the 26/89/189/191 (they have a lotta numbers) thru yet more river rapid areas & canyons. Got a free H2O fillup at an RV park then drove a little more before stopping for the night at a roadside info/pullout area close to Pinedale. Not everyday you get to play in the snow in late JUNE!
While in Cody we went on the scooter to the Tecumseh Trading Post Miniature Village & Museum (free) where there were many stuffed wild animals & horns on exhibit, and the town of Cody from the 1800's in miniature, with working train and audio. Museum has many artifacts and info. Next onto Old Trail Town, where the past is preserved (old buildings, fixtures, artifacts)..then 6 miles down the road thru 2 short tunnels & 1 longer tunnel to the Buffalo Bill Dam, on the Shoshoni River built in 1910 (free). Dam is in a very scenic location on the river! While we were there the weather turned colder & ominous--remember we are on a scooter--we froze going back to base. That evening we had a good chuckwagon dinner buffet & western musical entertainment at the Cody Cattle Company.
The next day after a little maintenance & shopping we took off on the 120 along the Wind River-the canyons along the river are spectacular! Got on the 20 at Thermopolis (hot springs there), saw the scenic features of Boysen St. Park & reservoir, thru Shoshoni to Riverton-a large town with all the facilities-had lunch at Taco Bell & observed many seagulls (what are they doing there?). Then it was on to Dubois, WY, the route taking us thru some very scenic hills, mntns, buttes & canyons. BTW Dubois has a giant Jackalope..we stayed the night in a city park.
Next day (Thurs) we headed to Grand Teton Nat'l Park. Beautiful drive and saw much wildlife. Arrived in Jackson, had lunch near visitor center then drove over to Jackson Hole @ the Teton Village. Nice rustic shops & inns catering to the skiers..got on the tramway 2 and 1/2 miles up to the top of Mt Rendezvous-10,400 ft- view was like no other! Could see the entire Teton range almost at eye level; many lakes, other ranges, many miles of the Snake River. Had hot chocolate at the top cafe (they served waffles there for some reason). The trip up took us over 4000 ft up in elevation-rough climbing stairs! And yes, it was pretty cold up there..After coming back down we figured we had seen the Tetons; no need to go into the park. So we left heading south on the 26/89/189/191 (they have a lotta numbers) thru yet more river rapid areas & canyons. Got a free H2O fillup at an RV park then drove a little more before stopping for the night at a roadside info/pullout area close to Pinedale. Not everyday you get to play in the snow in late JUNE!
Friday, June 25, 2010
June 25, 2010
Well we decided to take advantage of good weather & go into Yellowstone N.P. thru the northern entrance at Gardiner, MT. There were many free campgrounds along the way on the US89..about 1/2 of the campgrounds in the park were full, so we picked the 1st one, Indian Springs. We then set out on the moto about 3pm & did the Upper Loop-75 miles-saw beautiful scenery, Norris Geyser Basin w/ it's many steampots, hot springs, Steamboat Geyser & much more..route took us high into the mntns above the snow line (cold up there). Saw Tower Falls & Mammoth Hot Springs and many deer, antelope, buffalo & a black bear from a distance (caused a 1/4 mile backup on the road). We were rained on occasionally but were dressed for it.
The next day we took off at 10am to do the lower loop. Saw the lower & midway geyser basins, then over to Old Faithful. Arrived there at 1pm, expected eruption at 1:34..whattayouknow it happened on time-really cool! Next it was up the mountain, across the continental divide & thru Craig's Pass at 8262 ft. That took us to West Thumb Geyser Basin, then alongside breathtaking Yellowstone Lake. We bypassed Fishing Bridge & Bridge Bay and went on to see Mud Volcano & Sulphur Cauldron. Next it was Canyon Village, with the really cool Upper and Lower Falls on the Yellowstone River; and then what's known as the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (they aint kiddin' it's amazing)..After fueling up we drove back to camp in the rain, close to nightfall.
Monday am we broke camp, gassed up & headed east on the 212 toward Cody, WY. More spectacular scenery on the way and thru a nice little town called Silver Gate. The next stretch of 296/120 was an up & down, incredibly scenic route that included rapids, huge canyons, waterfalls and a killer ride up to Dead Indian Pass (8000 ft) which was some of the most beautiful high elevation scenery you'll ever see! After some minor engine & brake overheating we got into Cody, did our laundry then parked for the night at Walmart. While there we discovered Cody has city-wide wifi!
The next day we took off at 10am to do the lower loop. Saw the lower & midway geyser basins, then over to Old Faithful. Arrived there at 1pm, expected eruption at 1:34..whattayouknow it happened on time-really cool! Next it was up the mountain, across the continental divide & thru Craig's Pass at 8262 ft. That took us to West Thumb Geyser Basin, then alongside breathtaking Yellowstone Lake. We bypassed Fishing Bridge & Bridge Bay and went on to see Mud Volcano & Sulphur Cauldron. Next it was Canyon Village, with the really cool Upper and Lower Falls on the Yellowstone River; and then what's known as the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (they aint kiddin' it's amazing)..After fueling up we drove back to camp in the rain, close to nightfall.
Monday am we broke camp, gassed up & headed east on the 212 toward Cody, WY. More spectacular scenery on the way and thru a nice little town called Silver Gate. The next stretch of 296/120 was an up & down, incredibly scenic route that included rapids, huge canyons, waterfalls and a killer ride up to Dead Indian Pass (8000 ft) which was some of the most beautiful high elevation scenery you'll ever see! After some minor engine & brake overheating we got into Cody, did our laundry then parked for the night at Walmart. While there we discovered Cody has city-wide wifi!
Friday, June 18, 2010
June 18, 2010
Greetings from Montana!
Rain has let up for several days now, giving us the chance to see alot of stuff more comfortably. From the Happy Holidays RV park we set out on the moto toward Mt. Rushmore. Along the way we stopped and rode a tram up the side of a mountain & got our 1st good view of the presidents..coming down was a lotta fun on an alpine sled going at speeds up to 40 mph! Next we drove to Mount Rushmore Nat'l Park & took pictures. Then it was off to the Crazy Horse Memorial, a work in progress, but still amazing (it will be the largest memorial in the world, if they ever complete it). The facility had a large museum/cultural exhibit and a movie--really neat stuff. Perhaps we could come back in 20-30 years to see the progress..From there we entered Custer State Park and got on the Wildlife Loop, where we saw many deer, antelope, prairie dogs and buffalo, one of which took up residence on a median at a highway intersection! Upon leaving Custer St Park we took the long way around back to camp, and called it a day.
Next day we left Rapid City (which, by the way has life-size statues of all the Presidents at every corner in one section of downtown) & headed to Sturgis, drove through town & took some pix. Then we headed south to Deadwood, SD. Turned out to be a cool little town & we took a 1 hr tour bus, seeing most all the town including the cemetery containing Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane! Very informative tour..got off the bus & stepped into the #10 Saloon, where they had a re-enactment of the assasination of Wild Bill; then went outside to catch the 4 pm re-enactment of an old west shoot-out (a poker game gone bad). Next we made our way throughout the various old buildings,(all of which had a working casino) including the Adams Museum. We then left Deadwood, got back on the I-90 & drove to Spearfish, SD where we parked on a secluded backstreet very near a Walmart. Storms in the area had us a little nervous that night..
The next day we were awakened early by what sounded like a siren of some sort--still don't know if it was a tornado warning siren or what! We survived that & headed west into Wyoming, got on the 14 then 24 to Devil's Tower National Monument. Wow it's really "killer" up close, and the view getting over to the Tower was spectacular! From there we started heading for any large city we could find, as our toilet was malfunctioning & needed replacing (after I got to working on it). Tried Gillette and Buffalo before hitting pay dirt in Sheridan, WY. Of course we found the Walmart & I quickly installed the new "can" and we had Chinese buffet & called it a night.
On Friday, a nice sunshiny morning (this morning) we headed toward Billings, Montana and stopped at the Little Bighorn Battlefield Nat'l Memorial otside of Harding, Mt. Walked the grounds & attended a narration of the events before and during the battle at which Maj Gen George Custer and all his men lost their lives; this story was told by a Crow Nation native park ranger. This large area of Montana is within the Crow Reservation..saw many gravesites, monuments and artifacts..from there we continued on to Billings, Mt to the McDonalds where I'm writing this update..from here we haven't 100% decided if we will go to Yellostone, or west all the way to Seattle & then coming back to Wyoming. Decisions, decisions...
Rain has let up for several days now, giving us the chance to see alot of stuff more comfortably. From the Happy Holidays RV park we set out on the moto toward Mt. Rushmore. Along the way we stopped and rode a tram up the side of a mountain & got our 1st good view of the presidents..coming down was a lotta fun on an alpine sled going at speeds up to 40 mph! Next we drove to Mount Rushmore Nat'l Park & took pictures. Then it was off to the Crazy Horse Memorial, a work in progress, but still amazing (it will be the largest memorial in the world, if they ever complete it). The facility had a large museum/cultural exhibit and a movie--really neat stuff. Perhaps we could come back in 20-30 years to see the progress..From there we entered Custer State Park and got on the Wildlife Loop, where we saw many deer, antelope, prairie dogs and buffalo, one of which took up residence on a median at a highway intersection! Upon leaving Custer St Park we took the long way around back to camp, and called it a day.
Next day we left Rapid City (which, by the way has life-size statues of all the Presidents at every corner in one section of downtown) & headed to Sturgis, drove through town & took some pix. Then we headed south to Deadwood, SD. Turned out to be a cool little town & we took a 1 hr tour bus, seeing most all the town including the cemetery containing Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane! Very informative tour..got off the bus & stepped into the #10 Saloon, where they had a re-enactment of the assasination of Wild Bill; then went outside to catch the 4 pm re-enactment of an old west shoot-out (a poker game gone bad). Next we made our way throughout the various old buildings,(all of which had a working casino) including the Adams Museum. We then left Deadwood, got back on the I-90 & drove to Spearfish, SD where we parked on a secluded backstreet very near a Walmart. Storms in the area had us a little nervous that night..
The next day we were awakened early by what sounded like a siren of some sort--still don't know if it was a tornado warning siren or what! We survived that & headed west into Wyoming, got on the 14 then 24 to Devil's Tower National Monument. Wow it's really "killer" up close, and the view getting over to the Tower was spectacular! From there we started heading for any large city we could find, as our toilet was malfunctioning & needed replacing (after I got to working on it). Tried Gillette and Buffalo before hitting pay dirt in Sheridan, WY. Of course we found the Walmart & I quickly installed the new "can" and we had Chinese buffet & called it a night.
On Friday, a nice sunshiny morning (this morning) we headed toward Billings, Montana and stopped at the Little Bighorn Battlefield Nat'l Memorial otside of Harding, Mt. Walked the grounds & attended a narration of the events before and during the battle at which Maj Gen George Custer and all his men lost their lives; this story was told by a Crow Nation native park ranger. This large area of Montana is within the Crow Reservation..saw many gravesites, monuments and artifacts..from there we continued on to Billings, Mt to the McDonalds where I'm writing this update..from here we haven't 100% decided if we will go to Yellostone, or west all the way to Seattle & then coming back to Wyoming. Decisions, decisions...
Monday, June 14, 2010
June 14, 2010
Hello, this time from Happy Holiday RV campground near Rapid City, SD!
From Eau Claire, WS we did alot of driving, headed to St Paul...our "house" wasn't running very well so we had it looked at in Minneapolis; needed a fuel filter and carb adjustment & we went ahead and got the oil/filter done as well..wow over 3,000 miles already!
We found a good place to park very close to the Mall of America (people come from all over the world) & walked over to see what the hype was about. Wow the place is huge-5 floors and a gigantic amusement park smack dab in the middle of it all. We had some really good Thai fast food before calling it a night..must've walked 5 miles! Watched the Blackhawks win the Cup, too..
*Ask Sue about the tick..
Next we took the I-35 south to get on the I-90. Along the way we stopped at the Village of Yesteryear in Otawanna, a collection of buildings from the late 1800's to the early 1900's. Since the only tour was at 1:30 daily & the time was 3:15 we could only look at everything from the outside & peek in through the windows..
The weather has not been kind to us lately--lots of wind, cold & rain. Anyway next we stopped off at Blue Earth, a small town which just happens to have a 55 ft statue of the Jolly Green Giant (and a little gift shop)..while we were taking pix of the JGG a local AM radio personality scooped us up for an interview, to be aired on Monday the 14th-the weekly show showcased travelers who stopped to look at the ststue..that evening we stayed at a highway rest area, which has a memorial to the completion of the I-90. After yet another thunder-stormy night we started our day (our 11th wedding avviversary) travelling west to Sioux Falls, SD. We were surprised to find actual falls-they were impressive & the city park was huge and included informative plaques, historical buildings and an observation tower.
From Sioux Falls we headed west toward Rapid City, stopping in Mitchell. We stayed the night in Cabela's parking lot, and had anniversary dinner at Whiskey Creek restaurant..when we got back to the "house" we noticed a guy out in the lot had a BALD EAGLE on a leash-we got to get about 10 ft from the amazing bird! turns out this guy was with an eagle preservation society so it was legal.
Saturday we headed west-still windy/rainy-stopping off at the rest area near Chamberlain for a few minutes. Ended up staying for an hour to look at an impressive display of the journey of Lewis & Clark. Next we crossed the mighty Missouri River & stopped in Kadoka for the 1880's western town, which had plenty of roadway signs preceding it..thought it would be cheesy, but turned out to be pretty good. Stayed overnight at an overflow truck parking lot, listening to the rain once again..
Not discouraged, we set out the next morning to Badlands National Park-drove the 240loop-was an AMAZING 35 miles of scenery-cliffs, gorges, canyons, spires, buttes & colors. Never knew what a special place the Badlands is! From there we followed the 1000's of signs (they started 300-400 miles back) to the Wall Drugstore in Wall, SD. Again we weren't expecting much, but were pleasantly surprised. And, we weren't the only travellers lured in; there seemed to be a thousand people in the huge complex, which encompassed a full city block on both sides of the street. Drugstore, souvenir shops, novelties, cafe, clothing & other specialty shops..lots of kid-friendly stuff, photos & western decor. After that we continued to Rapid City, did laundry and stayed the night at-you guessed it-Walmart.
From Eau Claire, WS we did alot of driving, headed to St Paul...our "house" wasn't running very well so we had it looked at in Minneapolis; needed a fuel filter and carb adjustment & we went ahead and got the oil/filter done as well..wow over 3,000 miles already!
We found a good place to park very close to the Mall of America (people come from all over the world) & walked over to see what the hype was about. Wow the place is huge-5 floors and a gigantic amusement park smack dab in the middle of it all. We had some really good Thai fast food before calling it a night..must've walked 5 miles! Watched the Blackhawks win the Cup, too..
*Ask Sue about the tick..
Next we took the I-35 south to get on the I-90. Along the way we stopped at the Village of Yesteryear in Otawanna, a collection of buildings from the late 1800's to the early 1900's. Since the only tour was at 1:30 daily & the time was 3:15 we could only look at everything from the outside & peek in through the windows..
The weather has not been kind to us lately--lots of wind, cold & rain. Anyway next we stopped off at Blue Earth, a small town which just happens to have a 55 ft statue of the Jolly Green Giant (and a little gift shop)..while we were taking pix of the JGG a local AM radio personality scooped us up for an interview, to be aired on Monday the 14th-the weekly show showcased travelers who stopped to look at the ststue..that evening we stayed at a highway rest area, which has a memorial to the completion of the I-90. After yet another thunder-stormy night we started our day (our 11th wedding avviversary) travelling west to Sioux Falls, SD. We were surprised to find actual falls-they were impressive & the city park was huge and included informative plaques, historical buildings and an observation tower.
From Sioux Falls we headed west toward Rapid City, stopping in Mitchell. We stayed the night in Cabela's parking lot, and had anniversary dinner at Whiskey Creek restaurant..when we got back to the "house" we noticed a guy out in the lot had a BALD EAGLE on a leash-we got to get about 10 ft from the amazing bird! turns out this guy was with an eagle preservation society so it was legal.
Saturday we headed west-still windy/rainy-stopping off at the rest area near Chamberlain for a few minutes. Ended up staying for an hour to look at an impressive display of the journey of Lewis & Clark. Next we crossed the mighty Missouri River & stopped in Kadoka for the 1880's western town, which had plenty of roadway signs preceding it..thought it would be cheesy, but turned out to be pretty good. Stayed overnight at an overflow truck parking lot, listening to the rain once again..
Not discouraged, we set out the next morning to Badlands National Park-drove the 240loop-was an AMAZING 35 miles of scenery-cliffs, gorges, canyons, spires, buttes & colors. Never knew what a special place the Badlands is! From there we followed the 1000's of signs (they started 300-400 miles back) to the Wall Drugstore in Wall, SD. Again we weren't expecting much, but were pleasantly surprised. And, we weren't the only travellers lured in; there seemed to be a thousand people in the huge complex, which encompassed a full city block on both sides of the street. Drugstore, souvenir shops, novelties, cafe, clothing & other specialty shops..lots of kid-friendly stuff, photos & western decor. After that we continued to Rapid City, did laundry and stayed the night at-you guessed it-Walmart.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
June 9, 2010
Greetings fron Hudson, WS right at the western border of WS & Minnesota. Despite some rain we explored Chicago on the Honda, tried to get to US Cellular Field but not situated where we could get to it, but saw Soldier Field. When we arrived at Sears Tower it began to rain hard so given the poor visibility we didn't go up the Tower but took pics from the grounds..then it was over to Wrigley Field (it stopped raining) and the park is charming as well as amazing given it's age. Then it was time to pack up & head toward WS, stopping in Beloit for restocking. Saw alot of those wind farms up close along the way..
Next day it was off to Wisconsin Dells, WS a scenic river and resort town with much to offer the tourist. Wisc Dells IS THE WATERPARK CAPITOL OF THE WORLD! Noah's Ark (the largest) to Mt Olympus they got a park for everyone. We boarded a tour boat & cruised the Upper Dells, a particularly scenic geographical locale..Next day we walked the 1/4 mi Riverwalk and thru downtown to see the markets and attractions, and bought our Wisc cheese. For lunch it was Dave's BBQ (very good) then we went in the cheesy Haunted Ghost Mansion ($5 ea) before boarding the 2nd half of boat tour on the Lower Dells. Not quite as good as Upper, but still a nice stretch of the Wisc River! After taking more pix of downtown we called it a day & went back to camp.
The next day it rained so we broke camp & headed out toward St Paul, MN. As the motorhome started to run poorly we stopped for the day at Walmart in Eau Claire, WS.
Cheers,
Dr Duke
Next day it was off to Wisconsin Dells, WS a scenic river and resort town with much to offer the tourist. Wisc Dells IS THE WATERPARK CAPITOL OF THE WORLD! Noah's Ark (the largest) to Mt Olympus they got a park for everyone. We boarded a tour boat & cruised the Upper Dells, a particularly scenic geographical locale..Next day we walked the 1/4 mi Riverwalk and thru downtown to see the markets and attractions, and bought our Wisc cheese. For lunch it was Dave's BBQ (very good) then we went in the cheesy Haunted Ghost Mansion ($5 ea) before boarding the 2nd half of boat tour on the Lower Dells. Not quite as good as Upper, but still a nice stretch of the Wisc River! After taking more pix of downtown we called it a day & went back to camp.
The next day it rained so we broke camp & headed out toward St Paul, MN. As the motorhome started to run poorly we stopped for the day at Walmart in Eau Claire, WS.
Cheers,
Dr Duke
Friday, June 4, 2010
June 4, 2010
It's been a while so i'll hit the highlights..
After a short stay at Vicky's home in Leesburg in which we mostly visited with the family we headed out toward Dayton, to pick up the I-70 thru IN. We only stayed one night, at a free campground (horse trailer camp) with no electric or water. Heading west down the I-74 we were in need of water for our fresh H2O tank but couldn' find any connection compatable to ours & didn't want to pay for one..luckily we went across the road from a Pilot truck stop to a local restaurant, where we noticed a VERY LONG HOSE around the back of the building-hooked up & ready-that's where our current supply of water came from (pirated water)LOL. The next day we traveled a few miles to a little town called Pontiac (named for an Indian warrior) which had an awesome Route 66 museum along with an adjacent War museum-all of which were free! Then we left Pontiac headed toward Chicago, stopping about 30 miles from the city at a Cracker Barrel (where I'm typing this message) which happily is right next to a hotel, which is providing free wifi for our surfing pleasure..Saturday, weather permitting we have some destinations planned in Chicago, before we resume our travels westward...
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