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...
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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.
Day 3 from Swan Valley, ID to Cody, WY. The route would take us through Grand Teton National Park. The park entrance fee was $50 per vehicle unless you had a pass like our Senior Parks Pass. The above shots were working our way to the park. The next couple were as we transited the park. Almost immediately leaving the park we arrived at Yellowstone. Well after a scenic detour to go over the continental divide. We would cross the divide 5 times on this special day and we finally figured out we should take a photo. I will post it later as that was actually in Yellowstone. The fee at Yellowstone without a pass was $75 per vehicle. That lifetime senior pass saved us a bunch today. The first stop in the park was Lewis Falls. Then the Continental Divide. The only other interesting picture of the day was in Jackson, Wy. We met our friends in Cody, Wy at the Absaroka RV park. We traveled 308.7 miles for the day.
Day 2 was intended to be easy and we decided to do some touring. First stop was Shoshone Falls. The Falls and the basalt cliffs surrounding it are relics of the Booneville Flood a catastrophic torrent that ripped through the canyon 15,000 years ago. The falls tumble 212 feet to the canyon floor. Even though we were dealing with smoky skies the views were terrific. They also have a beautiful park with picnic tables. Absolutely a great stop that was not originally planned. The next scenic destination was the Craters of the Moon National Monument. These vast volumes of lava issued not from one volcano but a series of deep fissures known as the Great Rift that cross the Snake River plains. The most recent eruption was 2000 years ago. The visitor center was closed due to covid and the scenery, while spectacular, did not lend itself well to photos. The skies were grey and smoky and there was rain in the air. We stopped for the night at Sleepy Bear RV Par...
First day on the road 531 miles in smoky conditions very similar to what we left at home. Stopped in Angel Lake RV Park in Wells, NV. I have a photo of the rising sun as we left Lake County and it was orange due to the smoky haze. Conditions remained the same as we transited the desert, able to see the mountains on each side but certainly not clearly. Other than that the day was uneventful and not much to write about. Easy day tomorrow to Swan Valley, ID stopping short of the park so we can spend a good day Sunday driving through Yellowstone National. Hope to have clearer skies and many photo opportunities then.
We have been talking about going back to Maine since the visit in 2018 and getting a fill of lobster. The memory of the sweetness and fresh taste has stayed with us since that trip and we have decided the time has come to venture back and get some more. Much like the trip in 2018 we will take some time getting back there as we will travel through Idaho to Wyoming where we will hook up with some long time friends for a few days around Mt Rushmore and the Badlands. We will then visit family and friends in Wisconsin and Illinois before continuing east to Tremont, Me near Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. We have a campground reserved for 2 weeks there before heading south to Gulf Shores, Al to visit family and attend the shrimp festival before turning west. We depart Fri Aug 20 and the return date is Oct 17. This initial post is designed to get this blog started which has been requested by a few people so we can send them the link. The next entry will pr...