We went to church this morning and then pulled out of the campground in Hill City. We stopped at Crazy Horse Memorial on our way to Rapid City. It was really nice to see how one man from Boston wanted to sculpt mountains. He came to So Dakota and worked with the sculptor of Mt Rushmore side by side sculpting that mountain. An indian chief approached him and asked if he was sculpt a mountain to honor the indians. He agreed and began to work single handedly to sculpt Crazy Horse. He had to build a stairway of 741 stairs to get to the top of the mountain each day to begin blasting. He had little money and an old air compressor which he would start and begin his climb to the top carrying all his tools and dynamite. Most days he would get half way up and the air compressor down below would quit. He'd have to go back down and start it again and resume his climb to the top. Some days he would have to repeat this scenarior 4-5 times before he could actually work. He then married and had 10 children. He said he needed those children (5 boys & 5 girls) to help him work the mountain. After several years he died and the mountain was far from finished. His wife and sons & daughters took over the project and still work it today. It has a long way to go before it will be finished. Probably won't see it done in our lifetime. When finished it will stand taller than the Washington Monument. It is huge.
We are staying at a membership campground for the next 3 days. This place is beautiful. We had to listen to a half hr talk on buying into this place to get the special rate of $39.95 for 3 days. Think we are just going to veg out and enjoy the campground for a few days. We have another campground booked 5 minutes from here for 5 more days so we can see the sights around here. We still need to see Sturgis (motorcycle rally going on beginning Aug 9th,,,,but they are all arriving now). We still need to see Deadwood from here and a few very scenic drives before we move on. We should be able to do that staying another 5 days. We are only allowed 3 days in this place and have to move on. So we will be in Rapid City until Monday, Aug 2nd.
pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/motorhome234
CHASING OUR DREAMS
Monday, July 26, 2010
7/24/10..........Hill City, SD
Another great day in So. Dakota. We decided to go to the Wind Caves National Park this morning. When we got there we got our stamp for our Passport to National Parks book. We decided not to go into the caves since we've been in a few before and figured we'd pass on this one. BUT,,,,,,,on our wave to the caves we were driving and saw a huge buffalo meandering along the side of the road. Jesse decided to take some pictures and we figured where there is one there must be more because they travel in herds. Well around a few bends and there they were. At least a hundred of them. All over the fields and in the road. We got stuck there for about 20 minutes while we waited to get by one at a time. I was driving,,,,,and wish I weren't,,,,Jesse said,,,,well we can get out and switch places,,,,,,yeah right. They were all around our car,,,,a very eerie sight to behold. When you look at the pictures you'll see they were right on our bumper and all along the sides and back of the car,,,,just staring at us. A little scary at times. I thought they would never move out of the way and we had to move by inches at a time so as not to alarm them and have them charge us. The darn things can run at 35 miles per hour.
On our way back from the caves we drove the Iron Mountain Highway. It is a very curvy road with lots of hairpin turns. Several one car tunnels along the way too. At the last 2 tunnels you could see Mt Rushmore when you were coming out. Especially the last tunnel where the mountain was framed as if in picture when leaving the tunnel. It was amazing.
We again visited Mt. Rushmore and did an audio tour of how the mountain was carved and other information having to do with the mountain. It was very interesting but took us quite some time to do this. A couple of hours at least. Glad we did it though.
pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/motorhome234
On our way back from the caves we drove the Iron Mountain Highway. It is a very curvy road with lots of hairpin turns. Several one car tunnels along the way too. At the last 2 tunnels you could see Mt Rushmore when you were coming out. Especially the last tunnel where the mountain was framed as if in picture when leaving the tunnel. It was amazing.
We again visited Mt. Rushmore and did an audio tour of how the mountain was carved and other information having to do with the mountain. It was very interesting but took us quite some time to do this. A couple of hours at least. Glad we did it though.
pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/motorhome234
7/23/2010---Hill City, So Dakota
We spent the most of the day today at Custer State Park. So. Dakota is so beautiful. We drove the wildlife loop searching for wildlife. Wasn't much around today. Jesse did however, get a couple of pictures of a large herd of elk running through the woods. They are much bigger than I thought they would be. Also saw a few Pronghorns. They look like a combination of a small antelope and a deer with black horns.
Then we went over to the Jewel Caves (national park). It was too late in the day to grab a tour,,,all sold out.
We drove the Needles Highway. It was such an amazing drive. Took about 1 1/2 hrs. The drive is a narrow curving road with one car tunnels and bridges. The scenery is unbelievable. There are huge rock formations that tower up in front of you as you drive. At the top of the ride is what they call the needles eye, it is a bunch of these towering spires all together and what looks like a crack between them in which you drive through (very carefully). I have posted pictures but you have to be there to really appreciate it.
We ended up out day at Mt. Rushmore. It is a very emotional place. It symbolizes these men who had great visions for this country. We got there about 8PM so it was still light and we got pictures of the monument of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. We stayed for the lighting ceremony which began at 9PM. They had a short narration from the ranger about the monument and then a 20 minute movie on how the mountain was sculpted. They then lit up the mountain, what an awesome sight. They then asked all the veterans to come up on stage. So Jesse got to go up and receive recognition. They then asked all the Vietnam Vets to step forward and said when they returned from war they were not welcomed appropriately. So he began by thanking them all for their service. Of course, I was in tears. The whole audiance stood and applauded them. So emotional and finally the Vietnam Vets are recognized as heroes.
As we head down the mountain back to the campground, we both realize how lucky we are to be able to see all these things and thank God for this beautiful country.
See pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/motorhome234
Then we went over to the Jewel Caves (national park). It was too late in the day to grab a tour,,,all sold out.
We drove the Needles Highway. It was such an amazing drive. Took about 1 1/2 hrs. The drive is a narrow curving road with one car tunnels and bridges. The scenery is unbelievable. There are huge rock formations that tower up in front of you as you drive. At the top of the ride is what they call the needles eye, it is a bunch of these towering spires all together and what looks like a crack between them in which you drive through (very carefully). I have posted pictures but you have to be there to really appreciate it.
We ended up out day at Mt. Rushmore. It is a very emotional place. It symbolizes these men who had great visions for this country. We got there about 8PM so it was still light and we got pictures of the monument of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. We stayed for the lighting ceremony which began at 9PM. They had a short narration from the ranger about the monument and then a 20 minute movie on how the mountain was sculpted. They then lit up the mountain, what an awesome sight. They then asked all the veterans to come up on stage. So Jesse got to go up and receive recognition. They then asked all the Vietnam Vets to step forward and said when they returned from war they were not welcomed appropriately. So he began by thanking them all for their service. Of course, I was in tears. The whole audiance stood and applauded them. So emotional and finally the Vietnam Vets are recognized as heroes.
As we head down the mountain back to the campground, we both realize how lucky we are to be able to see all these things and thank God for this beautiful country.
See pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/motorhome234
Sunday, July 25, 2010
7/22/2010----Badlands, SD
We arrived at the Minuteman Missile Site in Philips, So Dakota. This is the site of the Control Center (which sits 30 feet below the ground) that controls the missile sites. There were three control centers that each controlled 100 missile sites. During the Cold War there were missiles set up all around So Dakota and other mid-west and western states waiting to be launched if Russia decided to send a nuclear weapon our way. In the control centers sat 2 people on 24 hour shifts in a tiny room with all the controls to set a launch if need be. (not a job I would want, I can't imagine having the fate of the world upon my shoulders, with the turn of 2 keys a missile would be launched and cause a nuclear war and the end of the world). A missile could be launched within 5 minutes. These 2 people were locked in this room for their 24 hr shift. I have posted pictures so you can see the size of the door that locked them in and how small this room was. The missile silo that we visited sat 15 miles away from the control center. It was hard getting a picture of the missile without a reflection of yourself on the glass, but Jesse did the best he could to get a shot to show you. It was pretty scary knowing just how close we came to nuclear war and very eerie seeing a missile ready to be launched. It was very interesting. Too bad we didn't have an opportunity to have our history and geography classes seeing these places rather than reading from a book. It is much more interesting this way.
Leaving the missile site dropped us right into the Badlands. What an awesome place. I can't believe how much beauty there is in this world. We took lots of pictures (I won't bore you with all of them, but have posted a few). We drove through the Badlands for several hours and could have stayed several more hours but there is lots more to see, so reluctantly, we moved on.
Our next stop brought us to Wall Drug in Wall, SD. The worlds largest drug store. It was voted the #1 Roadside attraction in America. It is a kind of like a honky tonk attraction (reminded us of South of The Border, only much bigger). There are several shops and eating establishments here. It was a fun place to walk through for an hour or so. I have a few pictures posted.
If you want to view the pictures, click on the below site.
http://picasaweb.google.com/motorhome234
Leaving the missile site dropped us right into the Badlands. What an awesome place. I can't believe how much beauty there is in this world. We took lots of pictures (I won't bore you with all of them, but have posted a few). We drove through the Badlands for several hours and could have stayed several more hours but there is lots more to see, so reluctantly, we moved on.
Our next stop brought us to Wall Drug in Wall, SD. The worlds largest drug store. It was voted the #1 Roadside attraction in America. It is a kind of like a honky tonk attraction (reminded us of South of The Border, only much bigger). There are several shops and eating establishments here. It was a fun place to walk through for an hour or so. I have a few pictures posted.
If you want to view the pictures, click on the below site.
http://picasaweb.google.com/motorhome234
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
7/21/2010-------Badlands, So Dakota
We have arrived in So. Dakota. We are about a half hour from the Badlands. Today we stopped in Mitchell, SD to see the Corn Palace. It is a fun place to see. It is a big palace that is all decorated with corn cobs.. The whole exterior of the building is done in pictures which are made up of 12 different colors and various sizes of corn cobs. The corn cobs are farmed right in Mitchell and the corn cob design is changed every fall. They put up black tar paper on the exterior of the building and draw the designs and the colors of the cobs they will be using for each picture. It is like a huge paint by number. After they draw it all out they begin to staple each corn cob by color needed to produce the picture. Each year it is done in a different theme. I could post a picture but it just doesn't do it justice. We couldn't believe how much time and work it to to do the whole building (which is quite large). It is all done by hand too.
Tomorrow we are heading to the Minuteman Missile site. I will tell you all about it tomorrow. We will also be travelling through the Badlands and hope to take lots of pictures. And going to Wall to see the oldest drug store. Tomorrow should be a fun day. Hopefully will have lots to post tomorrow.
Tomorrow we are heading to the Minuteman Missile site. I will tell you all about it tomorrow. We will also be travelling through the Badlands and hope to take lots of pictures. And going to Wall to see the oldest drug store. Tomorrow should be a fun day. Hopefully will have lots to post tomorrow.
Friday, July 16, 2010
7/16/10---Dubuque, Iowa
Went to see the locks and a dam today on the Mississippi River. It was very interesting. I have posted a few pictures showing how a 15 barge shipment went through the locks. It was so big that they had to send 1/2 of it through the locks and tie it on the other end of the locks and push the 2nd half through and tie the 2 halves back together before it could proceed down the Mississippi. I don't know if the pictures will make any sense to you. Hope they do.
I've also posted a few pictures of Mackinac Island, Michigan.
Hope you enjoy.
http://picasaweb.google.com/motorhome234
I've also posted a few pictures of Mackinac Island, Michigan.
Hope you enjoy.
http://picasaweb.google.com/motorhome234
July 16, 2010.........Iowa
Good Morning. Nice hearing all your comments. I haven't figured out how to reply to you on your comments. I'll keep trying to figure it out.
We spent from Saturday, July 10 until yesterday July 15th in Pelican Lake, Wisconsin with friends. John and Jesse were in Vietnam together in 1966-1967. They also happened to run into another Vietnam buddy. Tom Stephanik who lives in the next town. John had just met him a few weeks before. Didn't even know he lived near there. They were all in the same unit in Vietnam together. Things have a mysterious way of working out. Tom came to the campground and the 3 guys had a wonderful afternoon reminiscing and looking over their old Seabee photos and books, We had a great time with John & Sharon. Played lots of cards and they took us sightseeing and then to Wausau where they live. It was a very nice time. Here is a picture of the 4 of us at their campsite at Pelican Lake Campground.
We spent from Saturday, July 10 until yesterday July 15th in Pelican Lake, Wisconsin with friends. John and Jesse were in Vietnam together in 1966-1967. They also happened to run into another Vietnam buddy. Tom Stephanik who lives in the next town. John had just met him a few weeks before. Didn't even know he lived near there. They were all in the same unit in Vietnam together. Things have a mysterious way of working out. Tom came to the campground and the 3 guys had a wonderful afternoon reminiscing and looking over their old Seabee photos and books, We had a great time with John & Sharon. Played lots of cards and they took us sightseeing and then to Wausau where they live. It was a very nice time. Here is a picture of the 4 of us at their campsite at Pelican Lake Campground.We've run into a bit of problem with the hydraulics on our motorhome and have had to take a detour to Iowa to go to the factory and get that fixed. 400 miles out of the way,,,,thank goodness Jesse was able to put the jacks back up so we could move on. We arrived in Dubuque Iowa last evening and will spend until Sunday here. We are sitting in a city campground right on the Mississippi River. Going sightseeing today and Jesse will take pictures. I still have to upload the ones from Michigan and will try to do that tonight. On Sunday we will move over to Moscow Ia to the factory. We have an appt on Monday to get the hydraulics looked at and will proceed from there.
Not much to say today.....I'll update soon. Despite the troubles,,,,,still having a great time.
Monday, July 12, 2010
July 12, 2010.....Pelican Lake, Wisconsin
We arrived at Pelican Lake campground on Saturday afternoon. We are spending some time with Jesse's friend from the service. They were in Vietnam together 42 yrs ago. We are having a good time with he and his wife. Very nice people. Not doing much here, playing cards and hanging out relaxing. We will be leaving here on Wednesday morning and heading for Minnesota.
My computer was down for several days and we had to call Dell and have a new keyboard shipped here. It came in today and Jesse installed it tonight. Glad to be up and running again.
Not much else to report on. Will write again when we stop in Minnesota.
My computer was down for several days and we had to call Dell and have a new keyboard shipped here. It came in today and Jesse installed it tonight. Glad to be up and running again.
Not much else to report on. Will write again when we stop in Minnesota.
Friday, July 9, 2010
July 9, 2010----Sault Ste. Marie
We left the motorhome at 9:15 AM to head to St. Ignace (which was 50 miles away) to board the ferry to Macinac Island. The ferry over was on a catamaran and it took approximately 20-25 minutes to get there. Very pretty pulling into the port. No motorized vehicles are allowed on the island except for emergency vehicles only. All transportation is by bicycles, walking, horseback or horse and buggy. That is also how all the food, supplies going to and from the island is delivered,,,by horse pulling carts. The island is absolutely beautiful. Hanging flowers everywherek, and it is spotless. There are people assigned to just cleaning up after the horses. All the horse poop is made into fertilizer and used for the gardens and grass on the island and because there is so much of it, it is sold to Home Depot and Lowes in bags. During peak season there are about 650 horses on the island.
When we arrived we purchased tickets for a horse and carriage ride around the island. We had to wait about an hour for the tour to begin so we had lunch at a nice little pub. Food was delicious. The carriage ride was excellent. We learned a lot about the island and the horses that we would never have known if not for our tour guide/driver.
Weather was beautiful and we had another wonderful day.
When we arrived we purchased tickets for a horse and carriage ride around the island. We had to wait about an hour for the tour to begin so we had lunch at a nice little pub. Food was delicious. The carriage ride was excellent. We learned a lot about the island and the horses that we would never have known if not for our tour guide/driver.
Weather was beautiful and we had another wonderful day.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Arrived in Michigan............July 8, 2010
Well it is Thursday, July 8, 2010. We are back in the good old United States. The ride through Canada was a quiet one. Not much traffic at all. Some construction though. The roads aren't very good either. After Jesse spent a week washing and waxing the coach, it is now full of dust from the roads in Canada,,,,the car is filthy. We need to find a car wash tomorrow since we can't see out of the windows,,,,unbelievable. Not use to having things dirty like that.
Well gas in Canada is very high and we filled the tank before heading into Canada. We didn't have enough gas to get back to the U.S. so we were told to put in just enough gas to get back to the U.S. Soooo, Jesse being the wise man that he is, figured out just how many liters of fuel we would need and he estimated we needed 80 liters,,,,well I filled the tank and put in 81 for good measure. Well we were on the International Bridge heading back into the U.S. and there was a huge back up waiting to cross the border. As we are sitting on top of the bridge, I hear him mutter under his breath,,,,OH NO. Looks like we are very low on fuel and the tank is on empty. We held our breaths and when it was our turn, he told the border patrol he was nervous and that we were running out of gas. He laughed and told us we could turn the motorhome off while he inspected us. Good thing there was a gas station right after we paid the bridge toll. Oh and it cost $7.00 to cross into Canada and $11.00 to come back. We have a 75 gal tank and it took 65 gals to fill it. Don't want to come that close again. Jesse says, in the end, he is always right. I say that's debateable.
We are staying at a casino in Sault Ste. Marie tonight and tomorrow night. $10 a night with electric. Good deal that's for sure. Today was senior day at the casino so we each got $5.00 worth of free chips to play. We also had to sign up for a players card and that gave us $10.00 more to play with. So we each had $15.00 and we won a total of $15.00. Knowing what big gamblers we are, we took the $15.00 and left. So $20 for 2 nights camping and they gave us $15 back in the casino. Life is good.
Tonight we went to the Soo Locks. We arrived just in time to see a cruise ship enter the locks and watch the water rise and the ship released from the other side. It was very interesting.
The weather today was cool this morning (so nice for a change) and then around noon the sun came out and it was warm again. Tonight however, Jesse is chilly. Nice to say it is chilly again, it's been so hot.
Tomorrow we are going to Mackinac Island. Looking forward to that. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow night.
We're having a great time,,,,
Well gas in Canada is very high and we filled the tank before heading into Canada. We didn't have enough gas to get back to the U.S. so we were told to put in just enough gas to get back to the U.S. Soooo, Jesse being the wise man that he is, figured out just how many liters of fuel we would need and he estimated we needed 80 liters,,,,well I filled the tank and put in 81 for good measure. Well we were on the International Bridge heading back into the U.S. and there was a huge back up waiting to cross the border. As we are sitting on top of the bridge, I hear him mutter under his breath,,,,OH NO. Looks like we are very low on fuel and the tank is on empty. We held our breaths and when it was our turn, he told the border patrol he was nervous and that we were running out of gas. He laughed and told us we could turn the motorhome off while he inspected us. Good thing there was a gas station right after we paid the bridge toll. Oh and it cost $7.00 to cross into Canada and $11.00 to come back. We have a 75 gal tank and it took 65 gals to fill it. Don't want to come that close again. Jesse says, in the end, he is always right. I say that's debateable.
We are staying at a casino in Sault Ste. Marie tonight and tomorrow night. $10 a night with electric. Good deal that's for sure. Today was senior day at the casino so we each got $5.00 worth of free chips to play. We also had to sign up for a players card and that gave us $10.00 more to play with. So we each had $15.00 and we won a total of $15.00. Knowing what big gamblers we are, we took the $15.00 and left. So $20 for 2 nights camping and they gave us $15 back in the casino. Life is good.
Tonight we went to the Soo Locks. We arrived just in time to see a cruise ship enter the locks and watch the water rise and the ship released from the other side. It was very interesting.
The weather today was cool this morning (so nice for a change) and then around noon the sun came out and it was warm again. Tonight however, Jesse is chilly. Nice to say it is chilly again, it's been so hot.
Tomorrow we are going to Mackinac Island. Looking forward to that. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow night.
We're having a great time,,,,
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Middleboro, Ma to Westville, Ny
We left Middleboro at 7:15 this morning. It was a very hot day but with the windows open in the motorhome we had a nice breeze. We traveled 392 miles today. We are just below the Canadian border. We have about 30 minutes until we cross the border.
It was an uneventful day and when you are travelling in the motorhome, that is a good thing. We had planned on staying at a casino tonight but the weather is just too hot to boondock with no electricity or air conditioning. We decided to stay in a campground and when we turned off the motorhome it was 97 degrees in the coach,,,,,yikes it is hot. It is now 8:30 and the air conditioning has been running for several hours so it is nice and cool in here. We did go to the casino where we planned on staying overnight and had supper there,,,,,,terrible. If it weren't so hot in the motorhome we'd have eaten here but we thought we'd give it a chance to cool down a bit. The casinos sure aren't like Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun. You could walk the whole thing in 5 minutes. We hadn't planned on gambling (not somethng we enjoy) but were hoping to be in air conditioning and get some walking in,,,,NOT.
Not much to say about this day,,,,,tomorrow we will be in Canada and are planning on driving a little over 300 miles to get to our next destination. Hopefully they have free WiFi so I can post. If not, I'll have to catch up on Thursday night when we get to Michigan.
That's it for now.
It was an uneventful day and when you are travelling in the motorhome, that is a good thing. We had planned on staying at a casino tonight but the weather is just too hot to boondock with no electricity or air conditioning. We decided to stay in a campground and when we turned off the motorhome it was 97 degrees in the coach,,,,,yikes it is hot. It is now 8:30 and the air conditioning has been running for several hours so it is nice and cool in here. We did go to the casino where we planned on staying overnight and had supper there,,,,,,terrible. If it weren't so hot in the motorhome we'd have eaten here but we thought we'd give it a chance to cool down a bit. The casinos sure aren't like Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun. You could walk the whole thing in 5 minutes. We hadn't planned on gambling (not somethng we enjoy) but were hoping to be in air conditioning and get some walking in,,,,NOT.
Not much to say about this day,,,,,tomorrow we will be in Canada and are planning on driving a little over 300 miles to get to our next destination. Hopefully they have free WiFi so I can post. If not, I'll have to catch up on Thursday night when we get to Michigan.
That's it for now.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
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