This trip started with a few goals in mind. Visit people in IL the timeframe of Aug 27- Sept 6. The vacation until early Oct and the visit people before heading home. The first part of the visitation aspect was successfully completed. Heading east and into Ohio things were derailed. Deb's Mom passed away and everything was changed. Not sure when we will get home but the vacation has been cancelled thus ending the blog. This is the final post.
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Today was a sunny 300.5 miles as we moved east and managed to get to Williamstown, OH. Mostly two lane highway as we stayed off the interstate as much as possible. Generally not smooth but considering it was a holiday also very empty. We had the road mostly to ourselves. So far on this trip we have only managed one gas stop at less than $3.00 a gallon. Here in Ohio it runs about $3.09. The only photo we took was one of a sign of the town of Remington, IN since our eldest granddaughter's name is Remington. Might post it later. Total miles traveled to date 3374.7. Tomorrow we will head to NY and set up for the night possibly in Harpursville. That will allow some leisure travel the next couple days through the mountains before reaching Maine on Sat.
We have come to the end of this part of the friend visitation portion of this trip. Today, Sunday 9/6 we're spending the last day in Bloomington, IL These are people Deb has known for almost 50 years. The last week has been visits with her Aunt and high school friend, a couple she has known since college and this couple. Tomorrow we get back on the road and head east. Next sightseeing stop will be Mt Washington in New Hampshire. We will spend 2 nights there before ending up in the campground in Maine on Sat 9/11. The distance from here to Maine is just over 1400 miles. After tomorrow's travel I will post the days and the trips total miles so far. I know from research that wifi will be spotty over the next few days but I will try to post as often as possible now that we are back to the scenic portion of the trip. Til next time.
Days 7+8. Travel days as we are headed for South Beloit, Il and Deb's Aunt's house. We left Rapid City nice and early under the forecast of rain all day. Fortunately we did not experience any rain during the 466.5 miles covered. We set up camp in Welcome, MN at Checkers Campground. Nice facility with lots of trees and space between the spaces. That night we had a forceful thunderstorm that rained very hard. We got a nice break from the rain in the morning that allowed us to almost get completely closed up before it started again. The the rain started and we spent the next 6 hours driving in heavy rain showers. Just south of The Dells, WI the skies broke the sun came out and the temperature rose nearly 20 degrees. We heard from our friends in Rapid City that the storm we experienced in Welcome hit them even harder. Heavy downpours and hail big enough to damage their rigs, breaking vent covers and damaging the jeep they pull behind. We will be here in So Beloit until Tue morning...
Rapid City day 2 was tour day. We drove down to Custer State Park and started with the Wildlife Loop Rd. The drive is slow as the park is home to more than 1500 Bison/Buffalo. While it is not uncommon for them to be in the roadway they decided to stay a ways away. Completing the loop took a while and we did eventually see one Bison walking down the middle of the road but a camera malfunction prevented that photo. He then wandered off the road into the grass and almost disappeared but I got this. Hard to believe that was a 1 ton animal. After the park we took Iron Mountain Rd toward Mt Rushmore. The Black Hills are a scenic wonderland. Iron Mountain Rd is route 16A and is a must drive to access the monument. Slow with numerous switchbacks and a few one lane tunnels the views of the monument are fabulous. Through the tunnels the monument is framed as you leave the tunnel. The road is called a pigs tail because of the 3 times it circles back on itself traveling under the road you jus...
Day 5 is another short road day. Gillette to Rapid City via Devils Tower. In 1906 Pres Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower the first national monument. The Tower rises 867 feet from the base and is 1267 feet above the river. The diameter at the base is 1000 feet. I had to include a photo of Deb so you would know she was here, LOL. Miles only 236.4 for the day but after the tower included a drive through Sturgis. You can certainly tell the ONLY thing that matters there is Harley motorcycles. We will be staying here in Rapid City for 2 nights and tomorrow is a sighting day.
Day 4 Cody to Gillette, Wy. This took us through the Big Horn National Forest. This was a wonderful scenic ride and here are some of the photos. Uneventful short driving drive ending at the Green Trees Crazy Woman Campground. Reasonable location but the wifi was worthless. We were awakened by a rock pit operation not far away at 5:30 am. That was fine as we wanted an early start heading for Rapid City, SD via Devil's Tower. Total miles for the day 303.