I have had such problems trying to get internet connection that I am just going to upload this script & will try to add pictures late.
After experiencing the new blogger trials & tribulations of trying to learn something new & additionally working with a wireless system in our current campground that is practically worthless, I have decided to make my notes first on the word processing program & then transfer them quickly whenever I can find internet access. Maybe I can get our trip caught up a little quicker this way. My apologies for the previous blog being incomplete. I’m working on how to get it edited now that it has been uploaded to the web, but hopefully it will be corrected in the future. My “blog tutor,” Shannon, is right with me.
While we were in Humbolt where the Born Free was being outfitted & checked out I took this picture of the gas prices. We found it amazing that premium gas was cheaper than regular gas, but it was in Iowa, home of more than a few corn fields & also home of ethanol production so premium gas with ethanol was more reasonably priced (relatively speaking, of course!). The Born Free was very happy driving thru her homeland!
After Humbolt we continued heading west & camped at Storm Lake, IA for the night. We had a lovely dinner, compliments of Jean Ann & John Livingston, & camped by the lake that night. The Livingstons ensured our refrigerator was filled with wonderful delights from their garden & kitchen. That is Midwestern hospitality at its best. It was another thunder & lightning show all night long but, fortunately, no tornado sirens!
The following day, May 29th, we stopped in Sioux City, IA to visit the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center prior to crossing the Missouri River into Idaho. It has been fun traveling along the Lewis & Clark Trail & seeing & learning much about the emigration of the American pioneers westward. It is fabulous countryside but unbelievably difficult & hazardous to traverse. We camped in Oacoma, SD located along the L&C Trail & overlooking the Missouri River, that night which was the first point I had internet access & was able to get off an email to family & friends.
On May 30 we made it to the Badlands & spent many hours driving & hiking through the Badlands Natl Park. Beautiful & very rugged & soon to be very HOT terrain. We were able to make 3 short hikes off the roadway to see the beautiful terrain in more depth. We decided not to stay there for the night & drove on toward the Black Hills of SD. Of course, we had to stop at the infamous (Well, infamous to these westerners. We had never heard of it before ourselves.) Wall Drug Store in Wall, SD. It’s the largest drug store in the state?, country?, world? and it has bill boards advertising it all across the state in every direction. Well, we bought an ice cream cone there & moved on. A total tourist attraction. No, a tourist trap! The Black Hills were not far away. It’s amazing how close the beautiful & lush Black Hills are to the rough & arid Badlands. We camped in a beautiful KOA campground that night at the base of Mt Rushmore. I think it is the best camp area we have ever stayed in. Well, by best, I mean it had the finest amenities & lots of activities that children & adults would enjoy. The next morning, May 31st, we rented a car from the campground & drove up the mountain to Mt. Rushmore. I will never forget my gasp of excitement when I 1st spotted the carving of the faces of the 4 presidents on Mt Rushmore looking down on us as we drove into the parking lot. I wanted to ask the parking attendant if he realized how incredible it is to work beneath these great faces. We spent hours viewing the mountain & reading everything in the beautiful visitors’ center. There was a nice trail hike that took us along the base of the mountain & through the artist’s studio. We returned later that evening to view the beautiful lighting ceremony of the mountain which is held each evening at dusk. At the close of the ceremony the park ranger invited all the veterans in the audience to come to the stage & assist him with the retiring of the colors. After the vets folded the flag & handed it to ranger, the ranger thanked each vet & shoke his hand. There were current active duty servicemen, prior active duty servicemen, “young” retirees like Steve, & WW II vets all representing every US military service who participated in the nightly ceremony. It was very moving & patriotic. As we were leaving the amphitheater a mom & dad approached Steve with their video camera in hand & asked Steve if would say a few words on their camera to their Marine son who was currently serving in Anbar Provence in Iraq. Steve was eloquent in his “Go get “um, Marine” message. (I cried!) As we drove out of the park we could see the lighted presidents overlooking us as we wound down the mountain. It was incredible!
Between the 2 visits to Mt Rushmore we drove to the Crazy Horse Memorial which is being carved into the mountainside not too far from Mt Rushmore. Another incredible sight & beautiful to see the work in progress. Guess it won’t be completed in our lifetime, probably not in the following generation’s lifetime either, but it was enjoyable visiting the American Indian Museum & seeing the prototype of the finished memorial. It’s ongoing creation is an interesting story.
On our 3rd day being located at Rushmore KOA & with our rental car we drove to & around Custer State Park which is also part of the Black Hills. The Black Hills, by the way, are mostly composed of Ponderosa pine trees which have long beautiful dark green needles & very black bark. From a distance the mountains do indeed look black. While driving through the park we saw the Calvin Coolidge summer house where he & his family stayed for 3 months one summer after visiting the Black Hills & deciding not to go back to Washington. My! how times change! One of my personal highlights while we were driving thru the park was witnessing a real cattle drive. There were about 500 head of cattle in a slight valley beside the road & they were being herded by real cowboys. Parked along the road were several pick up trucks (Everyone has a truck in the West!) with women standing by the roadside watching the drive. Steve, of course, stopped our camper, put my window down, & told ME to find out what’s going on! Well, a called to a woman & asked & she came over to our vehicle & said that they were cattle from their ranch that were on a 3 day drive thru the park being taken to some leased park land up in the hills for the summer. Family & friends were all helping with the drive & then at the end of each day (the cattle are housed in buffalo corrals along the way at night) the family & friends return to their ranch where they have big barbecues. She said the same thing will happen in reverse at the end of the summer. We were most grateful for her friendliness & her information. You bet! I thought I was in Bonanza!
The following day (Jun 2) we returned the rental car, pulled chocks, & moved our camper to Custer State Park where we had a beautiful campsite near a lake & nestled under the beautiful Ponderosa pines. Steve, Bennie & I took a couple of lovely treks around & near the lake. Another night of thunder & lightning but we were snug & secure in our little BF. The morning dawned sunny & bright & we said farewell to our newest camper friends & some very cute children having fun camping with their families & we continued heading west to WYOMING! I had made the comment to Steve while we were in the Black Hills that I felt we had been remiss in our children’s education in that we had never taken them to this very beautiful & historic part of our country. We both vowed that we would try to figure out how to make that happen in the future.
WYOMING - No kidding! The buffalo do roam here & the antelope are playing all around. Incredible to see! Cattle, buffalo & antelopes were all grazing & playing along our route. We were so enjoying staying off the interstates & traveling the state highway system & passing through towns that had population signs that read Population 1, Population 4, Population 40! After 3 days of traversing WY & staying in 2 lovely towns & camping areas, Casper & Dubois, we arrived in Jackson Hole. Casper, WY is the 2nd largest city in WY & it was small. They did have a K Mart & a Home Depot there which was encouraging. It was truly biggest shopping mecca since leaving IL & IA. In Casper we visited the Pioneer Museum which was incredibly well done & very interactive. Every time we go into a museum we plan to stay a short time & then get on our way & each time we stay for several hours. Wish they had had museums like these when we were young & also when our own children were young. You can learn so much & truly feel a part of the history they are interpreting. The town of Dubois was even more fun & interesting. It had a small pioneer community museum & a Big Horn Sheep Museum, both of which we visited, of course., & we found fascinating. The Dubois camp site was very close to the town & our campsite was right beside a horse corral with the Wind River passing through the campground. About 3 am that night we were awakened by sirens in the town & after our experience in Iowa with the tornado, Steve jumped out of bed, got completely dressed & dashed outside to find nobody moving about nor any activity of any kind. So he came back into the camper, grab the info sheet the campground had given us at check in & called the emergency number to the sheriff’s office. I could hear him say, “We’re camping nearby & we hear the sirens, can you tell me what they mean?” Answer was simple. “That’s how we call all volunteer firemen to come in when there is an emergency.” OH! That’s Alexandria’s newest Certified Emergency Response Team (CERTO member at his best! After I found a cute little yarn shop, called Spin a Yarn, in the center of town, & helped out the economy, of course, we got on our way again heading toward Jackson Hole. Having purchased gas for the 1st time over the $4 mark & having climbed the mountain road to an elevation of 6912 feet, we spotted the Grand Tetons & it was a SPECTACULAR sight! They are covered in snow & ever so much more beautiful than we have ever seen in pictures. We had stopped at a McDonald’s along the way & there was a young cowboy dad & his 6-7 yr old daughter ahead of us in line who were both in their riding clothes complete with spurs on their boots. I had to visually check them out for 6 guns on their sides, but thankfully they didn’t need them that day. Steve talked to the young dad to find out more & he was a rodeo rider & he & his daughter were on their way to the next rodeo with 2 bulls & their horses in the biggest truck & tailer we had ever seen. Those bulls were BIG boys!
Well, here we are in Jackson Hole & thanks to our dear neighbor & one of my walking partners, Sharon Taylor, who so kindly hooked us up with her personal friends from Mobile, AL & who are here for the summer, we are having the most wonderful time. Karen & Ture Schoultz have had us to their lovely condo located at the base of the ski lift to the mountain & also located in the very center of town. They have so kindly acclimated us to the important sights in the area as well as being our drivers in & around the area. We have enjoyed shopping the town with Karen & Ture, celebrating Ture’s birthday with them at a lovely Italian restaurant in Teton Village, & most of all enjoying their most kind & warm hospitality. It was quickly discovered that both Steve & Ture have undergraduate degrees in Forestry & although their professional paths took them in different directions we all felt we had much in common & we all have hopes & plans to get together again in the future. A special thank you to Sharon for getting us all together. Sharon will be visiting the Schoultz’ in JH the end of the month so I’m sure they will all have lots of tales to tell. We leave JH tomorrow morning, June 8th, after having brunch with Karen & Ture & bidding them farewell, & we are heading through the Teton Natl. Park on our way to Yellowstone Natl Park. We plan on staying in 2 overnight campsites in the Grand Tetons before arriving in YNP. Steve warns me that we might be out of internet & cell phone communication, laundry & supplies for the next possibly 5 days. Help! Usually Steve’s Blackberry seems to work so that is always a possibility if you need to be in touch.
I will try to upload this to the blog tonight so you have a chance to catch up on our travels before I am able to add more & hopefully at a lesser rate.
