Sept 11 – 14,  2011   First Bison,  spotted just inside Buffalo Bill State Park HWY 14/16/20 Cody Wyoming.

Entering Yellowstone on HWY 14, east entrance. We missed a couple of “steam pots” because we didn’t know what they were. Got VERY excited when we saw our “first” herd of buffalo.  We got “caught” in our first “tourist trap” campground ($32) Fishing Bridge Campground in the park. . Sandwiched in, worse than parking at Walmart.  The picture showed it like it was on Yellowstone Lake. No picnic table, no fire pit, no grass, just a piece of pavement. Fortunately we’re only here one night. We do have water and sewer. No electricity “it;s under construction”.  Maybe I’ll see a bear and it’ll make it better.  David said “Don’t forget to write, we saw an Eagle today.”

Sept 12/13, 2011 I don’t know where to begin, I am in awe.  Did we see Bison? One bison, a herd in a pasture grazing, one walking down our bike path!  We have seen more geological wonders than I ever knew existed. The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, The Falls, Geysers, Hot Springs … simply amazing.  We have hiked until we can’t feel our legs anymore.  Our bike ride was cut short by a  territorial bison, but everything is so exciting and fun. I don’t have any favorites. I love EVERYTHING I’m seeing. There are no words or pictures that can do justice in describing this place.  David and I question so many things. Is there any place better than this? What did the indians or early settlers make of all this? A lot of what we saw was formed after the earthquake in 1959.  It’s a little scary how the earth is ever changing.”

Sept 14, 2011   We finish off our last possible “booklet” The West Thumb.  The park guide is in 7 sections or booklets.  We are not able to do 2 because of elevation, time and a little poor planning. On a whole we thought we did excellent for first timers.  We did get to see an elk crossing the road. I was so excited that my only proof is a photo of the rear section of the elk going into the woods.

This is a big check mark off the bucket list.  Would we come back? In a heartbeat.  There is sooo much more to see.

Sept

Sept 10 – 11,  2011   Middle Fork Campground in the Big Horn National Forest on HWY 16, Wyoming Elevation 7,377 only 9 campsites. We are camped beside a beautiful stream. I’m hoping to see a bear or a moose. We go for a walk, not a hike in the campground. If you”re a real hiker you’d never leave this part of the country.   $7.50 Senior

Sept 11, 2011 No Bears!  Drats!  We head out early (7:00 a.m.) on HWY 16 . Are we in for treats. First, lots of deer, then elevation, phew! 9,692 tops! Then the views.  This portion of the Highway is called the Cloud Peak Skyway. David said “This beats Snowbird!” What is a word better than breathtaking? Every person in the world should have the opportunity to see something this beautiful at least once.    This is way beyond my dreams and expectations.

Sept 9 – 10, 2011  Mount Rushmore Elevation 5,241

Sad to leave The Badlands, but we left with fabulous views along HWY 240. Mount Rushmore was more overwhelming in it’s historical,   spiritual and controversial meaning than just the visual.  The artistic value held true to the foundation of the meaning “we the people”.  Although the creator was an artist, the actual builders were everyday people.  There is just so much more depth to the sculpture than just a formation on a mountain. I LOVED it!   We stayed at a great campground Rafter J Bar Ranch, adjacent to the 109 mile George S. Mickelson bike trail.  Very nice hot tub.

Sept 10, 2011  We biked 9 miles of the 109 mile bike trail, leaving the other 100 for the next time, or younger adventurers.

We’re leaving the Black Hills of South Dakota and headed for Wyoming and Yellowstone. The way the scenery changes from mountains to grasslands to plains is amazing. We are thoroughly enjoying the scenery. The hours on the road really are flying by.

Sept 7 – 8, 2011

Once we got into South Dakota on I 90 my greatest concern was do we have enough gas. Talk about God”s Country. We saw a Windmill making factory. I like to think they’ll be an important energy of the future.

THE BADLANDS

Wow! Wow! Wow! I had no concept. We’ve been to the Grand Canyon and we both agree this experience was so much more enjoyable, because we were able to camp in the middle of it all and camp the trails right from our site. Driving through the canyons was phenomenal. I aquired a fear for heights and had to get over it quickly or miss out on the amazing views.

The Notch Trail should be called the Ledge Trail. You climb a 56 log rung ladder and walk a 1/2 – 3/4 mile ledge skirting a cliff. David and I made it up the ladder and about 1/4 mile of ledge.  When the ledge was only about 3 feet wide in front of us we decided to back track.  This was too early in the trip to fall off a cliff. We hiked one trail more beautiful than the next until our legs were ready to fall off.  I lost count of how many overlooks we viewed, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! The Badlands are right up there with the Grand Canyon, Sequoia National Park and Yosemite for me. Ten stars in my book. The campground was escellent. Electric only, first come first serve, no showers, flush toilets, poop dum and fresh water. $14 senior

August 30, 2011 – September 7, 2011.    Leaving “Hurricane or Tropical Storm Irene”
What a way to start our first cross country trip and in “Old Bessie” to boot!. For those of you that don’t know, Old Bessie is our 20 year old motor home. David purchased Old Bessie for me to go camping with the kids. By now I shouldn’t be surprised that David and I would be doing something crazy like taking her cross country, but here we go again. David has her title in his pocket and if she poops out along the way, que sera, sera. We’ll be on a plane headed home and Old Bessie will have found her final resting place.
August 30, 2011 9:41 a.m. We leave a devastated Connecticut headed west.
First challenge finding a gas station that is open.
I691 west exit 4, Hubbard Park Elevation 411 feet.
First destination “Indy” (NHRA Drag Racing Nationals) approximately 850 miles, our favorite Honeymoon destination, celebrating #4.
I84 west Exit 26 Pit stop and gas. Old Bessie has a 25 gallon gas tank. We’ll be stopping a LOT.
The Promised Land Fuel Stop we would have checked out the Promised Land State Park had we not sat in “accident” traffic for 1 1/2 hours in Waterbury,Ct. I did do 10 laps around the gas pumps.
Gas again I80 west exit 173 Flying J
First night stop I 80 west exit 111 Rustic Camping
S.B. Elliot State Park
28 Fairview Rd
Penfield,PA 15849 – 9799
814-765-0630
www.visitPAparks.com
Eddy our campground host said check out parkerdamsp@state.a.us about 4 miles away, for not so rustic. S.B. is a pretty, very clean, nice stop over campground. Emily, Zach and DJ would like to ride bikes on the paved, flat, zig zaggy roads around the 25 or so sites. No showers, has flush toilets and a poop dump. Fees are $19 for PA residents, non residents add $2, seniors minus $4.50. We paid $11.50. Figure that one out! We let Eddy do the math.
Next Stop Indianapolis, Indiana
August 31 – Sept 5 Six days of drag racing!
Barb says “It’s kind of neat being able to enjoy 6 days in a row of fun and not have to travel anywhere. Like 6 concerts, 6 baseball games or 6 amusement parks.”
David says it’s his version of Disney World.
Sept 6 I 74 west
Through Indiana into Illinois, mostly farmland, corn and soybean. The driving is easy mostly flat. The neatest thing we saw, about 35 miles south of Peoria, were windmills. There were several hundred. It was a pretty windy day, 25 – 20 knots. They were the coolest things to watch.
I80 west exit 106
Des Moines West KOA
34308 L Avenue
Adel, IA 50003
515-834-2729 800-562-2181
The people here were ice. Pool was heated, but we didn”t get a chance to swim. Too much laundry!
Sept 7
We biked the Raccoon River Valley Trail in Adel, just 7 miles from the campground. It was GREAT! All paved. We started biking toward Des Moines and it was beautiful, but hilly. We turned around and went the other way, which was flatter. We were glad we did, we rode by the neatest Brick Factory. I wished they had offered tours.
On the road again headed to South Dakota. The scenery is beautiful. Sometimes you can see for miles in every direction. The farms can be so isolated. David said “What do you do if you need a loaf of bread?” I said “Bake It!” It’s a whole different perspective on how people live.
We crossed the Mississippi River in Iowa yesterday and crossed the Missouri River in South Dakota today.

Fall of 2010

I like going camping with the kids. Not that “anyone” ever said anything, but I know having your mother-in-law sleeping on the pull out in your camper isn’t the “cats meow”, but I’m always welcome. They like me 🙂
David is NOT a camper. To this day and forever he will tell you he does NOT like camping. David and I have NEVER had a campfire and probably never will. David’s description of a camper is someone that sits around a campfire toasting marshmallows. If you could toast potato chips David would probably be a camper, but he doesn’t like marshmallows.
David IS a vehicle-aholic and a shopaholic. So one day he says to me “If I buy you a camper, would you drive it? This way you could go with the kids and not have to stay in their camper.” Without hesitation, I answer “Of course”. Inside I’m thinking learning to drive an RV should be a “trip”!!!
David was on a mission. He loves to set a goal and then research, research, research. He figured out exactly what he wanted and how much he should pay. He only looked at two and then we met Old Bessie.
We drove up to New Hampshire to check her out. It was love at first sight. She was a 20 year old, 28 ft, class C with only 45,000 miles on her. She had a queen size bed in the back, bunk over the cab, table and couch that converted to beds. She slept eight, all the grand kids could camp with Gramma!! She had pink carpet, upholstery and curtains material was pink with big baby blue flowers.. She was made just for me.
Rita, a sweet little old lady that had lost her husband a few years back was selling her. Old Bessie had four new tires and maintenance records that went back twenty years. Rita’s was getting up there in age and her family had talked her into not driving Old Bessie anymore. Rita was tough on David negotiating the price and got close to her asking price. She sold us Old Bessie lock stock and barrel … Pots, pans, sleeping bags for the grands, a set of horseshoes, even a wooden God Bless Our Camper plaque.
When we got her home David went through her top to bottom. he replaced all her hoses, caulked her seams and even pulled up the pink carpet and put down a hard wood floor. I made new curtains and slip covers. Old Bessie was cute as a button and was going to be more fun than a barrel of monkeys!
David and I are avid drag racing fans and have traveled all over the country to different NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) National events. We spent our honeymoon in Indianapolis, Indiana at “The Big Go” Nationals. All the events have areas set aside for Campers. They are not campgrounds with beautiful facilities, they are usually some farmers fields, but they are walking distance to the track.
When Old Bessie was all prettied up and on the road, David says “Want to try taking her to the drags at Reading (Pennsylvania)?”
That’s where David fell in love with RV-ing. No more waiting in bumper to bumper traffic getting in and out of the track. No more flying, renting cars, eating track food or finding restaurants to eat at 9:00 at night. First thing in the morning when the sportsman start racing David is sitting out on a lawn chair, drinking his coffee and listening to the cars run and the announcer calling the stats. I get to stay in bed and listen 🙂 This is the way to enjoy the drags!
Then the adventures began. We started “traveling”. In 2011 we were planning on going back to Indy and David said “Let’s keep going west after Indy.” I say “sure” and we haven’t stopped “RV-ing” since. We retired Old Bessie after taking her cross country and have upgraded twice since. We mortgaged the farm last year and now travel in a 36 foot Tiffin with four slide outs. It’s like a small condo. You only live once, why not enjoy it 🙂