US Trip Part 4 September 14- September 23

Day 25 Wednesday Sept 14
We got started in the morning and low and behold the alternator on the motor home was not generating. Drats. Also, the anit-lock brake light was blinking. Drove into Mitchell and a truck repair place said he could not get to me today. Recommended a place in Sioux Falls so off we went the 75 miles with no battery charging and the ABS light blinking more rapidly. Turned out it was the alternator and it would be shipped to the shop on Friday between 10 and 11. So we dry camped in their parking lot for two nights.
Drove 75 miles today.

Day 26 Thursday September 15
Decided to go back to Mitchell to see the famous Corn Palace since we had a day of rest. It is a community center. We had lunch there, sloppy joe’s. It turns out it was free senior day and they had a band so Judy and I went down to the dance floor (aka basketball court) and danced. It turns out that the corn murals are redone every year both inside and out at a cost of around $100,000 and this is the third palace they have built. Drove back home and enjoyed dinner and reading. Gave the generator a work out since we do not use it very often.

Day 27 Friday September 16
Man came about 10:30 to get the motor home. I had to back it into a very narrow door. Oooh! We left in Goldie and went to McDonalds to use their internet. After two hours we went back and they said they needed another hour, so much for the two hour estimate. Cost$ Let’s say Judy may need to go back to work. Went to another shop who works on Spartan chassis to check out the ABS system. Guess want, no computer plug in so they can check the codes. What do they expect for 1998? However, the plug in may be hiding some where. So off we drove after 3 pm and headed East on I-90 and drove to Fairmont and a very nice RV park, the Flying Goose taking spot 62. We had a nice dinner of pork steaks and rice sans roni. Don’t ask.
Drove 128 miles.

Day 28 Saturday September 17
Left Fairmont and headed East again on I-90. Stopped after 50 miles and filled up the motor home with diesel. We crossed over the Mississippi river going from Minnesota into Wisconsin. First for Judy to see the Mississippi R. and Wisconsin. For the night we stopped at Lyndon Junction at the Yukon Trails Camping spot 119. That is after making a wrong turn because the RV book’s directions were not clear. Ended up on small country road and having to take Goldie off so we could turn around. We went into town for dinner eating in a Milwaukee Road theme restaurant , as the Milwaukee Road used to go through town on the way to St. Paul, Minnesota. Good prime rib dinner.
Drove 267 miles today.

Day 29 Sunday September 18
Left Lyndon Station and continued East on I-90 taking I-94 to Milwaukee. Took the I-894 bypass to the south. Bad move as there was lots of construction and narrow lanes and curves. Back on I-94 got off at exit 326, Seven Mile Road, and went two miles East to highway 38. Then 4 tenths miles to Yogi Bear Jellystone Park taking space 14. It would be a fun place for kids. Got set up and then headed to cousin Doris and Ed's house. Very nice visit and dinner. Three of the four kids were there too. Great fun seeing them again and for Judy to meet them.

Day 30 Monday September 19
Goofed off all morning and then went shopping. Cousin Jim came for dinner. Judy had made spaghetti dinner. We have a very enjoyable evening talking.

Day 31 Tuesday September 20
Left Jelleystone RV Camp and went back to I-94 North and then West. Traffic not too bad until we came to the construction. Slow for many miles Lots of fun with the trucks on the road. At Lake Winnebago we turned West on US 10. At Steven’s Point we went North on 53 to Wausau and then West on hwy 29 and then North on 53. At Chippewa Falls we got off the freeway at exit 99 and went to hwy 124 then North to county road B. Turned right for a mile to O’Neal Camp taking space 405. It was very windy today with gusty SW winds. Whew.
Drove 321 miles

Day 32 Wednesday Sept 21
Left Chippewa Falls and went 167 miles to Duluth, MN taking the hwy 2 bypass to I-35 south. Along the way we saw a moose. Wanted to go to a public campground and could not find it. We called Buffalo Hill Campground and the owner directed us to his place which was off I-35 exit 245. We took space 31 in a nice wooded setting with lots of space.. We called Judy’s friend Marshall and went to see him. We went out to dinner at a very nice restaurant then went back to Marshall’s apartment to chat. He had desert for us as well as some presents. I found him a very delightful 84 year old man. Judy and Marshall had a very nice time remembering the past and catching up lives to the present.
Drove 167 miles today.

Day 32 Thursday September 22
We slept in late after getting to bed late. We then drove up the North shore on hwy 61. Stopped at several beaches on the way to the town of Two Harbors with it’s light house and iron ore loading facilities. We also stopped at several shops finally ending up at Gooseberry Falls State Park where there is a series of water falls. Went to the lower falls where we had our picture taken and I went to the middle falls. A very pretty drive. We had BLT’s for dinner, yummy.

Day 33 Friday September 23
We left Duluth, MN and headed south on I-35. Lots of construction all over the place. We went through St. Paul to I 94 East to exit 88. Spent the night at Stony Creek RV Resort space 33. Too fancy a place for us.
Drove 242 miles today.

Part 3 September 6-September 13

Day 17 Tuesday September 6
We left Helena and headed South on I-15 to exit 192 taking highway 287 South to I-90. We drove East on I-90 to Billings, Montana. We spent the night at Yellowstone River RV Park space 46.
Drove 248 miles today.

Day 18 Wednesday September 7
Left the Billings park and headed East on I-90. At the junction with I-25 went south one mile to exit 199 in Buffalo, Wyoming to Indian Campground and RV Park space B-1.
Drove 164 miles today.

Day 19 Thursday September 8
Left Buffalo and head East on I-90. Got off at exit 61 in Rapid City, South Dakota and took the truck route to hwy 16. A short distance North on 16 we stopped at Lazy J RV Park, space 44. We had a very pleasant drive today.
Drove 228 miles today.

Day 20 Friday September 9
Today we went to Mount Rushmore and saw the presidents. Not too may people as the kids were back in school and the weather was great. Temperature in the 70’s and sunny. After eating our lunch there we drove highway 244 East to highway 16 and went North to Hill City where we stopped at a rock shop and looked around. We continued to a KOA Campground where we plan to go Saturday night for German food and music. Met some nice people there getting the music and food ready. Drove by Pactola Lake (reservoir) .We continued driving back to Rapid City. After dinner we went to the Western Dakota Gem and Mineral Society meeting which was held in a senior center on the West side of town. Lots of nice people there. I donated some copper ore Judy and I got at the Argo mine near Helena for there drawing. They told me of some places to go where I might find some Fairburn agates and some gumball agates. Fun day. Judy was surprised that there are mountains here in South Dakota with lots of trees and lakes and streams.

Day 21 Saturday September 10
Busy and fun day. We got up early and drove 40 miles to Scenic, SD and then drove about 1.25 miles into the bad lands, actually, the Badlands National Grasslands and went rock hounding. We found a area with lots of nice agates and jasper. Went back home for lunch. Then we headed off to the Crazy Horse Monument. We spent a few hours looking at the native American exhibits as well as the Crazy Horse sculpture. Judy and I then went to Polkapalooza, a German Oktoberfest early, with brats, sauerkraut, and German potato salad and beer. And the dancing. polka’s, rock and roll, chicken dance, etc. Lots of fun. Driving back home we were passing Mount Rushmore and remembered the 8 pm light show so we swung in to see it.
It was very nice. Whew.

Day 22 Sunday September 11
We went to church this morning at the Catholic cathedral. It was a more modern church compared to the one we went to in Helena. After lunch we went to Custer state park and did the wildlife drive. We saw antelope, wild donkeys, prairie dogs and one bison. The big bison herd was not visible from the road.

There are some tunnels on the Iron Mt. portion of the drive which gives a direct view of Mount Rushmore. The road goes through what is called the needles which is very spectacular with the granite spires. The special spire is called the eye of the needle for obvious reasons.
Since we took a slow drive and stopped at many places it was getting late so we went out to dinner at a local non-tourist place and the food was very good.

Day 23 Monday September 12
Today we went to Badlands National Park. We took the freeway past Wall Drug and went to the Eastern entrance. After stopping at the visitor center and watching a video, we headed out on the drive. We stopped at most of the overlooks, etc and enjoyed a windy lunch. Along the drive we saw prairie dogs, mountain sheep, and bison.
A very enjoyable day.

Day 24 Tuesday September 13
We left Rapid City and headed East on I-90. We just had to stop at Wall Drug just to say Judy had been there. Crossed over the Missouri R. and for Judy the first time seeing the river outside of Montana. Continuing on we drove to Mitchell, South Dakota, home of the “famous” Corn Palace. Didn’t go there. Spent the night at Famil-E-Fun Camp. This was a very nice place in amongst the trees.

US Trip Part 2 August 29-September 5

Day 9 Monday August 29
We goofed off in the morning then went shopping a little then headed off to Matt and Linda’s for dinner. Judy and Linda went visiting an old friend and coworker. Meanwhile, I went with Matt to pick up his car that was in the shop. They forced me, ha ha, to cook what I call Mexican stir fry for dinner. We had a very nice evening with me listening to old stories of work, friends and family.

Day 10 Tuesday August 30
We left Kalispell late in the morning and headed East on 35 after getting some diesel. Then took highway 83 south to Swan Lake. This road was at the base of the Bob Marshall Mountains Wilderness It was a very beautiful drive on a fairly good road. Just past Seely Lake, we took highway 200 to Lincoln. It was in Lincoln that Ted Kazenski (?) the uni-bomber lived. We found Sleepy Hollow RV park and got space 11 after the owner tried to get me to back into another space that I could not turn into. We will be spending two nights here as I want to go to a rock hound area to try finding some pyrite crystals.Drove 157 miles today.

Day 11 Wednesday August 31
Rock hounding day. We went Northwest out of Lincoln 15 miles up into the mountains. We were looking for pyrite crystals up to 2 inches in some green rock. Well we did find a few, one about a inch and a few smaller ones. It as a lot of work breaking apart rock. And it was raining so we quit before we got sopping wet. We went to a spot on the Blackfoot river about 12 miles west of Lincoln where we were suppose to find agates. I checked it out and found a few. Still raining. We went back home and ate lunch. Then we went for a drive looking for some mines but they were private. We eventually went back to the spot on the river and found quite a few pieces of agate.
It was sunny and nice. Went back home and had a very nice dinner. Fun day.

Day 12 Thursday September 1
We left Lincoln and headed back West on hwy 200 then took 401 south to US 12. At 12 we turned left East to Helena, where we headed North on I-15 to exit 200. We went left for about a mile to Lincoln Rd RV park space 33. It turned from sunny to stormy, thunderstorms before calming down by night time. We went to the store to get a prescription filled and a few groceries.Drove 90 miles today.

Day 13 Friday September 2
We drove into town, stopping a Macy’s to look for some special shoes for Judy. Finding none, we drove through Carroll College campus where Judy’s daughter Molly went to college. Then we went to the capital building and looked around. Realized if forgot my camera back home. It was very beautiful inside and since the legislature was not in session we could go all over. Ate lunch in the cafeteria. Then we went the state museum. It had a whole bunch of Charles Russell paintings and sculptures. They also had exhibits from prehistoric time up to the present. A very fun place to visit.

Day 14 Saturday September 3
Today was a day of sightseeing and rockhounding. We left the campground and headed East to Hauser lake which is formed by a dam. A very pretty place. All the campgrounds were full.. We then went to hwy 280 and then to Canyon Ferry on the East side of the Missouri River which was dammed to form a many mile lake. We drove about 7 miles south on 284 to the Hell’s Gate Gulch. We then drove 5.6 miles up into the mountains on a windy somewhat rough and interesting road. Goldie came through as usual. We went to the Argo mine which was mining copper many years ago. Judy and I spent quite a few hours scouring the tailing pile for azurite and malachite copper ores. We found some really nice samples. We then went back to hwy 284 and continued South to US 12 and back to Helena and then North to our home on Lincoln Rd. A very fun day.

Day 15 Sunday September 4
Today was a sightseeing and rockhounding day after going to Mass at the cathedral. We headed West on Lincoln Rd to the turnoff to Marysville which is an almost ghost town. It was a big mining area and the town was abandoned but today people have moved back in. Also, the big gold mine that closed many, many years ago is now reopened and is reported to be getting out more gold than in the mine’s peak when 5000 people lived in the town. We took off on forest service roads making a 60 mile loop through the mountains. There were many old abandoned mines in the area. We stopped by some of them and checked out the tailing piles. We did find some rocks with crystal pockets but nothing outstanding. The day was sunny and warm. We did see a small fire near the top of one of the mountains. When we got back home we did the laundry. Great day.

Day 16 Monday September 5
Happy Labor Day. Today was another sightseeing and rockhound day. After breakfast, we drove South to Montana City, 13 miles south of the RV Park. Along the frontage road was a spot to get jasper and agate. We did find some material but not the best. It was hot so we quit. We headed South again on I-15 to Boulder City and headed East on 69 to Elkhorn “Ghost town”, of which most of the land was private with lots of no trespassing signs. Also most of the mines were inaccessible too. We ate lunch in a nice picnic area. Back home we had a nice dinner of kabobs outside as the temperature was lower. The air is full of smoke and it appears to be coming from the direction of the fire we saw yesterday. checked on the internet and it was that fire.