Last Day in Cody

Woke up to anther cool morning.  This is a good thing because it is going to be 90 today. We had breakfast at the hotel. Pretty basic but good all the same. After lying around for a few hours we decide to go in to Cody. The plan was for Dad and Joanne to go to the Cody museum and Lyn and I would explore the downtown area of Cody before it got too hot. On the way there we passed a Dairy Queen and made a quick stop before heading out again. Yum Yum!!! Lyn and I walked around the town and saw a lot of interesting things but managed to hold off buying anything. Wait we did buy two hats. Well, not too bad for a couple hours of shopping. Just like last year we are on a budget and trying to spend on average $100 or less. So far we are averaging below that. One thing that has really helped is the Gas cards that were given to me by my kids, daughter-in-law and son-in-law. They have given them to me for holidays and birthday celebrations. It looks like we will make it all the way to Yellowstone on “free” gas. Thank you Rheagan, Chelsea, Caroline, Justin and Luke!!!! It is also helping us to be traveling with a couple of senior citizens. Tomorrow’s campsite at Yellowstone will only be 13 dollars a night thanks to the senior discount. Thanks Joanne and Dad! Oh yeah back to our day. Lyn and I walked around town until it was time for lunch. We passed a place that was actually cooking their ribs in a smoker in front of their restaurant. Well played! It worked, we went directly in and split an order of ribs. Can you say the word diet??!?!?! We apparently cannot!! Oh well the Rush will have to be our home when we get back. After lunch we went back and took a nap during the heat of the day. As it cooled off we all went out to dinner at another rib place and Lyn and I split ribs again. Yum Yum!!! By the time we finished it was time to go walk the dogs and go to bed. Tomorrow we are headed to Yellowstone. We have a reservation at Bridge Bay campground. When I went to read about it they mentioned that they just recently opened one of the loops in the campground due to bear activity. Yikes!!!!!  Oh well tomorrow should be exciting bears and all.

Cutting the rug!

Dinner time!

Out and about in Cody!

Sporting the new hats!

Hanging out in Cody.

In our hotel lobby.

Sharon and her 1980 TR7. 

She was the day manager at the hotel.

This was her daily driver! Super cool!

On the way to Cody Wyoming

We got up this morning around 6 and were trying to get going by 8. We had about 6 hours of driving so pretty much an all day affair since we will be stoping for lunch and traveling over the mountains. Dad and Joanne have been following us the entire way which means they turn when they see us turn. In other words they usually have no idea of the route that we are taking. This had worked just fine for the entire trip however today it just so happened that a red toyota prius got right in front of us and when it turned so did my Dad. I called them and they turned around and came back to follow us. The problem is that when he turned around he had to back up and when he did he jackknifed and the trailer hit the side of the car. Luckily the camper is fine however Joanne's car was not. It has a little cosmetic damage to the left rear tail light. Everything is still working and nobody got hurt so at the end of the day we are thankful. My Dad always says that if a problem can be fixed with money and you have the money to fix it then you really do not have a problem. Amen to that! After about 3 hours we arrived highway 14 which is a beautiful drive through Big Horn National Park. We were hoping to have a picnic lunch at the same place we did last year. As luck would have it we found the exact same spot. It was a lot cooler up there and we were able to picnic in the shade while watching people fly fish in the stream coming by. Some people have enough sense to have this be their final destination as they offer camping as well. They may just be on to something it is a little slice of heaven for sure. After we left from lunch and made it out of the mountains it started to get hot. At one point it made it all the way to 100 degrees. Even though it gets cool at night, that is pretty hot to try to take care of the dogs and ourselves so we decided to get a hotel. It would give us a chance to explore Cody while leaving the dogs in the rooms with the AC. The plan is to stay here two nights and then head out to Yellowstone on Monday morning. After we got unloaded we headed out for dinner at the Irma Hotel. It is a hotel that has a bar in it that was a gift from the Queen of England. She gave it to Wild Bill Cody for bringing his wild west show to England. It had a big porch with music and karaoke. We heard some really great singers who sang mostly old country songs with a few new ones thrown in from time to time. The night had cooled off and we had a great dinner with great music. Who could ask for more? We headed back and went to bed around 10PM. Tomorrow we will explore the town of Cody. 

Music at the Irma hotel. 
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Along the way.

Picnic area.

Noel relaxing.

Lunch time.

Jasper.

Home for two nights.

Dinner time.

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!!!