Home

After 30 days on the road, we made it back home.  Looks like the work piled up while we were gone. The grass is long (over 4.6" of rain in the rain gauge), the weeds are tall, and all the flower beds need composed and cleaned up.  Other than that, but at least one lighting storm killed our router, internet modem, and ups; things were as we left them.  The Moose is 4500 miles older and the Squirrel about 3,000 miles (plus the 4500 pulled behind the Moose). A good trip overall.

Mark Twain Boyhood Home

This morning we left the Missouri River and trudged eastward on SR 36. It is now 200 miles of four lane across Missouri. We passed through country side closely resembling Ohio in landscape and town names. J.C. Penney, Pershing, and Walt Disney were all from this area. This afternoon we stopped on the west bank of the Mississippi at Hannibal, Missouri (Tomorrow we start back across Illinois). The Twain Museum and Hannibal is interesting although we prefer scenery to pictures and word to read. The museum also has 15 Norman Rockwell originals depicting Mark Twain scenes and a special Thomas Benton gallery is currently displayed.

Glore Museum

We are overnighting in St. Joseph, Missouri. Several years ago I learned of the Glore Museum in this town. Actually it was better known as State Lunatic Asylum 2. This is a VERY different museum and it's displays, along with Indian, and civil war displays made a museum worth visiting. Note that much of what they have is thought provoking and insensitive and visits the dark side of humanity. I would suggest a little web surfing if interested. Stomach contents from a patient are shown below.

Nebraskan RV

Git-r-done

Scotts Bluff NM & Chimney Rock NHS

Our final part of the day took us to Scotts Bluff NM and then on to a camp site within one mile of Chimney Rock HS. These cliffs are on the Oregon Trail, running along the North Platte River. The pony express also ran thru here for 18 months. Our campground tonight is completely empty. We are the only rig and the there are no lights (something we are use to at home). We have decided not to trade the Moose for a Murphy wagon so the evening should be comfortable.

Global Change

Twenty years ago when out west my memory recalls clear sky and 100 mile visibility. This trip it seems very hazy in the distance and I believe 30 miles is the limit. Per the web, CO2 emissions are the lowest they have been in years and you never see smoke billowing into the sky. The coal fired electric plant at Thunder Basin (Gillette,Wy) looked like zero emissions. My theory is that China, SE Asia, and India is dumping massive amounts of pollution into the atmosphere and that until that stops our problem will continue and accelerate.

Agate Springs Ranch

James Cook was an early rancher here and befriended the Sioux and Cheyenne.  Part of his collection is displayed at Agate Fossil NM. One of the unique items was the whetstone Chief Crazy Horse had in his possession when killed by horse soldiers.

Agate Fossil NM

Today we chose to travel south out of the Black Hills versus shooting east across South Dakota. This gave us several hundred miles on Nebraska two lane. There is lots of rolling prairie and rocks in western Nebraska.  Agate, as expected, was a visitor center with several long hot trails.  Eastern colleges and the government have removed most of the visible 90 million year old fossils. One unique feature were fossiled beaver dens which looked like a corkscrew.

Mt. Rushmore

Now your probably saying I am outside the box on my Rushmore interpretation so take a look at this from a slightly different vantage point and see what you think. Admission $11 (your annual pass won't work here).

Mt. Rushmore NP

Oh boy, here we go:

Considering some of the "art" I have seen , I have to admit that Borglum was very talented and that the sculptured monument is "a work of art". Now the other side, If the flag wavers want to pat themselves on the back and build pagan idols to praise themselves more power to them ;BUT; they should do it in Little Rome (DC), not South Dakota and they should pay for it themselves, not off the back of the working class. That said, Rushmore is nothing more than graffiti  on a horrendous scale. If this type of action prevails, future generations may see Obama or Romney when they look up to the moon at night.

The Black Hills

This is an extremely picturesque area of granite, pine, green grass covering 1900 sq. miles.  Using the Pope's methods, the government called in the military to slaughter all native land owners. This allowed the big money in the east to send miners to the area for materialistic gain. After that was more or less finished, the indian agents who had successfully finished their job of killing any missed indians proceeded to turn the area into a tourist trap for future generations.  If you stay in the southern part of the park you will enjoy the scenic beauty of the area. Rapid City, not so much so, is just a tourist profit center. Note: South Dakota State Park does charge $15/car entry to Custer State Park. Also the pine beetle is at work and will very likely diminish the beauty of the area very shortly.

Jewel Cave NP

This park is a must see if you like caves. While tourist accessible areas are limited this is a large cave consisting of over 160 miles underground. It has some of the best and varied formations found underground. I rate it better than Mammoth and equal to Carlsbad. Nailhead, popcorn, stalactites, stalagmites, boxwork,frostwork, ribbons, curtains, and soda straws are all present.

Wind Cave NP

Today was morning travel to a new RV park 100 mile down the road and then an afternoon at Custer State Park and Wind Cave NP. Saw lots of buffalo, pronghorn, burros, and pine trees. Custer is a nice park. Took the hour tour at Wind Cave and saw their specialty boxwork honeycomb. The east wind picked up today so it was windy, cloudy, and 72F. If you want a nice RV park outside Custer and away from the Rapid City tourist traps, go to Hermosa (Heartland RV Park).

South Dakota State Parks

It seems I have always had issues with the Rapid City area.  Twenty-five years ago I visited and left less than pleased. So far they are right on course and I can hardly wait to see the next two days. We did stop at Wall Drug, a unique part of Americana, and probably the biggest tourist trap in the US. Also stopped at the South Dakota State Park Sod house at the Badlands where they have a tourist trap and try to charge $7/head to see a sod house. I tell you, these people are the crookedest jerks I've seen (not counting Washington DC) and are all likely decendants of US Indian Agents. Here is a sod house and you and I don't need to pay $7 to see it.

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

Back in the 60's when the US government was actively trying to provoke Russia into a world war, they placed hundreds of missiles in underground silos across the US (500 of these are still active). Each missile contained a 1.2 megaton warhead. The NPS decided to turn one of the obsolete silos into a historical site. This is where the problem begins; The "offical site" at I90 exit 131 is a two room plywood shack with a extremely poor 5 minute video.  If you want to see a silo, you need to drive 15 miles west to look down in a plexiglass covered concrete hole.  If you want to see the defunct "Launch Control Facility " you need to arrive early in the morning to get a ticket. Now this is high tech stuff with retired military NPS rangers (who apparently have to limit tours because they can not repeatedly climb 60' stairs more than once or twice a day). Lucky they are not "working" at a lighthouse. Any way, after visiting over 1/4 of the NPS parks, memorials, & historical sites; I can truely say this site is FUBAR (in military terms) and is the poorest managed NPS site in the US that we have (not) seen to date.

Badland NP

Bad as usual, this parks major claim to fame is that it is the first true western look you find as you travel west.  If you like bentonite quarries, this is the place to be. The sad note is that it erodes about inch a year and will eventually disappear unless the government spends trillions of $ to cover the entire area with a roof.

Devils Tower National Monument

Today was technically a travel day. Billings to Sundance, Wy took 5 hours (300 miles). But we passed on Custer's Last Mistake (definitely a great stop if you have not been there as standing on the hillside you can vividly feel his last thought -"Oh S---, I'm not getting out of this one!" We trudged thru Sheridan, Buffalo, thru the natural gas and coal fields of Gillette (Boy this town has grown since the 80's), and on to Sundance where we stopped for overnight. However, being only 3PM we drove another 60 miles by Squirrel to see Devil's Tower. This is one neat volcano core and the 1.25 mile path around the tower is great. No wonder it was the first National Monument (1906).

Billings Montana

The Milky Way was great in Emigrant, Montana and the Perseid was okay at 23 meteors in 1/2  hour. Drove the two hours to Billings today which gave us a free afternoon to visit the Yellowstone Art Museum, Pictograph Caves State Park, and Pompeys Pillar National Monument. All three had their high points but viewing W. Clark's 206 year old name carved on Pompeys Pillar was probably the best.

Yellowstone3

Today was on and off rain in Yellowstone, tomorrow may need to switch to long pants.  Hope it clears up for the Perseid Saturday night. In the meantime we like boiling mud.

Yellowstone 2

After geysers yesterday, we hit the east side of the park , Yellowstone Canyon.  We also were up to 8800' so we could see the caldera rim clearly. When this puppy blew 630,000 years ago it must have been quite an event. Finished the day with a country four piece band at the campground, a fine Thai dinner at Lighthouse Restaurant, and an evening thunderstorm. That's okay, we were done for the day and the Moose needed a bath. The wax job in June is long gone after 3,000 mile plus.

Yellowstone

We have moved to Yellowstone. Today was the primary geyser area at Old Faithful. The weather was too excellent, we are not getting any cloudy sunset pics. Guess we will have to settle for algae and bacteria in the hot pools.

Logon Pass GNP

Out of the seven days at Glacier, we had one cloudy day so we had to go to the pass.

Two Medicine

It cooled down to the low 60s today and was overcast so we went to Two Medicine.  Lots of flowers and the waterfalls were great. Also got to see several moose and a very spry 80 year old professor from New Hampshire.

Many Glacier GNP

We spent a week exploring Glacier. By day seven we were hiked out and spent our last afternoon sitting in the woods at Swift Current Lake. The first sketch is Karen's and took 2.5 hrs. The photo is Keith's and took less than a second.

Avalanche Lake

Today was a drive across the top of Glacier (twice) and a four mile hike to Avalanche Lake.  A beautiful day (49-75F).  The rangers were busy at Avalanche looking for a hiker last seen five days ago. He was alone and there is a bear and cat in the area. Due to construction, I was able to drive from Logan Pass to the loop this morning with zero traffic. We enjoyed 10mph and several stops with no people. The 1,000' drop was magificent.

Glacier National

It's the end of July so alot of snow has melted. We still needed to traverse several hundred feet of it on the Logan Pass trail to Hidden Lake overlook. The bear grass is in full bloom. In the morning it was 58F but quickly rose to 89F.

St. Mary Montana

After watching the elevation rise from 2600' to 3800' over 200 miles, we arrived in Browning at the edge of the prairie. Then over 25 mile of foothills rising to 6,000' we finally dropped back down to St. Mary at 4500'. Nothing quite like driving the plains for 2400 mile and then coming up against two mile high mountains! Tomorrow the Squirrel goes up the pass. Seven days here should be great.

Rt 2 and the BNSF

At Wolf Point we caught infamous vacationer US 2 which runs east/west  across the US just south of the Canadian border.  It is flat and uneventful but does run next to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad.  The rail is the most active track I've seen for a while. Looked like trains every 1/2-1 hour with lots of Chinese containers, UPS trailers, and tankers.  All this product must be coming from Seattle. Also got to see the AMTRAK Empire Builder headed east. Tomorrow we finish the last 200 mile leg of our eight day run to Glacier National Park.

Eastern Big Sky Byway (Rt. 200S & 13)

After leaving Medora, S.D.  we needed to get up to Rt 2 so we got off the interstate and headed north.  Rt. 13 is a good two lane but the road methodically rises and falls several hundred feet every three miles for about 60 miles. Beautiful country, lots of Montana sky, and lots of wheat ( but very little traffic).

Reiman Botanical Garden

Also, passing through Ames, Iowa we would recommend stopping at Iowa State University. You can park in stadium parking right next to the largest, and nicest, garden complex in Iowa.  The butterfly pavilion operates year round and was outstanding.  They also had a Lego exhibit occurring throughout the park. My pick was the life size buffy and calf.

Hoover Presidential Museum

Forgot to mention our stop at Hoover's birthplace in West Branch, Iowa.  It's a nice little rural Iowa town. We walked the streets the park service has taken over but didn't go in the museum. It made a cool morning stop before the temperature skyrocketed to 95.

Teddy Roosevelt National Park

Spent today at TRNP.  More of  a badlands than a grasslands but a pleasant park. Had a buffy within 5' of the squirrel. After we passed he walked the centerline for several hundred feet.

Teddy had a cattle ranch in Medora, S. Dakota around 1883. This was his first cabin (Maltese Cross brand).

Mississippi River

Have now moved on to an over night in Monticello, Minnesota.  Just northwest of St. Paul, our site overlooked the river.  West central Minnesota looks like a nice place to live (in the summer).

Winnebago

Squirrel wanted to see where Moose was born so we stopped in Forest City, Iowa and took the 3 hour tour.  Quite a place but the service department wanted $1600 for a replacement side window which we can get for $400 in the aftermarket. Below is the first motorhome made in 1967 for $4,000. Now they cost a little more. It was a pretty nice rig for 45 years ago.

Rock Island Arsenal

Always knew about Rock Island but had never made it there (one more notch on the bucket list).  This place had the largest gun collection I've ever seen, from captured indian rifles, to German/Jap/US grenades, to Iraqi RPGs plus alot of weapons I had never seen before. I got the impression they have a billion dollar budget supplying products to the military without going through offical GSA channels.

Back on the road

After 1-1/2 years we will try starting up the blog again.  This trip we are headed to Montana. To avoid Chicago traffic we took the RT 24 direction through central Ohio, Indiana, & Illinois ending up in Davenport Iowa. Davenport has a very nice botanical garden (rather dry this year), and is home to John Deere and Rock Island Arsenal.

Below is John Deere's 35' combine, cann't wait for the neighbors to put this one on our 16' road.