Mt. Rushmore

We all had a goods nights sleep again, it cooled off to about 65 and felt great. Today’s weather forecast is predicting to be around 90 degrees. This makes things tougher when you are camping trying to see exhibits and take care of two dogs. We decided to go to Mt. Rushmore early to avoid the heat and be able to leave the dogs in the car. I checked last night to see when they opened and you are not going to believe this but they open at 5AM problem solved! Since not everyone wakes up at 4AM like Jasper and myself, we decided to leave at 7 and get a jump on the day. On a funny side note when Joanne was in the bathroom a little girl asked her what she was doing and Joanne said she was putting on makeup. The girl asked if she had any more make up and said that if she did she might want to think about putting that too. Ha Ha I love it what a way to start your day!! We got there at 8 and were greeted with very few people and lots of cool air to walk around in. I really love walking the trail that goes to the base of Mt. Rushmore it gives you some really great views of the Monument. We stayed there till about 11 and then headed off to Crazy Horse. It was getting warmer by then so Lyn and I decided to stay back with the dogs so my Dad and Joanne could see the museum and monument. This monument is far from being done and was originally started by one of the men who worked on Mt. Rushmore. His family still works on it until this day. They told us that today was a blast day and they were planning on doing the blast at 1PM. We could see it from the parking lot. After much anticipation we saw a puff of smoke heard a boom and that was about it. After that we were on our way to the town of Custer. Once there we decided it was too hot to walk the dogs around town and headed back to camp. Luckily it was overcast and not as hot a it could have been. We had lunch and then went to the pool to cool off. At 5PM KOA had a wine tasting so we decided to go check it out. We had some of the sweetest wine we had ever had not my cup of tea so t speak but it was free.  After that Lyn fixed another great dinner and even fixed red white and blue puto to celebrate the 4^th of July. Our campground is at the top of a hill and we could see fireworks right from our picnic table. What a great way to end the day. Tomorrow we are headed for Cody Wyoming, which is the jumping off point to Yellowstone! Happy 4^th everyone!!!

KOA Campsite Rapid City SD

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Dad and Joanne at Mt. Rushmore!

Crazy Horse blast!

Thomas Jefferson Ice cream!

Noel gets her daily belly rub!

KOA wine tasting!

4th of July puto!

Headed to Rapid City

The sleeping was good again. It cooled off to about 61 degrees overnight. In the morning Jasper and I got up at 4 am and went for a walk. This was really early but our bodies are still adjusting to the two-hour time difference. We usually get up at 6 every morning in Greensboro so we were not really that far off our schedule. After our walk the sun started coming up over the peaks and was really something to see. Most campers were up and going by 6AM as it is hard to ignore the day is starting when the sun comes up. Our plan for the day was to drive through the rest of the Badlands and head to Rapid City with a quick stop at Wall Drug Store a famous landmark in this part of the USA. We fixed breakfast and then headed out of the park. It was a 30-mile scenic route, which included about 15 miles of gravel road. We saw bison, prairie dogs and even few antelope.  Once we got out of the park the city of Wall was just a few miles away. Finally a visit to Wall Drug store was in order. We left the dogs in the car and went to take a quick look. We had some ice cream and then my Dad and I decided to go back and get the dogs while Lyn and Joanne went shopping. Did I say shopping? This could be trouble. We have a budget of $100 dollars a day on this trip so shopping is usually avoided. My Dad and I found a bench to sit on the main street and enjoyed talking and watching all of the characters walking by, fully aware that we were the two characters on the bench. After about an hour Lyn and Joanne came back and much to my surprise the damage was minimal. Lyn purchased a $5 pair of sunglasses and that was it. Yea still on budget! Next we headed to a KOA campground in Rapid City. It was only about an hour away. After we set up camp we made our usual run to Wal-Mart and then hit the pool! It felt great as the temperature had risen to about 82 and we had very little shade in the campsite. We decided to go to dinner in Sturgis. It is home to one of the biggest bike rallies in the country. During the event people come from all over to hang out party and show off their motorcycles. I have always had it in the back of my mind that I would have liked to do that one-day. So today was my chance and instead of some big Hog making all kinds of noise, I ride in my Prius that actually makes little to no noise. Not exactly what I had dreamed of but these days that’s how I roll! The town was actually very quiet. We found a place to eat, had a good dinner and then went back to the campsite. Bedtime is usually 10PM and that was exactly what time it was so we went to bed. Tomorrow is Mt. Rushmore and maybe Crazy Horse. Should be a great way to spend the 4^th!

The road out of the Badlands.

Out on Rim loop. (Gravel roads)

Finally a picture of all of us! Wait where are the dogs?

Antelope!

Ice cream at Wall Drug.

Dinner at Sturgis.

The Badlands

Wow another great nights sleep!  The plan today is to hit the road by 8 am. No small feet for four people and two dogs. Anyway we pulled out about 8:30 and headed off to the badlands. It was chilly and overcast….it felt great. The badlands were only about 4 hours away so not a bad day of driving. Once we arrived we took the usual picture at the Badland sign and headed in. Joanne bought a senior citizen pass for $10. This pass lets her and anyone else in the car in to as many National Parks for free for the rest of her life! What a deal. The same pass would cost me $90 and only be good for a year. If you are going on a trip around the country be sure and bring a senior citizen with you they come in very handy! J When we got to the park we did not have Internet of course but I did have a weak cell signal. Luckily it was just enough to get a text from Luke saying that they just went “live “ with “the news’! This of course was very exciting to me because I have been waiting to get the green light. Now finally I could tell the world that Lyn and I are going to be Grandparents! That’s right Luke and Caroline are expecting our 1^st grandchild sometime in December! Woohoo!!!  When Luke first told us the news he asked us to pick “grandparent names for our self. Lyn will be called Lola . It is a term used in the Philippines for grandmother. After some soul searching I decided that I would be called Bobaloo. Now I know what your thinking with three sets of grandparents surely this name was taken by one of the other grandfathers. Much to my surprise it was not! I cannot really put into words how excited we are but lets just say bring her/him on Bobaloo is waiting! Ok back to the trip. We had no reservations but found a campsite and after setting up decided to take a nap before we went out exploring. It was pretty hot and after about an hour we decided to go take an up close and personal look at the Badlands. We toured three areas took pictures and headed back for dinner at our campsite. Lyn fixed chicken, potatoes and mixed vegetables.  We ended the evening with an outdoor program on the grasslands and hit the bed around 10. The time has changed two hours from when we first started our trip. Tomorrow we will tour more of the Badlands and then head on to Rapid City SD. Mount Rushmore is on the horizion and we are headed that way.

Signing off for now,

Bobaloo

Woohoo!!!!

Dad, Joanne and Noel!

Joanne preparing to help set up camp!

Dinner time!

Loving the cargo rack!

Lyn and Joanne!

Camp Jellystone

Wow another great nights sleep. The temperature dropped down to 59 and we all slept really well. We woke up to cloudy skies with a prediction of off and on showers through out the day. Might have to skip the pool but still a great day to relax and get a few things done.  After breakfast we walked the dogs and then planned our day. We decided to make a Wal-Mart / Costco run and maybe grab lunch out since it was raining at the time. We were in a hurry to get back to the campground because they were showing Yogi Bear cartoons in the Yogi theatre at 3:30 and I wanted Lyn to see them. When we left Costco I managed to back out and hit another car with new handy dandy cargo rack. This is something that I had been worried about because it sticks out three feet behind my car and it is easy to forget that it was back there. (Or at least easy for me.) I got out and noticed that it was a pretty newish Cadillac. Oh dang this could be trouble! The owner got out and was very nice. We both looked at it and could find no damage. We think the cargo rack must have hit her tire and not touched her actual car. Thank God for that. We finally made it back to camp and was able to catch the last cartoon! I will have to admit they were much funnier when I was a kid but oh well it least we could check it off the list. Lyn and Joanne went to wash clothes and I decided to go to a local grocery store to get ice and charcoal. When I got back I noticed that my dad’s car was moved and there was water everywhere. It was kind of like it had rained really hard but just in one 40 by 40 foot area. Well come to find out my Dad had run into the camp water faucet and knocked it completely off which caused the water to shoot out about 30 feet in the air. In other words he created a man made “Old Faithful” right there at Camp Yogi! He went down to tell the office and they came down and fixed it right away. They said it had happened before but no one ever admitted that they did it. After that we had a camp neighbor come over and admire the 1964 Tradewinds camper. The guy said that his wife saw my Dad getting out of it and said that guy and that camper are old enough to have been at Woodstock so he came over to find out the deal was and really seemed to like the camper even if it never made it to Woodstock. After that we cooked out over an open fire. We went to bed around 10.  I think for a “rest day” we had done enough! Tomorrow we are headed to the Badlands National Park. Exciting times for sure!!

Relaxing!

Lyn and Jasper!

Lyn and her favorite blanket!

Yogi Bear cartoons!

Joanne trying to get over her "down day"!

Headed to Sioux Falls, SD

What a difference a good nights sleep makes! We all woke up feeling great and somewhat ready for another long day on the road. Today we are going to Sioux Falls SD. It is about 6.5 hours away. We got started around 9 and once making it through the crazy morning traffic in Kansas City we had a nice open road. About half way there we stopped at Council Bluffs. The house that Joanne’s Mom grew up in was there and we were going to try to find it.  Luckily it was right off the highway. We were able to stop by and take a picture. The neighborhood had a lot of houses that were being renovated and Joanne’s Mom’s house was one of them. Pretty cool for Joanne to be able to see her Mom’s house.  Once we got back on the road we had about 3 more hours to go. We arrived at Jellystone Campground at around 4 and noticed one thing right away. The “Hot Lady” was no longer hot!! The temperature was only 79 with a prediction of a 61 degrees for a night time low. Built in air conditioning!!! Sweet!!! After a great dinner cooked by Lyn and a visit from Yogi Bear himself we went to bed around 10 PM. Pretty uneventful day with not too much to report however it just might have been exactly what we needed to leave the struggle bus behind. Tomorrow will be a relaxing day in camp Jellystone!!!

The house where Joanne's Mom grew up.

Lunch on the road!

The Taj Ma Tent!

Camp!

Dinner Time!!! Mmmmm Mmmm Good!!!

The man!!!!

Good night from Camp Jellystone!!!

St. Louis

Last night the temperature dropped down to about 72 and we all had a good nights sleep. We left the campground around 9AM and headed to Walmart. We finally hit the road around 10AM. The next stop was to have lunch at the St. Louis arch and meet a past coworker of mine Kelly there. We were running behind but luckily there was a time change so we would be given an hour back. Yea!!! On the way there it rained off and on and generally looked like bad weather was going to be happening when we got to St. Louis. Luckily when we got there it remained overcast but no rain. We met Kelly and had a picnic lunch and just got caught up in general. Kelly left Southern about 3 years ago so it was great to see her. Dad and Joanne tried to go to the arch but the line was too long so we decided to get back to the road. We still had over three more hours to go so we got back on the road.

Kelly and Lyn

We were all pretty tired when we finally got to the KOA Kansas City  East campground. Lyn started fixing a late dinner and the rest of us set up camp. Btw it was hot not just hot but hot and humid. If needed a reminder of how hot it was just ask Joanne she was ready to tell you this fact at any moment. We started referring to her as the hot lady!!! Ha Ha We were all kind of on the struggle bus! Organization and getting into a routine has been the hardest thing to get nailed down. We are a traveling caravan with thousands of pieces t keep up with and are not doing a very good job at the moment. About every 5 minutes we would here my Dad ask Joanne where an item was only to be told that he just had it in is hand earlier. This was always followed by my Dad saying "I know that! I am asking where it is now." Finally my Dad told me he was going to take a shower and try to come back with a better attitude!! Ha Ha! Well I am not sure if it worked but he did come back clean and much cooler then when he left Luckily the temperature dropped and we all slept great and felt much better this morning. Today it is off to South Dakota and Jellystone Campground!!!! 

"The Hot Lady!"

Rest stop lunch!

Chilling out!

49.8 MPG! Loving the Prius!

Off and running!!!!!

Well the day finally came to leave for our cross country trip. We met my Dad and Joanne at their house at 7 AM with the plan to drive to Louisville Kentucky for he first stop of our cross country adventure. We had about an 8 hour drive ahead of us so we were anxious to get started. There are 6 of us this year and this will require two cars a tent and a camper. This camper was a true "Barn" find as it had been sitting in my Dad's barn for the last 15 years. My Dad bought it in 1964. It was a 64 Tradewinds that had been rented for one summer season so it was really good shape. I actually grew up camping and love the idea of taking it across the country. It weighs less than 500 lbs so it could even be pulled by my Toyota Prius. We recently bought a new canvas and thanks to great friends with great skills brought it back to life for this trip. The trip was pretty uneventful which is the way I like driving days. Mostly overcast with the occasional traffic jam. We had lunch at the same rest area that we stopped at last year. As usual the food was great. Thanks Lyn!!! We arrived at the KOA metro campground about 5:30. Lyn got busy fixing dinner and the rest of us set up camp. I had invited a friend from SGHS to meet us for dinner. Teresa had worked with me at Southern and had recently moved to Louisville KY. She arrived about 6:45 and we had a great dinner and fun conversation. After sitting around and talking for a few hours we had showers and went to bed about 10 PM. It finally cooled off and we slept well. Jasper has fallen right back into the routine of being a camp dog and is already in chill mode. This morning we woke up about 6 and will be heading to the St. Louis Arch and meeting some more friends. Hope the weather holds up but if not it will be on to plan B whatever that is!!!

New cargo rack for the back!

Ready to go!

Dinner time!!

Hanging out!