Kit and Carol on the Road

Tomorrow we are heading north to Minnesota. We will probably be staying again in public parks so you may not hear from us for awhile.

Bicycling on the "Iowa Great Lakes trail--along a series of lakes south of Spirit Lake, Iowa 

Sunday (8/28)we left South Dakota, cut through Minnesota, and settled into Iowa for a few nights. The view along the way is pretty much corn and soybeans (We learned about soybeans from Roy and I am waiting for mine to get ripe). Iowa has some big wind mills like the ones on the wind farms in California. You can always tell when you are coming to a town because you can see the water tower and grain elevators from afar. Even the tiniest towns are tidy, and they all have optomistic mottos like: "a great place to live". We are staying in Iowa's resort country--"the great lakes of Iowa". Luckily resort season is mostly over. We found a great bike trail that goes nearby--partly on old railroad and partly on the streets. Kit went north to Minnesota yesterday and we both went south today--20 miles RT. (Monday) Hopefully I'll have a photo to post later today. Then we drove 20 miles to a fabric store in Spencer. It's hot (85) and humid here but there is a bit of breeze. Diesel was $2.50 in Huron, SD but we paid $2.55 here.

Cousin Roy (and Kit) with his restored Nash. 

Nellie the Navigator did an excellent job of locating Roy and Donna's farm outside of DeSmet and she also found cousins Carrie and Lois. The missing Carrie is now found--she is alive and well, but her memory is gone and she doesn't remember Mom. We had a nice visit with Lois too. Roy and Donna took us around to see all the old family homestead sites--AND fed us a wonderful home grown lunch. One of the highlights of our South Dakota stay was following a bake sale sign on the backroads. We ended up in a Hutterite community (not as strict as Amish but they are a traditional farm based community of German heritage). Besides tons of wonderful baked goods they were having a lunch for $3.(Turkey sandwich, potato salad, all kinds of pickles--and dessert). We chatted with some teachers from Huron who sat across the table.

Nebraska sunflowers. We saw lots in South Dakota too. 

Headed back to South Dakota and Pierre—the state capital and one of its hottest places. We camped right on the Missouri River (like Lewis and Clark) in the city park, biked to the State Capitol building and along the “Lewis and Clark bike trail”, took our truck to the Dodge dealer a few blocks away for some repair work, AND found a great restaurant within biking distance. Heading East the next afternoon we headed under some awesome looking thunder-clouds-in-the making. Kit noted that cold front was meeting warm front –the typical tornado forming pattern—BUT it was the wrong time of year. That night in DeSmet we heard tornado warnings for places to the north and south of us—and had some heavy thunder storm rain in the night.

When we discovered that the Black Hills were so close to Nebraska, we decided to take a little side trip. Just over the border we found Chandon State Park, a nice place to stay. At this time of year the camps are pretty deserted. The kids have gone back to school so no families on the road. Took a daytrip loop, which included Carhenge (a model of Stonehenge made with old cars). This is one of the most un-touristy tourist traps we have ever seen. It just sits there in a field with no admission, no gift shop, no people around… And not far away was small town Nebraska in the form of Alliance, where people are friendly and there was a fabric shop. From there we went to Fort Robinson which we discovered was not only the Indian outpost and place where Crazy Horse was killed, but also the site where Olympic polo ponies and dog soldiers were trained, and later in WW2 it was a German PW camp. Enough of Nebraska, the sunflower state (according to me).

Carhenge in NW Nebraska gets our vote for favorite off beat tourist attraction. 

Mammoth Site in Hot Springs was one of the highlights of our Black Hills visit. There are bones of hundred of mammoths. 

George on the Rocks. A free profile view of Mt. Rushmore. We liked the rocks best. 

Riding on the Black Hills bike trail. 

We know for sure we are in The East now. We walked through a patch of poison ivy today –being careful to stay on the trail of course. When we arrived in the Black Hills and had to pass through Deadwood, I was almost ready to turn around. I could not in my wildest imaginings have guessed a place could become so “touristified”. Luckily much of the Black Hills is still “wild and pure”. Our camp is very nice—almost like a state park but at twice the price. We LOVED the Michaelson bike trail which passes by here. It’s a 109 mile trail and we only rode 13 miles of it (round trip=26). Made a truck trip to see Mt Rushmore but the “free remote” parking lots were all blocked off so we saw it from the highway. No highway parking robbery for us. Did the same with Crazy Horse today. Visited an awesome quilt shop, a winery, and had buffalo fajita wraps at the local brewpub. Life is fine. Today we drove the Needles Highway and the wildlife loop of Custer State Park. Saw the obligatory buffalo, pronghorn, and prairie dogs. In between we did a 3 mile loop hike through high mountain pine and a green wet canyon where we saw the aforementioned ivy. Now it’s time to do laundry. Tomorrow we pack up and go to Nebraska. Diesel is still $2.69 and grocery stores are pretty lean.

Kit coming through a narrow tunnel on the Needles Highway 

We are now in the EAST. (clue: 1)Howard Johnson's, 2)no trees.) The Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument is not RV friendly although there were lots there today. We turned tail and took Alice to the 7th Ranch RV park nearby where we are now watching the sunset. (Wow!) Had a nicer LBH adventure with just the truck, although the rain chased us away in late afternoon. Even after a Ranger talk, and a video, and a walk and drive through the park, I still do not understand exactly what happened here. The logistics are complicated. There are very visual reminders of where soldiers and Indians fell-- stark white markers in the short grass prairie. The distances involved and the variety of terrain are mind blowing.

Tomorrow we are off for the Black Hills of South Dakota--we have reservations. Diesel is $2.69 hereabouts.

Little Big Horn National Monument. This marker notes the spot where Custer "fell". 

Montana sun toasts the grasses that cover the hillsides. Montana wind can blow incessantly. Montana land, says Mike, our host, cannot be left wild but must be grazed or irrigated and harvested—to keep the fire at bay. Montana storms bring fire to the land. (The interstate was closed west of here for a time early this month and just yesterday our neighbors saw fire to the east.) Montana rivers seem to teem with fish, but are drained to fill the irrigation canals that line the landscape. (Land without water rights is barren) Montana trees hug the shores of streams and rivers, and huddle around established homesteads. Montana cows are all black, none of the gentler dairy breeds here. Montana sheep, we are told, still dot the land… but we have not seen them yet. Many Montana ranches have been in families for generations, but many also now belong to wealthy easterners. Ranches nearer the growing cities have been subdivided into 1 acre plots.
Montana rains damp the dust and rumble through the night. Going east, surprise! There are trees on the hills--but up over a hill into real prairie.

Big Timber is the epitome of small town America. (We think) Though it's just off the freeway it's a long ways to the nearest WalMart or the like. It's a town where perhaps I would choose to retire, if I were not totally happy on Guemes. Besides being in beautiful country, it's a little town that has everything: ACE hardware, a store that sells underwear and socks and other useful things, a drug store that still has a soda fountain, and a wonderful quilt store! There is no book store but there is a fine old Carnegie library. There are some fine old houses with well kept yards right in the center of town, and lovely old churches (including UCC) It's great biking and hiking country--not to mention fishing (2 boys caught fish just behind our trailer this morning). And I best put in a rave for the Spring Creek Campground which is 2 miles out of town and one of the best RV parks we've encountered. (We've been here before). People are friendly--I spent a long time at the quilt shop talking to people and watching the machine quilters at work. OK--you get the idea we like it here. (Sorry Kathi D--we still haven't been to Red Lodge)
UPDATE: I have since found out that the town was originally a logging town --before all the trees were cut--and lots of Norwegians lived here. Now the economy is stablized by a huge gold/platinum mine in the area (51% has recently been purchased by Russians). The city library is seeking to expand it's existing Carnegie building (rather than tear it down and start over). There is a WONDERFUL restaurant at the 1880's Grand Hotel--food rivals any we've had in California.

Frog is getting ready for dinner at our campsite in Big Timber. (You'll note he does not get a glass of wine) 

A deer crossing the Madison River near where it joins with the Jefferson to form the Missouri. 

Montana State Capitol in Helena 

Not only is the Spring Creek Campground in Big Timber, MT one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever stayed—but they have free WiFi (=unlimited internet use). We got our favorite spot—the Boulder River running just outside our back windows. Plan to take a “do nothing” day here—as Rick Steves says: a vacation from our vacation.

Sunday is either the best of days or the worst to visit a state capital. We left this morning for the Last Chance Tour Train—only to discover it doesn’t run on Sundays. Actually most of the town in closed on Sunday—which makes it nice for walking. We did our own walking tour instead. Loved the mansions and fine old houses from the mining era. The capitol building was open but we didn’t stay for the tour because we hadn’t had lunch. I did get to ride the Great Northern Carousel. This afternoon we had a nice bike ride in the country—this state capital (Helena) is not a huge metropolis. A pleasant enough day…. Until I discovered that what I had thought was a pretty fine RV park charges $3 for 15 minutes of modem use—NO WAY!—I am giving low marks to the Helena RV Park and Campground.

Since Kit does most of the driving I have always been the navigator. Now we have Nellie who delights in telling us where to go. Nellie is what I have named our new GPS navigation system. But I still have the POWER to shut her off. Actually along with a (paper) map which gives the big picture, Nellie’s helpful location information can be an asset. She tried to tell us to go the “wrong way” to get to our RV park in Helena—well actually it just turned out to be a weird way. I followed the map.

We are settled into an RV park for 3 nights but that doesn’t mean we sit still. Put in 160 miles today—mostly at less than 35 miles an hour. We went over the Going to the Sun Highway (otherwise known as Hairy Scary). Logan Pass was definitely worth the drive. We took a break for a hike through what they call the hanging gardens—to the Hidden Lake overlook. Even though the wildflowers were somewhat past prime, the meadows were still bright with primary colors. AND we got to see Mountain goats—one even came by and posed for a photo. The views of mountains and fog were spectacular. The trail was a steady stream of people. Though it was already well into afternoon when we came down from the hike, we continued on because we had to go to Many Glaciers (so said Fred) and we didn’t want to do another trip over this road. Finally found a place to park and did a short hike (2 mi) to look at some lakes: More gorgeous scenery AND we got to see bears –high up on the hill luckily. Came back home over the Going to Hail Highway. Wow! Luckily the storm was short. Now back at camp, Kit has gone to the shower and we are getting a thunder shower. He may be doubly wet.

Hidden Lakes Overlook (Logan Pass) Glacier National Park 

Mountain goat sneaks up on us --trail to Hidden Lake Overlook in Glacier. 

Monday morning after leaving Anacortes, we stopped for breakfast with Gwen and Jim (who had just driven out from Maryland in 4 days). We can’t even imagine 1000 miles a day. 250 miles is a horrible long day for us and we have just done two back to back. Of course –the measure of a day is directly proportionate to rise in temperature and altitude. The first day we went from a cool salubrious morning on Fidalgo Bay, through some valley fog, and up over the mountain into double digits. At 10pm it was still 83 degrees.
Also there was a lot of up and downs —poor Wayne worked hard. I took in the green and wild river over Stevens Pass in preparation for the browns and lazy reservoir of the coulee country. We enjoyed driving through the “amber fields of grain”. Today we saw them harvesting the wheat.

We spent Monday night at Grand Coulee –pushed to get there as we wanted to see the laser light show. It was truly awesome! (if you ignored the propaganda aspect of the show). No reason to hang around there today. I wanted to side trip to Fort Spokane which sounded interesting –but the visitor center was closed. We barely got reservations at the RV park where we are tonight on Lake Pend Orielle in Idaho. And when we got here the restaurant was closed. (this was to be the bonus of a longer drive). We did get salad and beer and a great view of the lake. Have to move on tomorrow. No room in this inn. August is NOT a great time to travel.

Some friends come to our going away party at Susan BC's on Sunday eve --we leave on the 8:30ferry 

Frog is enjoying the cool evening breezes on our porch. Getting ready to head east into the hot. 

It is truly a hard thing to leave home, knowing we will be gone a LONG time. There have been so many things to arrange--all the little stresses. But we are committed now. Tomorrow there is a going away party at Susan's and then we catch the 8:30pm ferry (high tide) to town. We already have reservations at Fidalgo RV Park.
As for this weekend--we are enjoying the island, and the Anacortes Arts Fest. Tonight the Paperboys are playing in town and they are our favorite band. We are also soaking up the cool for a long stretch of hot we anticipate as we travel east.