Progress Report

 I can't believe it but we halfway through our year-long trip.  I thought it would be a time to offer some thoughts on how it is going and to give some tips on RVing for the long haul.  In no particular order, these random thoughts are:

• Don't bother going to Moab, UT anymore.  It used to be a cool place but has become so over-run with 'adventurers' screaming around town on dirt bikes and 4-wheelers. It is kinda obnoxious. Instead, go to Escalante or find more remote areas off the map.  Southern Utah has many great places and insanely cool scenery.  Go out and find it.
• Don't go to Nevada.
• Get those pressure monitors for RV tires.  You still get flat tires but you can change them before they become massive blowouts.
• We have found that we don't really care for 'RV parks', the more upscale ones with the huge RVs crammed in.  There are way too many rules enforced enthusiastically by someone who takes their job way too seriously.  We like state and county parks that [Horrors!] allow tent campers with families.  Way cheaper too.
• Bring your own gas to California. It would be cheaper to tow your own tanker and fill it in any other state except Nevada [see above].  We found gas in other areas that was less than half the price.
• Make sure the AC in your RV works.  If not for ours we would be found lying in the grass in Wisconsin gasping like fish out of water.
• Screw Elon Musk and Starlink.  I have been remote-working with my computer using hot-spot off my phone and it has been fine.  Plus, you can sit in your underwear during Zoom meetings with the camera off and claim you have a bad connection. We can even stream movies most places.
• There are LOTS of trees in Oregon and Washington [I counted them] Clear those rainforests.
• I am not a great world traveler but can't imagine anywhere that has more variety and beautiful scenery than the USA.  From the red-rock canyons of Utah to the amazing northwest coast, all across the Rockies, the expansive cornfields of the midwest, the Great Lakes Region. New England and the northeast coast in fall! Forget about it! We were constantly blown away by the diversity and interesting terrain. 
• My but they drive fast in Montana. At one point we were passed on the interstate by a boat [on trailer] going about 20 mph faster than we were.  I admit to being a bit of a wimp when pulling the trailer.  Our F-150 has the power to pull a 26 ft trailer but gets muscled around a bit when the wind blows so we keep it to a sedate 62 mph, 
• We are enjoying the trip but sometimes feel like we need to be doing something new and different every day.  It's been like this since April and is getting a bit exhausting.  That said, we tend to be ready to move on to the next place after about 3-4 days.  We [I] are trying to relax a bit and just realize that wherever we are is 'home' and doing nothing is just fine.
• With all the issues that come up keeping an RV working for the long haul I am learning to face each challenge calmly and patiently...just kidding.  Things going wrong still piss me off and I guess that will never change.
• We've decided that people reach terminal niceness somewhere on the rural Minnesota-Wisconsin border.  With all the divisiveness in the country today it is a bit easy to pick 'sides' and think the 'other side' is evil.  There are a lot of very nice people everywhere [and, yes, a few real assholes too] but the nice ones have varied ideologies and beliefs. Let's give each other a break.
• There sure is a lot of corn in this country.  Holy Crap! What do they do with it all?
• We are seeing quite a few roundabouts at road intersections.  I like the ones that aren't too busy as they seem to keep things moving [Kelly says I like them cos' I don't stop at stop signs anyway...some truth to that] but when they get too busy they are a bit of a cluster.  Especially towing a trailer.
• We've grown to dislike 'tourist towns'.  There are always too many people, too little parking, too many stores selling stuff we don't want [and can't afford] and Sub-par $60 lunches [Really!]
• Trailer living aint so bad.  True, there is not much space, you're taking showers in questionable campground shower enclosures with no room to put your socks on without getting them wet, you are always looking for the next space to camp [this can be challenging] but you get used to it and it is kinda cozy.  We find that, although it is nice to have a break from trailer living, we are glad to get back in our trailer after a few days.
• We all have much more than we need to live.  Kelly and I noticed this even more on our cross-country bike trip but we are seeing it again.  Unfortunately, I'm sure we'll forget it a short while after we return.
• I'm a shitty fisherman and have now not caught fish in more places than I can remember across the country.  Must be some kind of record.
• Don't bring your dog on a trip like this.  We love Kasha but she keeps us from doing many things we would have loved to do.
• It often helps to find camping places on-line but call them to make the reservation.  When it looks like places are full-up you can often call and find cancellations.

We are not sure what the second half of this trip will be like as we are coming into winter and will have to find warmer weather for the duration.  I dunno...the Carolina's?, Florida Keys? Texas?  Stay tuned and we'll find out.

Cape Cod and Beyond

 After enjoying our, nearly, monthlong stay in Wisconsin we made a mad dash across the 'flyover states' [so called because planes fly over these states to get somewhere else] to stay for a time with our nephew, Jeff and his dog Dusky. Jeff is a marine biologist living on Cape Cod. Luckily, Kasha and Dusky got along quite well and were buddies for the week. Kelly was scheduled to fly out of Boston to attend the wedding of another nephew, Chase, who is getting married back in Colorado.  Best of luck to the new couple.  The trip from Wisconsin to Massachusetts was a bit of a blur with long travel days and short evenings.  After a long day ending in Schenectady, NY we tried to set up camp at a casino where, we had heard, you could camp for free.  The casino ended up being in downtown Schenectady and we were coming in during rush hour.  Poor planning on our part.  After white-knuckling the truck and trailer through downtown traffic, where many Schenectadyans were kind enough to point us in the proper direction with their middle fingers, we finally found the casino only to find a tight and very crowded parking lot with no sign of RV camping in sight.  We made as quick an exit as we could and finally found a camp spot at a very nice campground along the Mohawk River.  The rest of the drive was long but pretty pleasant driving.  The leaves are already changing color in western Mass. and [avoiding highways] we travelled through many scenic little towns, all with the required big white church and cozy general store.  It was really quite pleasant.

While Kelly was off to the wedding in CO I spent the week in Jeff's driveway [in the trailer] and caught up on work and chores.  Jeff spends a lot of his summer on the ocean and has access to a constant supply of fresh fish.  We enjoyed some of the best seafood you will get anywhere, all cooked to perfection on his backyard grill.  I got to get a good ride of about 20 miles on the Cape Cod Rail Trail, another very nice Rails-to-Trails project.  I would have liked to explore the entire trail which goes almost all the way to the tip of the Cape but time did not allow.  I'm getting spoiled by all these rail trails which don't have much in the way of hills.  When I get back to CO I'm going to need an e-bike to keep up.

After Kelly's return we took a few days to explore the White Mountains in New Hampshire.  We stayed at a classic New England inn called the Wayside Inn in Bethlehem, NH.  The weather continued to be perfect indian summer with clear warm days and cool nights.  We spent the few days we had checking out the local small towns.  The leaves were just starting to change color and the local mountains were beautiful.  I hadn't been to this part of NH in many years and Kelly had never been here.  We just loved touring through these picture-perfect towns and mountain scenes.

Returning to our trailer on the Cape we enjoyed a weekend with some family who were gathering at Jeff's place.  His newly engaged sister, Rynn, and her intended, Alex, came out from Colorado.  Jeff's folks drove up from NJ and Jeff's cousins from Florida were also there.  I hadn't seen them since they were young kids.  A good friend of Rynn's was able to drive up with the NJ folks and surprise Rynn as well.  It was all pretty coincidental that we were all in the same place and time and it was great to catch up with all.  Kelly and I also took a day to check out Provincetown which sits at the very tip of Cape Cod.  Although being very touristy, P-town, as it is known, has a certain rough-edged charm to it with some very funky-looking bars we would have loved to investigate if we didn't have a longish ride back. Just outside of town, on Hwy 6, Kelly noticed a sign saying something about Bishop, CA where she grew up.  We flipped a U to check it out and found that the sign noted the end to Hwy 6 which starts in Bishop.  Very cool!  We wanted to check out the beach on the way back and give Kasha some exercise so we stopped off on a public beach on the Atlantic side of the cape where Kasha was able to chase some sticks in the surf.  She also took off swimming after some 800 lb gray seals who were floating by...a bad idea on many levels as these waters are frequented by great white sharks as well as the huge seals. Bad Dog!

Working our way up the coast, our next stop was in the town of Wells, Maine.  It was the first time in Maine for both Kelly and I.  Although I spent my first 30 years on the east coast my travels had never gotten me this far north before.  Wells is a small coastal town a bit south of Portland and, like the rest of the Maine coast as we were to discover, is very scenic and has a nice laid-back feel to it.  We spent our days playing ball with Kasha on the fairly empty beaches and taking in some sun.  The weather continued its run of perfect days in the 70's and cool nights.

Wanting to see some of the other sea towns nearby we took time to do some exploring.  A bit south of Wells lies the town of Ogunquit so we headed down for the day to see what there was to see.  I had read about a walk along the coast called the Marginal Way.  The name had me intrigued.  Should we expect 'marginal' conditions?  Was the trail incomplete?  I had to know. Coming into town, traffic was challenging with angled 4-way intersections offering no guidance on right-of-way or stopping...kind of a free-for-all.  Forget about parking.  I am, at my very core, opposed to paying to park my car but there was not a free parking spot to be had within 5-miles.  Believe me, I checked.  Finally, throwing down a twenty to leave my car for a few hours we hiked down to the start of the Marginal Way only to find that they don't allow dogs, leashed or not.  Back to the truck we went and exiled Kasha to the back seat while we explored the trail.  Well, we found the trail not to be marginal at all.  It was quite beautiful actually, winding it's way along the sea cliff with waves crashing on the rocks below. Classic Maine coast!  The town itself was charming, of course, but we have found that we are not fond of the tourist towns, They tend to be, invariably, overcrowded and full of stores that sell stuff.  Can you imagine!  That would be fine except we can't afford the stuff they have and have nowhere to put it if we could.  These towns also happen to be full of tourists.  We get enough of that at home.

While in the area we had to stop by Kennebunkport where the [George] Bush's have their summer home.  This was a mistake.  While charming to look at, it was another tourist spot full of snooty people, too much traffic and no parking.  I can't help wondering what these places are like in the height of tourist season.  Yikes! After getting evicted from a restaurant because Kasha greeted one of the workers  a tad enthusiastically, we made our exit from town and moved up the coast a bit. This led us to the town of Orchard Beach, They were pretty much shut down for the year but you could tell it must be pretty hopping during the summer proper.  There was a nice beach and boardwalk where we were able to get a burger and beer on an outside deck overlooking the ocean.  Dogs were welcome and it was very chill.  Our kind of place.

Heading north up the coast our next stop was Camden, ME [where the forest meets the sea], another lovely coastal town which we enjoyed very much.  I was able to get out for some very pleasant road riding on my bike along rolling hills with great scenery and little traffic. Very nice.  Our campground was situated right next to the water and there was a great little picnic area right on the water where you could see a lovely sunrise...if you were up early enough.

Our next stop will be near Acadia National Park which should be one of the high points of our trip so until next time...

Megunticook camp picnic area

The Marginal Way

End of the line

Acadia colors on the East Coast Greenway

Marginal way 

Camden hike view

Camden estuary

P-town ship in building. Don't know why

Wayside Inn creek

In the spirit

Hamming it up

Wisconsin

 Our travels next took us to central Wisconsin where we spent a bit of time in the tiny town of Wilton.  We set up camp in the pleasant little town park, a short walk from town.  These town parks are our favorite places to camp as they are generally spacious, quiet, clean and pretty.  This camp spot was no different and, although the park was next to a cornfield [as is everything in the state] the bugs weren't TOO bad. Kelly got bit up a little but we were lucky to have power for AC so we could hide out in the trailer as this was probably the most hot/humid weather we had seen so far.

 Our location was great, being located about mid-point on the Elroy-Sparta bike trail, another Rails-to-Trails path that runs through the farmlands for a distance of about 33 miles.  It was a great place to get a few longer rides in and handy for taking Kasha on walks. The trail passes through three tunnels along its route and, on our first ride, Kelly and I encountered two of them.  These tunnels are unlighted so I followed Kelly closely since she had the only light on her e-bike.  The second tunnel is fairly long [about 3/4 mile] and was a good turning around point so we only explored the first hundred yards or so of the cold, dripping entrance before deciding we'd had enough.

The town was less than exciting with one tavern available for dining out and the only food available at the local Dollar General store.  Canned Chef Boyardee ravioli is ok for the first three nights but loses its allure pretty rapidly.  Actually, they were surprisingly well stocked, and we managed quite well.

The upside of the limited eateries available was that the 2 restaurants close by were pretty darn good.  I had a burger at the Wilton tavern and it was probably the best burger I've had on the whole trip and the combo with fries was a whopping $8.  We ate here a few times on our stay and the food was consistently excellent and inexpensive.  There was another farm-to-table type restaurant not far away that is located in an old schoolhouse.  We tried this one out as well and were delighted to find that it, too was great food at the most reasonable prices we had seen so far.  When leaving, we chatted with the owner and ended up leaving with an armful of free produce from their garden. I'd been 'jonesing' for some good tomatoes the whole trip and these did not disappoint.

The next phase of our trip was scheduled to be spending some time with our friends from Shorewood, WI, Bob and Susan.  We started off by camping a few nights in a state campground near Belgium, WI. Located on the shore of Lk Michigan, this campsite was very private due to the dense vegetation surrounding each campsite.  This was a dry-camp [no power, sewer hookup or water] so we had a chance to give our solar system a test.  All worked great!  We found that we can dry camp about a week without needing any utility hookup if we are careful with water. 

 This is another location located near a Rails-to-Trails bike path, this one the Ozaukee Interurban trail.  Kelly and I had ridden this during our tour around Lk Michigan many years ago and we were able to do a few day rides on this trip.  We were pleased to see that the bakery in Oostburg was still in operation as they have the best dang apple fritters on the planet.  Good motivation for a ride.  Kasha was again in heaven, with lots of stick fetching on the nearby Lk MI beach and walks on the trails in the park.

After leaving the camp we were treated to a few nights of living indoors at Bob and Susan's house. Thanks, guys, for your generous hospitality ...it was much needed. We would be staying in the area almost 2 weeks so we rented a spot to leave the trailer in storage for the duration.  We had to pay for a month but it was only $100 [less than 3 nights camping] and we got to enjoy indoor plumbing, a real bed and some space for a while. Shorewood is a lovely suburb of Milwaukee and has a great blend of suburban living with urban attractions close by.  

We happened to be in Milwaukee for one of my favorite events, Milwaukee Irish Fest.  This is held in a huge venue right on the shores of the lake and features some great Irish music, dancing and cultural displays.  Bob had arranged for the four of us to serve beer for a few hours and we were entertained by the musicians playing in the tent right next to ours.

For our next WI adventure we decided to leave the RV in storage and motel it for a few days in Sturgeon Bay, WI.  Our motel was [suprise!] located near another Rails-to-Trails bike path, this time the Ahnapee Trail which starts in Sturgeon Bay and extends through WI farmlands and towns for about 48 miles. We got a few very nice miles in with the great weather continuing for us.

After returning to Shorewood, we then headed out for our stay at the lake house.  While the ladies took the cars up, Bob, Del and I rode the last 40 miles to the house on a combination of bike trail and rural roads.  This was some of the nicest bike riding I've done in years and made me realize how much I miss road riding on scenic, untraveled roads.  I enjoy my mountain and gravel rides in CO but miss road biking a bit. Especially, riding with a group in such perfect conditions.  In the morning, we loaded up the bikes for all and did another great ride on the bike trails of Peninsula State Park and finished the day with some beers and pizza at a local beer garden with some entertaining live music. The house was beautiful and the company even better.  Thanks to all our WI friends for making this a memorable trip.

Bob the yoga master

Lake Michigan shoreline

Lk Mi Sunrise

Lake Michigan shoreline

The Midwest and Great Lakes

 Having escaped S. Dakota we entered the 'real' midwest into Minnesota.  We had decided to make camp in the little town of Melrose which has the attraction of being about midway on the Lake Wobegon Bike trail which extends for about 65 miles and connects with the Central Lakes trail which runs for another 55 miles.  Before we could even make camp we got another blowout on a trailer tire...Really?!  Again, our luck was bad/good in that we had been driving through torrential downpours for much of the day and the tire decided to blow in the parking lot of the campground and in town a couple blocks from a tire store.

We enjoyed our time in MN with some nice bike rides and....well, the people are really nice.  Other than that, we just noted that there is really a lot of corn in this part of MN.  There is a lot of everything green out here and we have really been enjoying it after spending so much time in the arid west. The down side is, of course, that it is quite a bit more humid and rainy than at home and we are still trying to adjust to it.  The day we had come into town, a town just to the south had gotten 6-in. of rain in a couple hours.  Wow!  As noted, the people are all really nice...I took Kasha for a walk one evening and most people that passed us in cars gave us a wave hello.  Kelly and I decided that people reach terminal niceness somewhere on the rural border of Minnesota and Wisconsin.

After maxing out the fun meter in Melrose we headed for the north shore of Lake Superior.  Now that is some very scenic country up there.  The lake is beautiful, and the rocky shoreline is pretty spectacular.  Just the thought of that much clean, clear, fresh water is kind of mind-blowing.  We learned some interesting facts that drive home just how large these lakes are.  Taken together, the Great Lakes account for 95% of the surface area water in N. America and if spread evenly above the lower 48 states would create a lake 9.5 feet deep.  That's a lot of water, most of which comes from Canada.  No wonder some want to make it our 51st state...good luck with that.  We took a drive up to the lovely little harbor town of Grand Marias which is pretty much the last stop before the Canadian border and, as nice as it was, we couldn't help but try to picture it in mid-winter.  One of the locals told us that the previous winter the temperature had gotten down to 50 below zero.  We'll take a hard pass on that one.

The next stop on our Great Lakes tour was the Apostle Islands about an hour's drive east of Duluth, MN.  Another great spot.  We stayed in a state park campground near the town of Bayfield, WI, a harbor town on the south shore of Lk Superior.  There was a very nice, un-crowded swimming beach within walking distance of our camp which Kasha enjoyed very much.  Every day here had to include a rigorous hour-long stick fetching session at the lake.  The Apostle Islands themselves are situated within a fairly short boat ride of Bayfield so we splurged and took the grand tour boat ride which visited most of them.  The islands themselves are very remote and mostly uninhabited, but the real attraction is the sea caves carved into the rocky shoreline on some of them.  I won't try to describe them but take a look at the pictures below to get an idea.  The couple camped next to us [Dan and Sheri] had a power boat and took us out for a boat ride on their last night at camp.  This got us a wonderful, up-close view of the sea caves.  The told us a story [and had pictures to verify] of snorkeling at the sea caves and being warned of a very large buck that had fallen in and was trapped at the back of a deep chasm that cut into the rocky shoreline.  People were, somehow, able to herd it out into the open water where it could swim to a climbable section of shoreline and rescue itself.  They had pictures of the deer swimming in the lake with the snorkelers in the background.  Pretty wild.

From here we will be moving on the central Wisconsin where we can see more corn and green stuff. Until then...

Minnesota Corn

Really lotta corn

Apostle Islands Bay

Where the deer fell in

Gooseberry Falls, Lk Superior

Kasha Hamming it up

Lake Superior

Sea Caves

Tom's Burnt Down Tavern, Madeline Island, Bayview

The Black Hills

 As we inched our way eastward we continued to have tire-related adventures.  We were headed for the Black Hills of South Dakota where I had enjoyed a bike tour with my Pagosa bike touring buddies last year on the Mickelson Trail.  I liked the area very much and wanted Kelly to see it so we thought we would spend a few days exploring.  For those of you unfamiliar with the western states, there is a lot of 'nothing' between the small towns dotting the landscape and [horror!] not much cell phone coverage in between those towns.  You don't want to be caught in the high prairie without a spare tire or you could end up going 'old school' ie: hitch hiking to the next town for rescue.  So, we considered ourselves very lucky when we found we had another soft tire on the trailer and happened to be across the street from a gas station in one of the few towns we had passed through that day.  After our last trailer blowout in Nevada we had picked up some tire pressure sensors so we could know when a problem is developing.  These are great as when a trailer tire is losing pressure [we have a dual axle on the trailer] the first sign that there is a problem is when you see tire parts flying through the air in the sideview mirror.  Anyway, we were able to change the tire and pressure up the rest of them at the gas station.  We still had no spare but it wasn't far to Casper, WY where we intended to spend a day and do some much needed chores [laundry, oil change etc.}.

I think the motto of Casper, WY should be 'Casper...it's nicer than you expect'. And it was.  We were holed up in an RV park which happened to be right on the Platte River which is very nice in this part of the world and not the 'too thin to plow, too thick to drink' Platte River as it is known farther east.  There was a very nice walk/bike trail running right next to camp which we enjoyed between chores.  That said, there is not much else to tell about Casper so I won't.

Chores done, we packed up early and were ready for a relatively quick run to our next stop in Custer, SD.  Not so fast Buckaroo.  We got about 10 miles out of town and saw we had another soft tire, this time on the truck. Really!  Now it's Sunday and we need a tire repair!  In Casper!  While I changed the tire [again...I'm getting pretty good at this now] Kelly found a Firestone dealer who happened to be open so we dropped the trailer at a closed truck weigh station and headed back to Casper where we found the tire was bad and we needed a new one.  Luckily, they had one in our size so we walked around downtown Casper while they did their thing.  Our tire luck has been a good news/bad news joke in that, while it would have been nice not to have any tire issues, they have all happened near towns and were fairly easily taken care of.  Thank you travel gods.  I'll sacrifice a hot dog to you at the next camp.

Having arrived in Custer, SD, we set up camp and set out exploring the Black Hills.  Our camp spot was conveniently located right near downtown Custer and directly on the aforementioned Mickelson bike trail.  We were able to get a few bike rides in and enjoy 'All' that the town of Custer has to offer, which is basically a bunch of tee-shirt shops and the other touristy stuff that seem to be the same everywhere. Their running joke here is 'Don't pet the fluffy cows' [Bison]  Har!

Kelly and I took a bike ride up the Mickelson trail to the top of the next pass where you can find the monument to Crazy Horse where they have been sculpting his likeness into the rock [like Mt Rushmore] since 1948!  Our thoughts were 'needs some work'.  The original artist has since died and his son has taken over the project.  Kelly suggested the kid was probably on his cell phone all day instead of getting at it with the old hammer and chisel like he ought to be.  Kids today!

We also must confess to doing some touristy things as we went to see Mt Rushmore and went to Bear Country wildlife park.  I had been to Mt Rushmore on a solo trip I did in the late 70's when there was, basically, a parking lot at the base and you stood there and said 'Yup, there it is. I thought it would be bigger.'  Now there is a major development with multi-level parking, huge stone entries and the ever-present concessions stands where you can purchase 'don't pet the fluffy cows' tee shirts [that joke never gets old] and the rubber tomahawks I would have loved when I was a kid.  While I am not thrilled with the whole Mt Rushmore thing I do find myself wondering  'how did they do that?' They had to do the carving up close but couldn't see the whole picture from their perspective.  Did they have Gutzon Borglum sitting in a tree a hundred yards away going 'No, the nose is too big.  Take another whack with the hammer.'  I just don't know.

We also went to Bear Country.  This is a wildlife park where you drive your car through various fenced-off enclosures and can view elk, deer [big treat...we have them in the yard at home], wolves, cougars, reindeer [so they claim...didn't see any] and bear roaming around outside your car.  I know it sounds schlocky but we actually enjoyed it.  Our favorite part was at the end where you get to walk around penned areas and look at smaller, less lethal, critters hanging out in their 'natural' habitat.  The best was the young bears who can be viewed tirelessly wrestling, climbing and engaging in other bear activities.  I know it sounds goofy but we really enjoyed it.

The whole Black Hills area is filled with touristy cabins, more RV parks than I've ever seen and billboards advertising all of it but, somehow, it comes off as kinda charming in a nostalgic, Americana kind of way.  And, the whole area has some of the most beautiful terrain we've seen anywhere on our trip with lush, green meadows and interesting rock outcroppings everywhere.  If you get the chance, I highly recommend a visit.

After Custer, we headed north to the town of Spearfish, SD.  This town is a gem! It's a smallish town [pop. 13,000] which is home to Black Hills State University.  We set up camp in the City Park which is very well maintained, very green, and has a lovely arm of Spearfish Creek running through it.  We were lucky enough to be here during the weekend of their annual Art Festival in the park and could walk to the festivities from our camp.  Spearfish has a very nice old-downtown area and some very good restaurants and a homemade ice cream store that I couldn't stay away from.  

Just down the road from Spearfish is the town of Sturgis, home of the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, where this little town of about 7000 people are visited by up to 1-million [that's what they expect this year] motorcycle riders for a week in August.  Kelly and I were luckily there before the event but, walking through downtown, it is hard to imagine the scene this must be.  All through the downtown area are huge, apparently hastily constructed, eating and drinking establishments which are, basically, roof structures sheltering open-air drinking spaces.  And talk about tee-shirt shops!  Competition must be fierce as they were practically giving them away.  We were looking for a sleeveless leather vest with a Harley Davidson emblem for our impending grandson but, alas, none were to be found. 

We were ready to leave S. Dakota and wondering 'Where should we head now?'  We had some plans to camp along the great Rails-to-trails bike paths that we had been on during our cross country bike trip in 2012 but not sure what else there was to entertain us while crossing the great plains.  A bit of research into Minnesota attractions turned up the following can't-miss attractions [I am not making this up].  We could stop by the Spam Museum, see the largest statue of the Jolly Green Giant, wonder in amazement at the World's Largest Ball of Twine or wander through the House of Balls.  Sign me up!  

No road trip across eastern S. Dakota is complete without stopping in at Wall Drug.  This attraction is a huge business in the town of Wall, SD in middle of the empty plains which exists for no apparent reason other than to be an un-apologetic tourist trap.  Wall Drug has been enticing thirsty travelers on the I-90 interstate with offers of 'FREE ICE WATER' since 1931.  The billboards advertising ' Full size dinosaur', ' An 11-ft Jackalope' and 'a 6-ft rabbit' start 40 or 50 miles from Wall in either direction.  We counted no less than 65 billboards as we made our approach from the west.

It should be noted that several states, apparently, make a boast of homing the largest ball of twine.  These states are all in the great plains.  Driving through the area, I'm guessing that there is not a whole lot else to do and endlessly wrapping twine in a ball is as entertaining as anything else.

Onward to the Great Plains!

George W. in profile. Interesting view

All the 'boys'

Sturgis Tee shirts...Classy!

Bear Country, SD

Wall Drug. A Must-see

Spearfish Creek

Coeur d'Alene and Montana

 After finishing the Bitteroot 300 bike tour, Kelly and I were able to enjoy a few days hanging out and exploring the Coeur d'Alene [CDA] area.  We really liked this town as it has a nice blend of outdoor activities and access to a very nice small city on beautiful Lake CDA. We were able to tie Kasha to a fencepost [just kidding...it was a traffic barrier] and get away for a great bike ride on the Centennial  bike trail which winds through the very nice CDA parks and along the lake.  The campground we stayed on was right on Lake CDA and pretty upscale for us. It even had a 'dog beach' although Kasha complained about a lack of available sticks to chase as the grounds were a bit too well kept.  Nothing is perfect.

Moving on from Idaho we continued east into our favorite scenery state of Montana. It's called Big-Sky country and for a reason.  We don't know why, but the sky does seem just huge out here.  We were camped in a small RV park and our site had a fantastic view of miles of green fields surrounded by the Montana mountains.  We were just outside Bozeman which has a charming downtown area with lots of restored, old brick buildings and interesting eateries and shops.  A bit bougie but not over the top.  While strolling down the main street we happened across the Bozeman branch of the Voormi store, a Pagosa outdoor clothing manufacturer.  We stopped in and chatted with one of the owners, the sister of Dustin English whom I worked with on Search and Rescue in Pagosa.  At our RV park we met a super couple who live outside Bozeman,  Scott and Allison were parked next to us and come down to the RV park to get away from the house and bring their daughter to the pool.  We exchanged contact info and would love to meet up with them again on future travels.

Again, I ponyed up for a non-resident fishing license with the same results as I've experienced this whole trip.  The Bozeman area boasts some of the most famous fly-fishing waters in the USA...the Madison, the Jefferson, the Gallatin, the Yellowstone and I SO wanted to catch a huge trout and send the picture out to fishing friends but, alas, my motives were not pure and I was pretty much skunked again. Catching only a small 'courtesy fish' at the start of the Missouri River.

Bozeman is a bit north of the west entrance to Yellowstone Park and, although I had sworn never to go there again after experiencing the crowds back in the EARLY 80's [for those who are math challenged, that is a long time ago] but Kelly had never been there so we decided to take a drive down to the park on the actual fourth of July.  Madness!  Well, I guess the travel gods were favoring us that day cos' Yellowstone Park was kinda empty.  For whatever reason, we cruised right up to the gate, got in for free with my Old-Guy-Park-Pass and did the whole Yellowstone thing.  We were even lucky enough to view a grizzly bear sow and cub.  Not lucky enough to see a foolish tourist get mauled but such is life.  In Yellowstone, you don't look for animals, you look for traffic jams caused by people viewing them.  As much as I dislike national parks because of the cars [I know we were guilty too], the people and the rules, I have to admit Yellowstone is some of the most spectacular scenery I have seen anywhere in the world.  Next 4th of July you should go.

Next on the route was the area around Jackson Hole, WY.  I had last been to Jackson around 1980 when I was moving to CO from NJ. At that time, Jackson was a quaint mountain town with some cool bars and a very laid-back vibe.  I stayed in a cheap motel in town and had some drinks at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, one of the few eateries in town, and caught fish in the Snake River just out of town without seeing a soul. Kelly and I were camped at a lake in the mountains outside of town but I wanted her to see Jackson so we went in for lunch.  It took us 20-min just to find a parking spot! Jackson 2025 has the crowds and vibe of Disneyland but without the charm! [Sorry family members but I hate Disney with a passion]  We couldn't get out of there soon enough.  Jackson aside, the view of the Tetons is as spectacular as ever with the mountains rising up thousands of feet above the valley floor.  Our campground was on Slide Lake which was naturally created when the whole mountain slid into the valley below and created a natural dam.  You can still see where the slide occurred.  This is grizzly bear country and, while the chances of encountering one are pretty slim, I was a bit nervous when Kasha and I took an evening hike up the mountain above camp and the shadows started getting long on our trail through thick aspen groves and meadows.  'Luckily' the only things that had me for dinner were the mosquitos who enjoyed a Bradley Buffet at my expense.  From here we will be leaving the Rockies and moving our way east to other adventures.  We sure have enjoyed the west but are looking forward to adventures in the plains and points east.

Bozeman camp sunset

Montana waterfall

Yellowstone Hot spring

Date night Bozeman

Paradise valley MT

Tetons from valley

More Tetons

The Bitteroot 300

 After escaping the gloom of the northwest we headed east across Washington.  It was a beautiful drive in an area we had never seen before.  Our route took us across the state north of Mt St Helens and the scenery was the closest thing I've seen in the US to the places I've skied in British Columbia.  Big green valleys surrounded by steep, tree covered mountains and beautiful rivers.  The elevation is not as much as I would have thought around here with the valleys only around 1500 ft and the passes around 4500.  We didn't spend much time exploring because I was trying to get to Coeur d'Alene [CDA], ID to meet up with my Pagosa friend Jim Hayes to do a bikepacking tour in the area.  While I was on the bike tour Kelly would be keeping the RV fires burning in a very nice RV park on Lake Coeur d'Alene.

I met up with Jim in the quaint little town of Wallace, ID, about an hour from CDA.  The bike route we took started on the trail of the CDA bike path and headed east to meet up with the NorPac trail.  Once we got to where the NorPac connected route finding became a bit challenging.  There was no signage whatsoever and we had no cell coverage to use phone map programs. We ended up going old-school and asking at a convenience store for directions.  As we headed in the direction described and were standing there scratching our heads a gal came along on a mountain bike so we flagged her down for directions.  It turns out she was the race leader in the Great American Wheel Race, a cross-the-US bike race that is following as many rails-to-trails and gravel roads as is possible.  Her name is Rhonda Wright and, last I checked, she was still in the lead.  She outdistanced us old codgers pretty quickly and we were on our own again.  The road was steep and pretty rough, requiring some pushing of our loaded bikes uphill but we soon got to some flatter sections and the riding was a nice 3% uphill grade. [Sidenote. Jim is 77 and is a beast for doing this stuff.  He'll probably be doing this after I have given up.]

After 2000 feet of rocky climbing we finally reached the top of Lookout Pass and enjoyed a long downhill run through the woods to the approach to the Hiawatha Trail.  This is probably the most popular tourist attraction in the area and there was still very little signage other than a small painted sign saying 'East Portal'.  The state of Idaho is clearly not going broke putting up signs.  We were dismayed to find that the approach to the start of the trail was 2 miles and a 500' climb.  Not what we were looking forward to at this point in the day.  The couple power bars we had for lunch had worn off long ago.

Well, I must say that the climb was worth it.  The Hiawatha trail starts off with a 1.6 mile, unlighted  tunnel.  Very chilly, very dark and kinda muddy.  Headlamps are mandatory.  The 17 miles of downhill that follows is nothing short of spectacular with 10 tunnels and 7 trestles, many of them several hundred feet above the terrain below.  The trail is well maintained and pretty smooth so the riding is easy.  We ended up being the last ones on the trail and when we got to the bottom everything was closed up and we had to climb under the barricade to get out.  We still had no cell coverage and had very little idea how far it was to any town so we just pointed the bikes downhill and hoped for the best.  We did have camp food and camping gear but were really hoping for some 'real' food as it had been a long day.  As the shadows got ever longer I spent some quality time fixing a flat tire...not what I was hoping for.  Good thing it was about the longest daylight day of the year.  Finally, the somewhat rough gravel road turned to pavement and we guessed we were nearing the town of Avery [population 14].  As we stopped and took a quick break I thought it would be a good idea to fall off my bike as I was stopping.  This turned out to be a good thing as a nice couple was coming by on a 4-wheeler and asked if I was ok.  I was fine as I have become quite practiced at falling off my bike over the years.  While chatting, Laurie said we could buy any supplies at the little town store where she worked.  When we arrived the owner, Jerry, was grilling some food for a few fishermen and was kind enough to put a couple more burgers on for us.  A burger and a beer = a great end to a great day. 53 miles and 2500 feet of climbing.

Day 2 found us riding the pavement most of the way down the St Joe river to the town of St Marie.  A very nice and pretty easy downhill run of 48 miles.  The St Joe River is very pretty and I would like to come back and fish it if I get the chance. We were able to find a motel room in St Maries and a pretty decent pasta dinner close by in town.

Day 3 started with a short shuttle to the east end of the Trail of the Coeur d'Alene, a 72 mile paved bike path which would lead us back to the start in Wallace.  The shuttle is highly recommended as the only road is very narrow, windy and has a lot of truck traffic.  It was $20 well spent.  The trail, itself, is a superb bike trail with very smooth pavement, great scenery and [best of all] mostly downhill,  I finally saw a moose, Yea!  It was pretty far away and it coulda been a cow but some locals on the trail said they had been seeing it all week...it counts.   Although our start was a bit late we made it another 40-some miles to a camp spot near the town of Cataldo where we were able to get a shower and some pretty good food at the only restaurant around.  We stuck around for karaoke but, as Jim wimped out and wouldn't sing On the Road Again with me, we opted for a small campfire and off to the tents.

The weather prediction for the final day was pretty bleak but we escaped the rain and just had to deal with some cool and cloudy weather for what Jim's guidebook said was a downhill run back to Wallace.  This was not even close to true as we climbed another 500 feet to finish up the ride, All in all a great trip.  Thanks Jim.

After getting shuttled by Kelly back to CDA we spent a few days there.  We were camped in a nice RV park right on the lake and within walking distance [about 3 miles] to downtown CDA.  This is a very nice small city with some beautiful parks, lots of bike trails and a lovely downtown area.  We spent the next few days walking, riding and exploring the town and enjoyed it very much.  

Bike trail bridge

JIm Hayes on Hiawatha trestle

Hiawatha trail view

Hiawatha trestle view

Hiawatha tunnel

The Great Northwest

 After leaving our camp in Oregon we headed to the Olympic Peninsula of Washington where we set up camp in a small RV park in the town of Hoquiam, WA on the Hoquiam River. We never did really figure out how to pronounce that name since each person we asked said it differently. No fancy amenities at this one but a nice shower and laundry. It's amazing how little it takes to be thankful for when you are on the road.  We had a great site right on the river where we enjoyed sitting on the bank watching the river go by...or would have if the wind ever stopped blowing, the sun had come out, and the temperature had risen out of the 50's.  It's the middle of June for god sakes!  I'm sorry but we have become hopelessly addicted to sunshine after our years spent in Colorado and California.

That given, the Pacific Northwest is one of the most beautiful places on the planet I have been to when the sun is out and the weather is nice.  The other 90% of the time it is not my cup of tea, weather wise, but we did enjoy exploring the area.  Hoquiam was a good jumping off spot to see some of the beautiful scenery the peninsula has to offer.  We day tripped up to Lake Quinault and did a really nice hike thru the Quinault rain forest which was amazing for the amount of life per square foot. The Olympic rainforests are the only temperate rainforests in N. America with the only others being in Japan.  [Note: don't quote me on this as I may have made it up]. I grew up in the dense forests of the east coast but this place makes the New Jersey woods look like the Mojave.  Every square inch is covered with some kind of life; huge trees, vines, bushes, moss, fungus.  It seems as if you laid down for a nap in there you would be devoured by plant life in hours.

Later in the day, we were able to spend a couple hours on one of the WA beaches.  We were lucky enough to hit it on a rare sunny afternoon with little wind.  Even with temperatures in the mid 50's it was quite nice.  Kasha loves chasing frisbee on the beach and running in the shallow surf. She had a great time and wore herself out to the point that she could hardly get back in the car.

We originally planned on spending a bit more time on the Olympic but I'm afraid the aforementioned weather really saps our will to live so we will be pulling up stakes a bit earlier than planned and heading for warmer climes.  Next stop will be in the Idaho panhandle where I plan to meet up with my friend, Jim Hayes, from Pagosa and joining him for a 180-mile bike tour while Kelly holds the fort in Coeur d'Alene, ID.

Quinault Rain Forest

Rain forest stream

Hoquiam River Camp

Kelly could have used this sign 25 years ago

To the big city

 The next leg of our trip saw us relocating to the Salem, OR area getting some quality time with Sarah, Steven and Ellie.  Ellie is just about the smartest, most athletic and darn near cutest 3 yr old on the planet.  We had a great visit with their lovely family and had lots of Ellie-time.  

Also, I was able to have a fortune in RV-power related equipment sent from Amazon to Sarah and Stevens house.  Shoulda been sent in a Brinks Truck, not UPS. Now I've got to try and get it installed and working.  Never give up!

While in the area, we were able to get over to Silver Falls State Park, an hour or so from Salem.  En route, we stopped at the cute little town of Silverton, OR.  You should go...it's cute.  The hike we did in the state park was very pretty, with some very large waterfalls and nicely kept trails.  This, like other state parks we have been in, are not very dog friendly, with all dogs [leashed or not] banned from quite a few areas.  I get it, but a pain for us.

This area, like many in Oregon, is very bike-friendly with lots of bike paths and some nice country riding past their very green pasture and little traffic.  There are a lot of bikies in OR and the drivers tend to be more bike-aware and generally nicer to bikers than in our hometown.  I have been enjoying the road biking very much on this trip and have been getting out a few times a week.

While here we were camped some of the time by the county fairgrounds.  A nice, if un-exciting spot in a  big parking lot but adjacent to some green pastures. Not a bad view if you look out the back.  We had to vacate the fairgrounds due to a flea market over the weekend so we decided to move to a 'REAL' park.  Space was a little tight [Happy Hour next to your neighbor's sewer hookup anyone?] but the amenities were something we are not used to...pool, dog park, dog washing station, free ice cream sundaes.  We were 'livin' in high cotton'.  But, alas, all things must pass so we rolled up the Yahtse board and headed north once again.

After leaving the Salem area [we miss you guys] we headed north to the little town Vernonica, OR, about an hour NW of Portland on the Nehalem River.  This is a very nice, small town and we have been camped in their town park which is set up for RV;s.  On our way here we had lunch with some friends we hadn't seen in years; Bill and Anita Bruce.  We know them from the old days in Etna, CA and it was great to be able to spend a few hours catching up.  They have a lovely home in Beaverton, OR with a yard that is straight outta Home and Garden. After setting up in our new location, Kelly headed back to Ukiah for granddaughter Danaya's 8th grade graduation.  Congratulations Danaya.  Well done and keep up the good work.  I will let Kelly tell you about that adventure on her Facebook page.

And, during Kelly's hiatus, I have been tending to camp here in Vernonica without adult-supervision.  I filled my time enjoying riding on the Banks-Vernonia state trail.  A very nicely paved bike and pedestrian trail that extends for over 20-miles along the old railroad grade between the two named towns.  I love these rails-to-trails routes for cycling as there is no vehicular traffic to worry about and the grade is never steep as these trails follow the old railroad lines.  I think the maximum grade is 3%. Not too bad.  This trail is one of the nicest I've been on with great scenery through the lush northwest forest and a bunch of old railroad trestle crossings.  The park where we camped is at the hub between the Banks-Vernonia trail and the Crown-Zellenbach trail which runs northeast to the Columbia River Basin.  I thought it would be similar to the other but, NO,  the CZ trail starts at the trail head with a 15% climb for the first half mile. [non-biker note...that's STEEP] I'm afraid I had to walk that one.  The trail then turns to a loose rock surface [again, sucky for riding].  After, climbing some more hills I came across some local folks out for an MTB ride.  They said the road ahead was washboarded and steep with more loose rock.  I turned around.

I know you're all dying to know about my battle with the RV power.  Hey, it's only been going on since Moab on April 2 and we are now well into June.  I think I've finally got it.  The lithium batteries are working and charging off the solar panels and we are now carrying a small generator for cloudy spells. I'm not getting cocky...you know how these things go.

Grandaughter Ellie 

Sarah and Ellie

Vernonia Park Campground

Banks-Vernonia bike trail

BV bike trail, Buxton trestle

Danaya the granddaughter graduate

Granddaughter Reigan

Kelly and her crew in Ukiah