Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Ft Wilderness
Judy, the lady in the loop with all the Christmas decorations, rode by, and we gave her the refrigerator stuff to share with her neighbor. She was truly appreciative. Nancy and Bob arrived at 4:20. I picked them up at the parking lot, and we came back to the RV. Nancy was awed over our neighbor’s decorations, so we wandered around looking at the other decorations. Then we drove over to the Grand Floridian Hotel to see the decorations there and have dinner at the Café. It was a pleasant dinner. We got back to Ft Wilderness at 9. Bob and Nancy headed off to the Villages, and we came back to the RV to finish packing. It is going to be hard leaving the shorts weather for the cold of NYC, but we will be back January 20th.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Ft Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge
We rode our bikes on the nature trail over to the Wilderness Lodge to check out their holiday decorations. They had a huge tree in the lobby and a neat tree made of red and black plaid flannel bags in the gift shop. We stopped by their little counter service restaurant and got a sandwich to split. While we were eating, a lady came in with a tray of cookies, icing, and sprinkles. From 2-3 every day they have a kids cookie decorating project. I wandered over to look, and since she just had one little boy, she told me to sit down and I could decorate one, too. Pretty soon another lady about my age came over and sat down too. She told me I couldn’t leave until she was done. It was kind of fun talking to the little boy as we decorated and ate our cookies.
On the ride back to the campground, we passed two deer grazing in the woods. They stepped back a big and waited for us to pedal on. We also caught a bunny nibbling. It was a pleasant afternoon. I did a load of laundry before dinner and started setting stuff out to take to NYC and Raleigh for a month. It is strange to be packing from the RV, especially for a month. We had shrimp and some veggies for dinner. We are trying to clean out the refrigerator before we have to shut it down and dump or give away what’s left over before we leave on Thursday.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom
At 5:30 we took the boat to the Magic Kingdom to see the castle lighting ceremony one last time. Then we had dinner at Cosmic Ray’s. Most people were getting ready to see the parade, so it wasn’t too crowded. However, after dinner, the parade was still going on, and it was difficult making our way down Main St to the entrance. Our boat home was packed. Bill went back to the RV while I stayed on the beach to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks. I did get a photo of one of the more elaborately decorated golf carts that roam the campgrounds. That is also posted on the link to the left.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Ft Wilderness and MouseFest
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Disney Rain
I wrapped Christmas presents to mail. After it stopped raining, we went down to the store and bought some little gifts to send to German Barbara. Those are now wrapped and ready to mail. So tomorrow we will be making a trip to the post office.
Bill took a bike ride over to the Wilderness Lodge. On the path over there, he saw a deer who just looked at him and continued eating. We have seen lots of deer around here along with bunnies, squirrels, turkeys, and lots of neat birds.
We didn’t want to fix dinner, so we went over to the Trail’s End for the buffet. The food was pretty good. It is a very casual, western-themed buffet restaurant, so it was a bit of a shock when one of the waiters announced that there was a couple celebrating their 50th anniversary there. I sure could have found a more romantic place to celebrate a milestone like that!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Disney - Ft Wilderness
Finally we made it back to the RV. It is supposed to storm Thursday, so we took down the lights from the awning so we can put it up quickly if the wind starts catching it. I took a nap. Tonight Bill watched the Indiana basketball game.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Ft Wilderness and Epcot
Bill rode down to the main check-in area on his bike. I stayed here and labeled photos, a never-ending job. At 5 we drove over to Epcot to hang out until our 7:30 reservations at China’s Nine Dragon restaurant. It was fairly crowded, and there really wasn’t anything we wanted to do, so we checked in early and were seated. It is a strange restaurant – a sitdown, higher end, restaurant. The service was excellent, but the food was strangely mediocre and the service rushed. Bill had hot and sour soup, and the fried rice entrée with shrimp. I just had two appetizers: summer rolls and shrimp and taro. Our waiter was really nice. He was from Beijing and has been here for 10 months. He has only worked at this restaurant for 2 weeks. The rest of his time he worked the fast food counter outside. We did get a dessert to share (even though Chinese don’t really eat dessert) called Banana Cheesecake Eggroll. Now this was good! It was a large eggroll filled with a banana cream, drizzled with caramel sauce and served with caramel ginger ice cream!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Down day at Disney
On the way back we stopped at Downtown Disney Marketplace which is a huge store that carries every Disney piece of merchandise imaginable. I went in to see if anything struck my fancy, but in my weakened state, I couldn’t deal with the crowds and the awesome array of stuff, so we just came back to the RV. While we had been gone, a huge trailer parked two spots away from us. There is barely room for the huge honking pickup truck that tows it to park. They have outlined their trailer with Christmas lights and set up all kinds of lights and junk around them. We are thrilled that there is a trailer between us as a buffer.
At 8 I wandered down to the beach to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks. They are good, but the ones they do on the nights of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party are much better.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Disney - Epcot
We got the worst parking place ever in Disney. We were totally at the end of the row away from the trams, 75 cars away!! We got to the entrance and took a roundtrip monorail ride to the Magic Kingdom and back. Mandy has always loved the monorail. When we got back to Epcot, Bill was feeling worse, so he took the bus back to the RV. Mandy and I picked up fast passes for Fast Track and then went to the Sunshine Seasons restaurant in The Land. This is one of the best counter restaurants at Disney: no burgers, no fries, lots of salads, fruit, fresh wraps, chicken, Asian food, soups. I had a turkey and Muenster cheese on foccacia. Mandy had a fruit and cheese platter.
We then went on the Spaceship Earth ride which has been redone and is really rather neat, portraying the evolution of communication of man. We decided to go see if we could get on Fast Track before our fast pass time. The Single Rider line was only 20 minutes, so we did that. We stand in line together the whole way and then end up in different cars, filling in where an empty spot exists. After that we headed back to the Tracker (past all 75 cars!) and came back to the RV. Bill was huddled up asleep in bed. He didn’t feel well at all. Mandy finished getting ready, and I drove her down to reception where she caught the bus to the airport.
Bill was up and down most of the evening. He did rally to watch the final episode of the Amazing Race. We were totally pleased with the outcome. I went down to the beach to watch the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom – 15 minutes of amazing fireworks reflecting over the lake with Christmas music playing over the PA. So neat!
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Disney World - Animal Kingdom
At 3 we headed to the Animal Kingdom for an early light dinner at Yak and Yedi. Mandy had not been there before. It is a nice Asian restaurant. I settled for Won Ton soup. Bill had some ahi tuna and chicken lettuce cups. Mandy had some rice, green beans tempura, and some mixed veggies. We had a nice view of the Animal Kingdom parade which was fun.
Tonight Bill and Mandy went to the campfire movies here to see “Lilo and Stitch” and “High School Musical 2”. I stayed behind and went to the beach here at the campground at 9 to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks. They have them every night, and they last about 15 minutes and are pretty awesome!
I must talk about the huge displays of Christmas decorations that many of the campers put out. Neither words nor pictures can describe the unbelievable amount of money that has been invested in these setups. One woman on our loop is from New Orleans and she has to have at least 30 Christmas blowups, a million miles of colored lights, and a ton of wood/plastic stick items in the ground items. It is truly breath-taking. And she is not alone.
I keep posting photos on the Disney Christmas 2008 site, so just click on the link to the left.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Sick Day
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Disney Hollywood Studios and Osbourne Spectacle of Lights
We got home at 8. Bill and Mandy went over to the beach to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks. I was sicker than a dog. I think I got Mandy’s bug. They said the fireworks were great. I will get to see them some other night.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Disney World - Ft Wilderness and Candlelight Processional at Epcot
We hadn’t eaten dinner here before, so it was a treat. Mandy didn’t eat much, but Bill had a fruit and cheese plate as an appetizer. I had Samosas that were really good. Bill had steak and fish for his entrée, and I had pork tenderloin with a tamarind sauce. Both were pretty good. Dessert came with the dinner. Bill had a Bailey’s Irish Cream trifle, and I had a sticky toffee pudding which was excellent. After dinner, we found Mandy a spot to rest while Bill went to smoke his cigar, and I went shopping. I did find some cute books for some of the kids for Christmas.
Everyone started lining up for the Candlelight Processional program which was held in the big outdoor theater in front of the American Pavilion. This program has a full orchestra, a choir with at least 200 singers, and a celebrity reader. Tonight’s reader was Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser). The show combines classic Christmas carols with a reading of the Christmas story interspersed with he songs. It was really quite good and moving. We all really enjoyed it, and it was a nice part of our Disney Christmas.
I have posted more photos which can be viewed by clicking on the Disney Christmas link on the left
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Disney World - Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
At 5:30 we headed over to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. This is a special charge ticket, and the park is open from 7-midnight for those who have purchased this ticket. The first thing we did was find a good spot for the castle lighting ceremony at 6:30. They had characters on a stage in front of the castle, and finally the fairy godmother lights the castle with the special icicle lighting.
We stopped to share a funnel cake, went on the Haunted Mansion ride, and then Thunder Mountain. There really weren’t any lines for the rides. We basically walked right on most of the rides. After that, we walked to Pirates of the Caribbean to look at a small display of items that are only for sale during the party. I got a sweatshirt, and Mandy got a T-shirt and Santa mouse ears hat. We then walked right on the Pirates ride. Then it was time for the special parade. Some nice older ladies let Mandy and I squeeze in beside them next to the ropes, so we had a pretty good view. The parade really was neat with lots of huge floats with a Christmas theme. I will post some of those photos tomorrow.
We walked over to smoking area so Bill could have a cigar, and Mandy and I could stake out a place to watch the fireworks. There were tables and chairs in this area so we grabbed a table and waited for the special fireworks at 9:30. Christmas music played as the fireworks went off over the castle. It was an impressive show. Finally we went to see the half hour show, Mickey’s Night Before Christmas. There was singing and dancing by life performers. It wasn’t bad, but I wouldn’t go back. And to top off the night, we spent the last hour riding some rides: the People Mover, Small World, Peter Pan, Snow White, and the Tea Cups. At midnight we headed for the entrance and caught the boat back to Ft Wilderness. It was rather cold tonight – down in the 40s, but we stayed warm and enjoyed the party!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Disney World - Animal Kingdom
We went to see the 9:30 Lion King show, but it had been canceled due to technical difficulties, so we headed over to Dinoland. Bill and Mandy went on a few rides while I went to watch the monkeys in Asia. We got fastpass tickets for the Everest roller coaster and went on the Maharajah Jungle trek while we waited for out turn at the roller coaster. We saw most of the animals: komodo dragon, tapir, tigers, and many wonderful birds. After the Everest ride, we went back to the Lion King, and Mandy finally got to see that show. We did some shopping, and then headed to the car.
We all relaxed at the RV before we went to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to Boma for dinner. That is one of my all-time favorite restaurants, an African buffet. We totally stuffed ourselves. The soups weren’t as good as usual, but the Bobuti and the Geelrys rice were great as were the desserts. It was a fun day. The weather was great, sunny and not too cool.
I have posted photos on my flickr page which can be reached by clicking on the Disney Christmas 2008 on the left side of this page.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Disney World
Greetings from Disney World! We started off the day packing up and heading out from Kings Bay at 9:20. The drive wasn’t too bad for the first hour, but then it started raining. And it rained! All the way to Orlando. We got to Ft Wilderness at 1:30, checked in and got our site at 104. This is a new loop for us, and we got a nice site. There are unbelievable Christmas decorations at many of the sites. I will post photos later. We are close to the boat dock, restaurant, and beach.
Bill and Mandy drove to get her week pass. When they returned we took the boat over to the Magic Kingdom for dinner and a look at the Christmas decorations. Cinderella’s castle was lit up, but later they turned on the icicle lights, and it was truly amazing. We went to see Monsters, Inc, a cute show that was interactive with the audience. We had dinner at Cosmic Ray’s which I really like since I can get a decent meal: rotisserie chicken, green beans, and mashed potatoes. We had time for a ride on the People Mover, Bill’s favorite ride. The park closed at 7, but there were still loads of people there who had tickets for Mickey’s Magical Christmas Party (which we are doing Tuesday night). We stopped for ice cream on the way out – Mandy and I shared a peppermint ice cream cup. Very Christmasy!! They had a machine that started blowing fake snow over Main Street!
We took the boat back in the rain and made it back in time to see the next to last episode of The Amazing Race. We were not pleased with one idiot team who made it to the final three. Then it was time to figure out our week’s plan. Mandy is making the most of her time here, and she may kill us all with all she has planned! The weather should be much more pleasant starting tomorrow!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Kings Bay GA
It was a lovely day at Kings Bay Navy Base. The sun was shining, and the temperatures were in the 70s. The lake was covered with coots this morning. I love this black bird with the white beak! They were fishing for breakfast. We had breakfast, and Bill and Mandy went down to the community center in the middle of the campground for coffee. Bill then went to get the Tracker registered on base and to get a sticker. Our current one runs out Sunday. Navy bases are the only place that require the vehicle stickers now.
We headed off for the commissary to pick up a few items. With Bill and Mandy, it is tough to get out of there with only the essentials! We came back to the RV and had lunch. Bill made reservations here for 12 days between our Tampa stay and a RV rally in Georgia in March. There is lots to see around here, the campground is cheap and quite nice, so we decided to park here for a while.
Then we drove in to St Mary’s to show Mandy the lovely little town. Members of the old Presbyterian church were putting up Christmas decorations including a large wreath going up on the bell tower. The Cumberland Island Visitors Center was closed, but we stopped at a lovely park on the waterfront and wandered around.
Back at the RV, Bill and Mandy took naps. I wandered around the lake a bit. At 6pm we left for the tiny Japanese teppanyaki restaurant a couple of miles outside the base. Bill and I had been there last January, it was surprisingly good and very inexpensive. We had soup, a couple of shrimp for appetizers, salad, fried rice, sautéed zucchini, mushrooms, onions. Bill had rib eye and scallops. Mandy had more veggies, and I had the rib eye. It was all very tasty and fun. Our chef was from the Philippines and funny but not obnoxious.
Back at the RV, we had a little campfire. They don’t allow campfires at Ft Wilderness, so this was our only night to do it. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy on and off, so we have packed up most of our stuff and hooked up the Tracker. It should only be 4 hours tomorrow before we hit Ft Wilderness! We are all excited.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Raleigh to Kings Bay GA
We are back on the road again!! Bill, Mandy, and I took off in the RV at 9:15 this morning, headed for Kings Bay GA on our way to Disney World. The traffic wasn’t too bad, and we made it to the Flying J in about 2 hours. After getting diesel, we went in for lunch. Bill got the buffet, Mandy got a grilled cheese, and I got a special, a large breaded pork tenderloin sandwich. I haven’t had one since I was in Frankfort. This one was really quite good, so I was happy.
We traveled on, stopping a couple hours later at a rest stop for Bill to lay down for 20 minutes. The last part of our trip was rainy, but luckily it stopped just before we arrived at Kings Bay Naval Station. The camp host and his wife met us in their golf cart and showed us where to park. We have a lovely spot right in front of the lake. Since it was dark, Mandy didn’t get to see it, but we will be here all day tomorrow. After setting up, we ate the leftovers we had brought from home. We also undid the new foam top for the sofa bed. It is outside on the picnic table expanding to its natural size. I will let you know tomorrow how it all works.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Day 81 – Asheville to Raleigh NC – 265 miles
I can highly recommend Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. They are truly worth seeing. And driving through our country, seeing the variety of scenery and people is a journey well-worth taking. This is the last blog for this trip. We have more trips coming up, so I will keep you posted on them.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Day 80 – Horse Cave KY to Asheville NC – 325 miles
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Day 79 – Horse Cave KY
This was a really interesting tour since there were no lights in the cave, just the Coleman lanterns that half of us carried. At the beginning of the tour were some lovely limestone stalactites and stalagmites. Then we went through some dry cave and ended up in an area of wonderful gypsum formations. One area looked like white chicken feathers had been stuck to the ceiling. There were many delicate gypsum formations on the walls and ceilings. My favorite thing we saw was a tiny (only 2” long) pipistrelle bat. He was so cute!! We saw lots of cave crickets which almost look like spiders. I didn’t get any photos because we couldn’t take them on this tour.
After the cave tour, we drove to see Sand Cave entrance where Floyd Collins died in 1925 after being trapped by falling rock. It is a most interesting, but tragic, story. Look at the web site by clicking on Floyd Collins above. We also saw his final grave site in the Mammoth Cave Cemetery.
Tonight we went the half block down the hill to Aunt Bea’s Restaurant. I wasn’t expecting much, and I wasn’t disappointed. But it was food. I added a few more photos to the Mammoth Cave link on the left.
Day 79 – Horse Cave KY
This was a really interesting tour since there were no lights in the cave, just the Coleman lanterns that half of us carried. At the beginning of the tour were some lovely limestone stalactites and stalagmites. Then we went through some dry cave and ended up in an area of wonderful gypsum formations. One area looked like white chicken feathers had been stuck to the ceiling. There were many delicate gypsum formations on the walls and ceilings. My favorite thing we saw was a tiny (only 2” long) pipistrelle bat. He was so cute!! We saw lots of cave crickets which almost look like spiders. I didn’t get any photos because we couldn’t take them on this tour.
After the cave tour, we drove to see Sand Cave entrance where Floyd Collins died in 1925 after being trapped by falling rock. It is a most interesting, but tragic, story. Look at the web site by clicking on Floyd Collins above. We also saw his final grave site in the Mammoth Cave Cemetery.
Tonight we went the half block down the hill to Aunt Bea’s Restaurant. I wasn’t expecting much, and I wasn’t disappointed. But it was food. I added a few more photos to the Mammoth Cave link on the left.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Day 78 – Salem to Horse Cave KY – 115 miles
We drove to Mammoth Cave National Park about 2. They offer many tours since Mammoth is the longest cave system in the world. We decided to take the “New Entrance Tour” which left at 3 and lasted for 2 hours. It was a really neat tour. To start with we descended 280 stairs on a really neat staircase that did not blast away any of the cave. It twisted and turned through various formations and was really quite fun. The largest section of the tour was through a dry area with little formations. The last section was in a wetter section with lovely formations including the Frozen Niagara. We had a total of 500 stairs and lots of hiking, but it was very interesting.
After the tour came back to the Visitor’s Center (which is undergoing a major remodel), we walked to the Historic Entrance. I really thought we went here on some childhood trip, but I have no documentation nor photos. This entrance and tour is closed for restoration work.
We came back to the RV, had some dinner, and tried to get the antanna to work on the TV. Unfortunately all we can get is PBS which is showing the Republican convention. Sigh.
I did post some new photos on a Mammoth Cave link on the left.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Day 77 – Salem IN
We did some laundry when we got home and took a load out to the RV. We had leftovers for dinner and watched some TV. Tomorrow should be an easy day since it is only 115 miles to Mammoth Cave.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Day 76 – Salem IN
From there we drove back to Salem and went to Beck’s Mill. It is an old water mill that has been restored. It wasn’t open today, so we just looked. Back at home we found that RH and Jamie (Bill’s brother and sister) had decided to have a barbeque at RH’s on Monday. So we went to the RV to get some food to contribute.
Tonight we had BLT’s for dinner with the wonderful home-grown tomatoes! It is so sad that we can’t get these tomatoes everywhere and all year long. Absolutely nothing is better than an Indiana tomato. I probably could have made myself sick eating too many of them! We have decided to spend a couple of nights at Mammoth Cave Tuesday and Wednesday and then two nights in Asheville on the way home. So we should be home on Saturday.
I added a few more photos to the Family Visits Link on the left.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Day 75 – Salem IN
Friday, August 29, 2008
Day 74 – Salem IN
From there we headed a mile down the road to the West Baden hotel. This hotel has a magnificent domed atrium. It fell into disuse and disrepair in 1966. In 1996 it was purchased and refurbished which was a massive undertaking and reopened in 2007. We wandered around and had a drink in the dome bar. Rather fun.
Tonight we had leftovers for dinner which were still good. Brenda and Bill Fortner came over to bring Bill tickets to the IU football game tomorrow. We had a great visit and almost got caught up.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Day 73 – Salem IN
Bill and I went to the Moose so Bill could turn in his membership application. He figures since this is the second time we have parked the motor home in their lot that he should join. The annual dues are only $35, and we are staying six nights just this trip, so it has already paid for itself. We drove back to David’s office, and he was in. I got my picture taken with him in his office.
Tonight we went to the Moose for dinner with RH and Barb. We sat with some friends of theirs and had a pleasant meal. One couple had been at Glacier two weeks before we were there, so we exchanged stories.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Day 72 – Frankfort to Salem IN – 151 miles
When I got back to the RV, Harlan and Betty Clark were there having a tour of the RV. It was great to see them if even for a short time. We headed out about 9:45, stopping in Lebanon at the Flying J to dump our tanks and get gas. We made one more stop at a rest area for a lunch break and arrived in Salem at the Moose Lodge parking lot at 2. They have 5 hookups, and we got one of them. We only have power but that will keep the mildew down and the refrigerator going.
Joy had lots of food for dinner: ham, potato salad, corn on the cob, fresh green beans, tomatoes, rolls, and peach pie for dessert. Jamie and David, RH and Barb, and Bill, Joy, and I made a small dent in all of the food. A friend of the family came by with a ton of tomatoes. Joy took some, and I took one, washed it, and ate it whole! Ahhh, there is absolutely nothing like an Indiana home-grown tomato! I took several more to eat while we are here.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Day 71 – Frankfort IN
Monday, August 25, 2008
Day 70 – Genoa City WI to Frankfort IN – 316 miles
I went in and found Margaret in the hall walking to meet me. She can see the RV from the window at the end of the hall. We chatted and caught up on some of our stories. She didn’t feel like going out to eat, so Bill and I ran out to The Island to get us breaded tenderloins and Margaret a hamburger. We ate in the apartment and chatted some more. We finally left about 8:30 and came back out to the RV.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Day 69 – Genoa City WI
New family photos are posted in the new set called Family Visits. Click on the link to the left.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Day 68 – Genoa City WI
It was a beautiful day on the farm. We were all up and moving by 7. Cheryl went to the barn to let the horses out to pasture. Her barn manager Javier, helped. John and I drove down to the pasture and drove Javier and Cheryl back to the barn for more horses. It was fun to watch the foals, none of whom is over 4 months old, frolic as they followed their mothers to the pasture. After 3 trips, John and I took off for the 20 minute drive to the grocery store. We picked up items, and I even found 6 cans of sugar-free Café Vienna which Bill and I have looked for everywhere we have shopped.
Johnny, Annette, Kate, Matt, and Danny arrived about noon. The kids were thrilled to be on the farm. They certainly have grown since I last saw them 4 years ago, and I also got to meet Danny who is 3 and a real cutie. The kids absolutely love riding around on the John Deere gator, so there was lots of squealing and fun! Jimmy arrived a little later with Maggie and Olivia. Ely was sick so Cassie had stayed at home with him. We had a great time with all of the kids.
We all went to lunch at a place called The Upper Crust, and the kids were all pretty good. Back at the farm there was more hanging out, playing with the kids, showing them the RV, etc. It was a great day with the family. They all left to return to
Friday, August 22, 2008
Day 67 – Osseo to Genoa City WI – 248 miles
It was a lovely day today. We got a decent start at 9:00 today, and after stopping for diesel, we made pretty good time today. We stopped for lunch at a rest area and made it to John and Cheryl’s at 2:30. John was waiting for us in the driveway and directed us to a parking spot. He then gave us a quick tour around the farm. We walked for what seemed forever, but he and Cheryl have done a lot of good work to make the farm pretty impressive. Cheryl had to go pick up a mare and her foal from the vet’s, so she took off. John, Bill, and I sat outside with drinks catching up.
When Cheryl got home, we cooked some steaks to have along with some corn, a tomato and mozzarella salad, and some tortellini. Bill and John watch a movie, and in a little bit, John, Cheryl, and I went to the barn to feed and water the horses for the night. They have about 27 horses, 2 dogs, and 2 cats. Some of the young horses are really sweet! The new Quick farm is out in the country, but they have some woods and a pond, and it is a lovely area to live.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Day 66 – Alexandria MN to Osseo WI – 245 miles
And another driving day. It was a little windy again today, and we ran into our first rainy day driving after lunch. There isn’t too much exciting to write about.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Day 65 – Bismarck ND to Alexandria MN – 300 miles
It was another driving day, beautiful but windy. For the first couple of hours it was tough keeping the RV on the road. We bypassed
We made it to the L Motel and RV park about 4. There was lots of room, and we got to pick a spot. Bill napped before we went out looking for food. We found a restaurant called Doolittle’s. I had one of the specials, Shrimp pad Thai which was surprisingly good and plentiful enough for lunch on the road tomorrow. We will drive tomorrow to
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Day 64 – Bismarck ND
We took off when the temperature was a little cooler and drove 40 miles north to the Lewis and
From there we drove 2 miles to the reconstructed
On the way home we stopped in the tiny town of
I added the last of the
Monday, August 18, 2008
Day 63 – Medora to Bismarck ND – 134 miles
We took a tour of the Custer house which was air-conditioned and interesting. Then we took a tour of the Mandan Village. The CCC rebuilt 5 of the earth lodges. They were really cool inside and there were lots of Indian artifacts. The also had a great visitors center museum. It was a good stop.
We grabbed barbecue on the way home and had a nice evening at the campground. I uploaded some more photos from today to the North Dakota link on the left.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Day 62 – Medora ND
Tonight we went to the Rough Rider Hotel dining room for dinner. It was a good meal in a strange setting – lots of dead animals on the wall. Tonight we hung out at the RV and chatted with our neighbors who are ‘full-timers’. He was in the Marines for 23 years and then an LAPD cop for 17 years. Interesting guy. He said he was even on a couple of episodes of Cops. We do meet some interesting people in our campgrounds.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Day 61 – Teddy Roosevelt Nat’l Park ND
We had a slow start this morning, but finally we got going and went to the
This park is mainly ‘badlands’ type landscape, but it is probably a bit more impressive than the
We were still full from lunch, so we postponed dinner at the Rough Rider Hotel here in Medora and had a light dinner at the RV. We had two rabbits nibbling grass right by our campsite. They, too, didn’t seem too bothered by our presence. After eating, they just flopped down in the grass and took a nap.
I added some more photos to the
Friday, August 15, 2008
Day 60 – Lewistown MT to Medora ND – 306 miles
It was an interesting day today. We got off at 8:30 and made the long empty drive across
We set up and then went into town to buy tickets for the Medora Musical and the Pitchfork Fondue. I am truly in cowboy land!! The Fondue started at 6:30, and there were hundreds of people there. They ‘fondue’ steaks on pitchforks in huge vats of oil. Everyone stands in line, gets a plate, goes through the sides line: crudités, cole slaw, beans, baked potato, melon, bread, brownie, picks up a steak and eats at one of many picnic tables. They do get everyone through quite quickly. The setting is pretty awesome, up on a mesa overlooking the interesting rock formations.
The Medora Musical is right there next to the Pitchfork Fondue. It has been running for 50 years in various forms. The amphitheater is built into the hills and seats 2600 people. We had seats front row center (not a lot of choices since we bought so late. It was a two hour cowboy/country musical with Teddy Roosevelt, a stranger in town, and a rather disjointed plot, but fairly entertaining. The whole experience was more unique than wonderful.
I have posted some photos in a new set called
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Day 59 – Great Falls to Lewistown MT – 104 miles
It is our last night in
The campground is basically a field with hookups at the edge of town. We are surrounded by mobile homes. But we aren’t here for the beauty. We did a minimum hookup (electric and slideout). Bill wanted to go look at the Lewistown airport. Somewhere he had read that during WWII this used to be a B-17 training base. He went in to the small airport and talked to the airport manager who directed him to several small buildings with plaques on them explaining what they were used for. He had a good time. I stayed at the RV and vacuumed the carpet with our little Dirt Devil. It works well for what we need it for. It also stormed a bit. Hopefully it will be sunny for our long day to
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Day 58 – Great Falls MT
It was an interesting morning. We drove 12 miles south of
Back in town we went to the overlook of the Lewis & Clark Upper Portage Camp. They spent almost a month here, portaging and recovering from that exhausting 18 day task. There were some interpretive signs. We were the only ones there.
Then we went to see if I could get my hair cut at a strip mall. They said to come back in half an hour, so we went next door and had Mongolian Barbecue for lunch. It was really quite good and cheap. I didn’t quite finish my lunch when I had to go get my hair cut by a blond 12-year old looking girl who had a ton of black eye shadow on. She didn’t do a horrible job, and she was fast enough that I could go back and finish my lunch with Bill!
Bill dropped me off at the RV while he went to look for cigars and to drive 6 miles on a bumpy, dusty, 6 mile road to the lower portage camp. I chatted with Mandy and worked on some photos. When he returned we did laundry. After dinner we went to Wal-Mart to fill up our water jugs. Most Supercenters have a Culligan dispenser for 33¢ a gallon. I got some cottage cheese, apples, and mouthwash. How exciting.
I loaded some more photos of our day on the
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Day 57 – Great Falls, MT
Today was Bill’s Lewis and Clark day. We went to the Lewis and
When we came back to the RV we went on base to the Commissary to pick up a few items. We had dinner and watched TV.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Day 56 – On the road to Great Falls MT – 225 miles
It was an interesting day. Our RV park neighbors were getting ready to leave, too, but their pickup truck that pulls their 5th wheel wouldn’t start. We left them calling people to see if they could get it fixed. I hated leaving the mountains. We are now in the great plains. Bill encountered more wind than we have had so far. At a rest area north of
We got to the campground at Malmstrom AFB here at
So we headed down the road a half mile to Giant Springs St Park. Here there is a huge spring, rising from the limestone underneath. Lewis had written about it in his journal. It pours water into the Missouri River and also into the smallest river in the world, 201’
We came back to the RV and finished setting up and had dinner. At 7:15 we drove on base, only to find they roll the sidewalks up at 7. The commissary is closed on Mondays. The BX closed at 7 and the shoppette closes at 6. We drove down the main street of
I have started a new set of photos called
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Day 55 – Hungry Horse MT
It was a lazy, lovely Sunday. We both slept in. I was outside drinking coffee when our neighbor Carol came over to chat for a while. They are leaving for
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Day 54 – Hungry Horse MT
It was a nice, quiet day in the campground. We slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, and enjoyed the view since our neighbors had left early. Bill finally took off to ‘run some errands’. He can’t stay in one place very long, so he drove in to Kalispell. He went to the RV store and got a new windshield brush with the long handle and some pins for the tow bar. Then he went to Costco, picked up a few items, and had a Costco hot dog for lunch. I stayed here working on photos, reading, and just enjoying the day. It alternated between cloudy with a few sprinkles to sunny. Bill got home about 3 with more morel mushrooms. I immediately put them in to soak. We had them for dinner along with some steak and onions. The mushrooms were great, especially since we don’t know when we will ever have more fresh ones!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Day 53 – Glacier Nat’l Park MT
We had to ride the Going to the Sun Road again up to
Tonight we went to Belton Chateau for dinner. It is the first of the chain of chalets built in 1910 by the Great Northern Railroad. We had a great dinner. I loved my Vegetable Wellington: puff pastry stuffed with tomato, mushrooms, and leek, topped with a roasted pepper cream sauce. After dinner we went to the Huckleberry Patch for some huckleberry pie a la mode. Now we are stuffed!
I posted a few more photos at the end of Glacier 2. Just click on the link to the left.Thursday, August 7, 2008
Day 52 – Whitefish MT
We explored our area today starting with a drive to Whitefish. It is a big ski area, so we drove up to
After going to the grocery, we headed back to Hungry Horse. In the middle of town is this huge steel ball, 8’ in diameter weighing 4.5 tons. It was used to clear the area when they were building the Hungry Horse Dam. They would drag it with tractors, and the ball would knock down everything in its path! Rather impressive. We drove on out to the dam where the visitors center was open. We looked at all the exhibits. It was a rather interesting place, and the dam is huge!
We came back to the RV to rest, relax, and chill. It was 90+ today, but under our awning in the shade, it wasn’t too bad to sit out there and read.
I added 8 more photos to the end of Glacier2 (link on the left) including a photo of our RV site here.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Day 51 – Hungry Horse MT
I had a quiet day at the RV. Bill left the RV at 8:30 for his all day kayak/rafting trip. He didn’t get home until after 5. It was a bit more than he had bargained for. He found his legs got really cramped in the kayak. There were 2 guys in the big raft, a girl doing the trip, and Bill in his kayak. They had a big breakfast and got on the water about 10:30. At 12:30 they pulled up on a sandbar for lunch. The girl pulled out a table, a grill and food and fixed steaks along with potato salad, strawberries and kiwi, and cookies. They were back in the water at 1:30. Bill said the water was ice cold and finally got into the main raft at 3 for the last 2 hours in the water. He is going to be stiff tomorrow. I washed sheets and put on our new sheets. I read and worked on photos.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Day 50 – Kalispell MT
It was a non-touring day but still fun. It was really cold when my alarm went off, and I really didn’t want to get out of bed!! But I did. We headed into Kalispell (about 20 miles away) to the Social Security Admin office. Bill needed to turn in documents so he can start getting his social security in December. We found it, and we didn’t even have to wait too long. They gave him a letter opener and a jar opener for filing online! Hee!
From there we drove by the
Then we were off to Costco to get gas for the Tracker. Next was Wal-Mart where I got a $6 watch since my Seiko battery died. I will have to wait until
Back at the RV we put the awning out so we could sit outside and read. It was supposedly in the high 80s today, but in the shade we were quite comfortable. Bill grilled some Costco shrimp while I cooked some of the great corn on the cob for dinner. It was a really pleasant day.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Day 49 – Glacier Nat’l Park MT
It was a long day, 10 hours, spent on the east side of the park. We left the RV at 8, drove the Going to the Sun Road and arrived at Many Glacier Hotel (built in 1915) on
We had lunch in the lovely dining room in the hotel where we had a table facing out to the lake. I had a very good Rueben sandwich. Then it was time to head on out down the east side of the park to the Two Medicine area. Many Glacier and Two Medicine areas have the only entrance roads on the east side of the park except for St Mary’s which is the end of Going to the Sun Road. The roads only go in about 12 miles. At Two Medicine we to took the
Then we started the last of the trip back to West Glacier. We drove on Hwy 2 around the south end of the park. We stopped at East Glacier to see Glacier Park Hotel, another early hotel. We just did a drive by. Continuing on Hwy 2, we were a little dismayed at the steep grades and hills on this highway as we have to take it in the RV when we head to
We hit the grocery on the way home. We got some corn, zucchini, milk, pepsi, etc. We were so glad to be back at the RV. Bill had some leftovers, and I had an ear of corn and tomato and cottage cheese salad.
I added 16 photos to the Glacier 2 photo link on the left of this page.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Day 48 – Glacier Nat’l Park MT
We hiked today. Luckily we got an early start and made it up to
It took us a couple of hours to make it to
Hidden
After slipping and sliding our way down the trail (Bill fell on his okole once!), we headed for home. The parking lot was now full, and the traffic coming down was thick. We came home and rested. Bill went down the road to a bar/restaurant to get us some hamburgers for dinner. They were pretty good burgers. We will probably be stiff and sore tomorrow, but we only have a drive and boat ride planned.
I started a new Glacier set called Glacier 2 with the photos from today! You can click on it on the left.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Day 47 – Hungry Horse MT
Today was a rest day for me. Both of us slept in quite late. We did 3 loads of laundry, finally. Luckily most of the campgrounds have laundries, but the ideal time to do a load is in the middle of the day when everyone is out touring. Then Bill took off to go exploring dirt roads in the area. I stayed home and worked on my photos and cleaning the stove top. I also did some reading. Tomorrow we will be touring again.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Day 46 – Glacier Nat’l Park MT
Today was a bit slower but pleasant. We left the RV at 10 and headed to McDonald Lake Lodge to try and catch the 11am boat trip. It was a rather uneventful hour trip on the lake, but we did see a bald eagle. We had lunch in the lodge’s dining room which was a pretty place, and the food was decent.
We drove on down the road to see if we could find a parking place at the Trail of Cedars boardwalk. This is a neat walk through cedars and hemlocks, so quiet and peaceful. A bridge crossed Avalanche Gorge. The stream through this walk is so clear, as are most of the streams in the park. I can see why the parking area is always full. We stopped at a couple of pullouts on the way home.
The big treat for today was the little huckleberry stand halfway to the park from the RV park. When we passed it yesterday, I couldn’t believe a sign that said “Fresh Morel Mushrooms”. So we stopped on our way to the park, and sure enough, the guy had buckets of morel mushrooms. It is the season for them here in
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Day 45 – Glacier Nat’l Park MT
I have no words tonight to describe the Going to the Sun road in Glacier. It has to be one of the most beautiful drives in the world. We left the RV at 9:30 and drove the 9 miles to the park. The drive starts out in pine forests which open up to
We saw mountain goats by the roadside. It was truly incredible. We stopped for a picnic at Sun Point on
After lunch, we took the hike from the parking lot around the end of
We drove on to the St Mary’s
The drive back across the park was equally beautiful from a different perspective and different angle of the sun. We drove through the spray from the falls going over Weeping Wall.
The Tracker wouldn’t start after our last stop in the park, so we came on back to the RV to have leftovers for dinner. Our RV neighbor, Carol, came over and sat by Bill’s fire and chatted with us for a couple of hours. She and her husband are from north of
I took a million photos today, but I can’t see how anything on film could do this drive justice. I did post 32 of the best ones on a new link called Glacier 1 which is in the left hand column here.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Day 44 – Missoula to Hungry Horse MT – 140 miles
We are now outside Glacier Nat’l Park in the land of huckleberries! I thought the
We drove to Hungry Horse Dam to take a look. That was a pretty 4 mile drive, and the dam is rather impressive. They have a small visitors center and give tours which we might do one day.
Bill grilled hamburgers tonight. It is supposed to get down to 32 degrees tonight. Good sleeping weather. Tomorrow we will make our first visit to Glacier. This should be a pleasant 12 days.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Day 43 – West Yellowstone to Missoula MT – 286 miles
It was a travel day. Getting everything ready for a move can be a pain. We put up the coffee maker in its original box, put the dishes in their box, put the shower stuff into drawers and cabinets, move the bikes into the bedroom, unhook the electricity, water, and sewer, put the slide up, pull up the jacks, hook up the tracker. We can generally get it all done in less than an hour. We were off before 9.
The drive wasn’t too bad. It did get more windy than we have seen before, and the wildflowers disappeared. We stopped in
We had dinner and then wandered down to the laundry to do a load. They serve ice cream here every night between 7-9, so we had a small dish. Tomorrow we don’t have far to go, so it should be an easy day to reach Hungry Horse. Everyone speaks highly of this RV park, so we are hoping it meets expectations.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Day 42 – West Yellowstone MT
Our last day in
We walked across the street to the
We looked into a couple of shops and then headed back to the RV to start packing up. It has been a wonderful two weeks.