Butte con't--May 31,2010

Today the sun was actually shineing until early afternoon and then it clouded up and has rained. We spent about an hour and a half on a trolley tour of the town. He took us all over the town and told us about the ups and downs of the town which was tied to mining of different minerals. At one time the town had 100,000 people. It is considered the "Richest Hill on Earth". They say that there is more mineral here than what they have all ready removed. This is where a lot of the unions began also. When it was over we went for the famous Pork Chop Sandwich( at least in this area). It was very good and followed by a Huckleberry Smoothie.

After a nap by Marvin, he and Dee and I went to tour the Clark Mansion and it was very interesting, but still needs a lot of work to be brought back to its original look. It is now a B&B and is being worked on. We also visited an original hotel that is still running and it was spectacular inside. Don't know what the rooms looked like but the public areas were beautiful--done in art deco. We went driving around and looking at areas we had never been in--interesting.

Butte con't----May 30, 2010

We all went to church today. Dee and Marvin to a Baptist and Bob and I to the Serbian Orthodox. Their churches are always painted with pictures of their saints, Mary and Christ, but this one had the entire inside painted even the ceiling.There is a lot of liturgy and responses by the people and the priest. Afterward we went back to the coach to await a call from Marv and Dee to meet for lunch--their church started after ours. We had lunch at the Hanging Five, it was very busy but fast and good. We almost always bring back half of what we order because we can't eat it all at one setting anymore.

We all went home and Dee and Marvin rested and later Bob took me back to the Mine Museum so I could take the underground tour. He decided he didn't want to go. A young man who graduated from Montana Tech in engineering or mining was our tour guide. He has been doing this for several years and his Dad was a miner and he has talked to many of the old time miners. He and another person are preparing to write a book based on the memories of the miners from the area. We got suited up with a belt, battery and lamp and a hard hat after he explained a number of things up top first. He showed us how beginning miners started their digs and how they progressed and then we went down in a tunnel that was dug specifically for these tours but toward and included seeing the shaft to the Orphan Girl Mine. The students from the school there are still continuing to expand the tunnel for the tour. The mine is dry but about 44 degrees. The actual mine has water standing in it. When we got to about the 65' level we could look down the original shaft and see the original car that took at least 7 miners up and down to their work stations. Their were ore cars still on the tracks and he showed and told us how they drilled and blew rock out. The whole thing was very interesting but I was glad to get back home and warm up. Their thousands of miles of tunnels all under the city of Butte and it also stands on the Continental Divide fault. He said they do experience sink holes from time to time. Over the many years there have been about 2000 deaths in the mines and the worst hard mineral mine disaster was here in 1917 and 168 men were lost.

Butte con't.---May 29,2010

We all slept in a little longer Saturday. Marvin and Dee went to do their laundry and we went driving around town. Last night while reading thru a small sightseeing newspaper I saw an ad for a place called Jail House Coffee. It is Butte's first jail and is now a coffee shop, but the interesting part of the ad was that they made Povitica(the spelling is different than we know it). It is a several layered nut bread that Bob and his Mom used to make and so we went in search of it. This stuff is very labor intensive and therefore rather expensive--one piece was $3.00 but this is a memory we are talking about. On Monday unless he changes his mind he is going to buy a whole loaf.

We noticed that down the street and in the street something was going on. It was a farmer's market so down we went. Not only home grown produce and plants but also home baked goods by a Mennonite family and other things. We ended up buying a necklace and earrings for me and a pair of small sapphire earring studs for our granddaughter, Samara. They come from a mine just up the road in Phillipsburg, Montana. Also one of the men's stores on the street was having a great sale and Bob found some things and he hates to shop but they were a great buy. Right as we were leaving it started to rain which it did several times during the day. We went back to get our friends and go to lunch at the Great Harvest Bread Co.--just a small coffee shop and cafe but excellent food.

Then we headed out to the Museum of Mining behind Montana Tech--nice campus. The whole town is built on hills and valleys-up and down. They had an indoor museum which included a display of minerals and stones and a huge doll house with all the trimmings room this one lady in town had made and collected over a lifetime. Then outside it literally was a replica of the mining town of Butte with all the businesses, a church(original) and a school. It is set around a mine entrance--no longer used of course with lots of items related to mining with explanations. The whole thing was very interesting. Tomorrow after church Bob and I are going back for the underground tour. I have never been in a mine. One of the young girls working in the museum was asked by "the boys" about good places to eat and she told them about this little place that sold "Pastys"(that is pronounced with a small sounding A). It is a half moon shaped pie dough that is stuffed with very small cuts of steak, potatoes, onions and Bob's Mon put in carrots and then baked. Another memory so off we went to find "Joe's Pasty Shop" and right across from that little store stood a Greek restaurant so Bob went over to get some dessert--Baklava--another memory. Last night he said thank you for your bad eye because other wise we would not have stayed this long and found all these good memories. At least something positive came out of this infection. We also searched out a Baptist church for Marvin and Dee. We normally go with them, but another memory. There were Serbians here mining the mines years ago and so there is enough of a population that they have a church; therefore, we are going there on Sunday. Haven't been in a Serbian Church with its liturgy and icons and incense since I was pregnant with Jeremy and I had to get up and leave because the smell of the incense was making me sick. After church we will meet back up with Marvin and Dee and eat lunch somewhere and at 3pm take our underground tour. Don't know what else we may do. Normally it is a rest day for both coaches, but we will see. Signing off.

Butte, Montana--May 28,2010

We arrived yesterday and I had an appointment with another eye doctor because my eye wasn't much better since Rapid City, S.D. Phone and internet reception has been a struggle out west so when we were up on a mountain in Yellowstone and we got reception I found a doctor here in Butte and made an appointment. He put me on completely different medicine which my doctor back home had also suggested when I called him and also one eye drop. It sometimes is very difficult to get some medications in small populated areas but CVS went above and beyond until they got me some. I think it is doing better already, but the doctor suggested we settle somewhere for a few days to see how it does so we decided just to hunker down here for the holiday weekend and get some rest and catch up on paper work, laundry and haircuts. This area was founded on mines and is also know to have had the worst mine disaster in the nation--168 miners killed in a fire way back in the early 1900's. Would love to do some touring but we're not sure anything will be operating due to the holiday. We'll see. Catch you later.

Yellowstone to Butte, Montana--May 27,2010

We headed out of the park early because we knew we were going to hit a construction area in the park. We went north toward Canyon Village and then took the road across the park to Norris and then down to Madison and then out the West entrance to the town of West Yellowstone, Montana. There are approximately 3300 buffalo in the park and we saw a lot of them. This morning we were delayed for at least 20 minutes or more due to a whole herd of buffalo and their babies. A female ranger came by on foot telling us about the delay but it was an enjoyable one and we were right in the valley they were coming into. They had come down the road in front of us and crossing the road to the valley in front of us .and to our immediate left. There were approx. 150 adults and yearlings with approx. 30-40 newborns( just adorable). They came right along side the motorhome so the ranger moved to the other side and then they started on that side and she ended up between our coaches. Then at the end we saw a ranger and some other people on horseback trying to get them guided off the road. There was probably a mile or more back up going each way, but at least we got to see why. We also saw a coyote on the far side of the herd. Marvin said he saw it go toward a calf and the mother went after him. At one time we also saw a red fox and a white swan and white pelicans. We had hoped to see a wolf and a moose but not on this trip. The rangers said since the big fire they haven't seen much of the moose, but they have been seen down in the Tetons.

Forgot that on our way somewhere we pulled into a museum parking lot in the car for a bathroom break and got up close and personal with a cute marmot--got lots of pictures. Another day I saw something shaped and about the size of a badger or porcupine come sliding down a snowy hill and also a small marmot sticking his head out of a snow hole on the side of the roadway.

We stopped at West Yellowstone and ate breakfast at the Outpost Restaurant and it was very good. I love breakfast and so do Marvine and Dee. Bob is a light breakfast eater. We took Hwy 287 toward Bozeman and Butte. Beautiful country--Lake Hebgen as well as Gallatin Range and Madison Range. This would be an absolutely beautiful area to come and rent a cabin and fish or just laze around. There is also Quake Lake which was the second one almost connected. Somewhere between is a earthen dam. This is the Madison Canyon Earthquake Area it said. We got out of the mountains into more flat plains surrounded by mountains--Tobacco Mts. to our west. We also crossed the Continental Divide for the third or fourth time and arrived in Butte, Montana at our KOA campground.

Yellowstone con't.--May 26,2010

Marvin does a lot of the car driving in his jeep, but Bob also drives our Saturn to give him a break so he drove yesterday and today. Today we took the northern loop. On the road up to where that loop begins we stopped and saw the Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. We went along side the river for a long time before we got to the fall and it was all gorgeous as was the falls. We also stopped at Artist Point and Inspiration Point on the way. Mt. Washburn had lots of snow at 8835' probably 4-5' right along side the road. We ate breakfast that morning at Yellowstone Lake Hotel it also was quite magnificent and the buffet was well worth it. There were two special areas that Dee and Marvin wanted us to see for sure. One was the upper and lower falls and the other was the Mammoth Hot Springs and they certainly were worth seeing. If you haven't ever seen the Hot Springs google them to see what it says about them. There are a lot of old buildings on the grounds and a nice small museum. The elk were grazing and lounging on the grounds like no one was there. We ate lunch at the Mammoth Hot Springs Grill and the boys had their ice cream. We went out the north entrance to see the large stone archway which shows the date of the dedication of Yellowstone and drove into the town of Gardiner.

We had seen lots of buffalo and elk throughout the park, but today was a big animal day. We saw two black bears up close but not on the road and a buffalo decided he wanted to walk down the middle of the road so everyone just followed along behind in their cars until he decided to finally go off to the side.

Yellowstone con't.---May 25,2010

We are travelling with friends from Texas by the name of Marvin and Dee Curb and we have a lot in common and have a lot of fun. Marvin and Bob are so much alike and they say that Dee and I are also. The boys as Dee calls them can't seem to pass up a Dairy Queen and where that is not available they will find ice cream somewhere. She also named them on our trip last year--Hekyl and Jekyl. The other day we got to laughing so hard in the car that someone decided that Dee was Lucy(because she is a redhead) and I am Ethel. The boys are forever telling jokes to our waitresses and whomever will stand still long enough much to the embarrassment(sp) of Dee but they are always clean and they enjoy it so much.

So today we took off driving south again to make the southern circle around the park; however, due to the snow we had last night we got as far as Craig Pass or actually before it because we were stopped by a employee saying that the road was closed up there and to go back and go the other way round to Old Faithful. Yesterday going to Jackson Hole we went across the Continental Divide and from now on described as CD. Then today we did it again before we got stopped. But before we also got to see buffalo ambling across the road and later on more elk doing the same.Temps when we got up were in the 30's. You get dressed in a hurry when there is no heat. We headed back to where we started and went north just as far to Canyon Village and took the road across the middle of the park to Norris. We stopped at the mud volcanoes but they weren't
too bubbly but this one hole you have seen in pictures with this real blue green water--fantastic. The sulfur cauldron is just in a drive out in the road and is surrounded by a small fence or people would drive into it and get a wheel stuck. Their are so many geyser areas and beautiful water falls that we saw all along the way(Gibbon Falls, Firehole Falls, and Artist Paintpots).

We ate lunch in the Old Faithful Lodge and it was beautiful. Then we went out to view Old Faithful doing her thing and she was faithful. We did not walk all around the boardwalk to all the other geysers because we had been sitting out in the cold for awhile and it was time to warm up.

We headed back the way we came because of Craig Pass closure and stopped and saw some other geysers and we finally got home.

Yellowstone National Park--May 24,2010

The drive into Yellowstone, of course, was spectacular!! We drove thru Buffalo Bill State Park and Shashone National Forest thru the east entrance. We went up beautiful Sylvan Pass at 8,530' with lots of snow on the mountains, but not the road. Coming in the east entrance you go along the stop of Yellowstone Lake and it was still frozen over but just beginning to thaw along the edges. All along our trip we have seen the devastation caused by the pine bark beatle and Yellowstone was no exception but you also had lots and lots of the fire damage from the 1988 fire and others. Things are growing back and some areas are better than others. According to someone we talked to the beatle runs on a 20 year cycle and we are on year 13. We stayed in the park at the only campground that said they had full hook-ups which means electric, water and sewer; however when we arrived we were informed that the electric was unsafe and couldn't be used. We are self contained so that is ok but the price didn't change that we were charged, but we figured that to travel back and forth in and out of the park would cost us more time and money . Then the kicker---we could only run our generators(which give us electric power to run our heat system) from 8am to 8pm. Our generators run on our diesel just as our engines and we are gone all day and may not get home until 6pm so unless we ran it all day while we were gone we had a problem. Guess what the weather was like? It was in the 30's and 40's and it snowed two of the three nights we were there and there was already plenty of snow on the ground. This campsite was limited to hard sided campers. In almost every campground we have EVER been in you could run your generators beginning at 6am and up until 10pm. We like to froze our behinds off. We could run some heat and other things off of our inverter(I think that means our batteries but they must be recharged by the generator) but with the cold temps and not being able to use the generator more often we ended up one day with our batteries dead(house batteries not engine); therefore, we had to leave our engine run until we could recharge the house batteries enough to start the generator. That is the first time we ever had that problem. You learn from every problem. The lack of heat was the major disappointment with Yellowstone---burrrrrrr!!! We were at 7000' + at the time.

We saw lots of mule and white tailed deer coming into the park and lots of buffalo throughout the park. They are definitely the rulers of the park. They go wherever they want to at any time. An interesting statistic is that about 100 large animals are killed every year with $155,000 in property damage per year.

The first full day we decided to drive down to Jackson which is also called Jackson Hole, WY. We drove south out of the park and saw many thermals along the way with steam billowing out of them and began to see more elk. We drove down John D. Rockfeller,Jr. Memorial Parkway and then thru the Grand Teton National Park. Due to the inclimate weather and heavy clouds they were barely visible which was a disappointment. While in Jackson Hole we were going to go out of town to a chair lift to go up on the mountains but it was useless---we could not have seen anything. It sleeted while we were in, but got to the see square where on each corner there is an archway built of elk horns. The boy scouts go out one time a year when the elk shed their old horns and they pick them up, bring them back into town and people literaly come from around the world and they are auctioned off. People make furniture, art work and probably anything you can imagine out of these. We ate lunch at a little place called The Bunnery and boy was it good. They make their own breads and desserts and the food was delicious. Afterwards we walked around town and took a few pictures which can be difficult with a bus load of tourists roaming the streets also doing the same thing. The nice thing about travelling at this time is that you beat the big crowds; however, the down side is that some things don't open till Memorial Day. Our new montra is "not till Memorial Day".

On the way back into the park via the southern entrance the ranger at the entrance told us that a bear had been sighted just ahead after we turn right so we hurriedly headed that way and saw a school bus of kids plus some others looking over into a pasture across the Lewis River so everyone piled out and we got our binoculars and my spotting scope and even with the naked eye you could see him. Unfortunately by the time we quickly got to see him and his cub he decided to become illusive and went behind some trees so I never got my scope on him. I think the ranger said it was a grizzly. That was exciting. As we travelled back to Fishing Bridge Campground we also saw beautiful Lewis Falls and Lake. We also saw elk just walking down the road and finally saw some with new young.

Cody, Wyoming--May 23,2010

We certainly have had lousy weather 90% or more of the time, but you just can't beat the view out the windows of the motorhome. We stopped at Cody on the way to Yellowstone and could have stayed all day and night but didn't. We went to the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum and it was one of our more expensive museums, but it was well worth it. There was like 5 sections: firearms, western art, plains indiana peoples, Buffalo Bill and the American west and the nature of Yellowstone. Lots of beautiful sculpture inside and outside on the grounds. I love museums and all the history, that's a gift from my Dad. Then we walked down town to a Taco John's and grabbed lunch. Their cheese is spicy!!!!! Then we drove on to Yellowstone National Park.

Little Big Horn Battlefield--May 22, 2010

It was a long drive, but we broke it up by stopping at a small cafe for breakfast just outside the campground then stopped at a Montana visitor center where she directed Bob and Marvin to a little store in the next small town for some ice cream. That managed to get us to an area where they were working on the road and one of the pieces of the equipment had to be pulled out of the mud and there was also an accident. We also saw turkeys and pronghorned antelope.

The Battlefield museum was very good and so was the video they showed before we went onto the field. The whole area was very impressive. There is a national cemetery on the property where the soldiers were buried. There is even an area where their horses were buried. One horse survived and it is stuffed and in the High Plains Museum.

My grandfather worked for the railroad just outside where the Battlefield is located in the early 1900's in a town called Crow Agency so we tried to go there but after talking to some people from there and finding that the railroad station was no longer there and the heavens opened and it began raining we went own, but if all goes well on the way home we will try again. But in the museum at the Battlefield we saw a pistol like he had. According to my brother he obtained an 1861 Colt 36 ball and cap revolver from a cowboy in trade for a ticket somewhere.The Burlington Northern/Santa Fe still goes thru there. We are staying the night in Billings, Montana. The drive to Billings was beautiful as usual. The area was rimmed by the Beartooth Mountains and the Absaroka Range.

Devil's Tower in Wyoming--May 21,2010

We left Spearfish and arrived at Devil's Tower. It was created by magma forced into sedimentary rocks above it and cooled underground. As it cooled it contracted and fractured into columns. It is 867 feet from its base but stands 1267 feet above the river and the area at the top is 1.5 acres. It is just this huge monolith out there. We went to the museum first and then walked up to the base and decided to walk the 1.3 miles around its base even though it was gloomy and chilly and eventually we finished in a misting rain. We saw a guy running up from the river in shorts and no shirt and it was in the low 50's. Talked to some people who were going to climb it the next day. Records of climbs have been kept since 1937. Approx. 5000 climbers come from all over the world every year. Over 220 routes have been used in climbing the Tower. It is also very important to the Indians still. They come and leave prayer cloths tied to limbs. Quite a place. We stayed all night in the campground on the premises. It rained. We've had a lot of gloomy, rainy 50's. We left there early to move on.

Deadwood/Spearfish--continued

Kevin Costner has a Saloon/Casino/Restaurant right on Main Street. It is called the Midnight Star and Big & Rich are renovating an old building related to the mine for a Hotel and whatever. Kevin shows up there every so often. Very neat place to visit.

Then we went on to Spearfish which is known for the D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery. It is known for bringing Rainbow and Brown Trout to the streams of the Black Hills. The brown were transported probably as eggs from Scotland. Other trout species were tried but only these two took hold. They got the original eggs by going overland carrying a boat on a wagon to Yellowstone and did this for quite a number of years. Then they would take them from the hatchery to other places via railroad fish cars and they had a refurbished one there. It was a very interesting stop.

We also went to the High Plains Western Heritage Museum which had items related to the American Indians,mining, ranching,forestry, cowboys and rodeos and the homes of the day. It was also very interesting. But the drive thru Spearfish Canyon was breath taking with the very fast flowing creek or river along side us.

Part two of previous

They also have the only flag that flies continuously without taking down each night. It was ok'd by the government since W.W.I There are many tunnels under the town because the Chinese had their opium dens down there. It also has the only Saloon/Museum that is on the National Historic Registry. It was called the #10 Saloon. It was where Wild Bill Hickock was playing cards when Jack McCall came in and shot him in the back of the head. In the saloon they had a reenactment of the card game and shooting with the saloon keeper being Bob Price and one of the card players was our fellow companion Marvin Curb,.

It is also the home of the largest gold mine in the U.S. There is still gold down there. Still continued.

Deadwood and Spearfish--May 20, 2010

It did not take long to drive to Deadwood, South Dakota from Hill City. I could never pick a favorite area or drive. You make a curve or go up a hill and the view can be so different but just as stunning. Deadwood got it's name supposedly because some of the first people thru the area described it as coming upon an area with a lot of deadwood. We took a small bus tour and the guide was fantastic. It burned in 1879 because of a fire in a bakery which spread to a hardware store that had kegs of dynamite that exploded but there are still some old buildings left. The town is in a valley between mountains so it is not wide; therefore, things go up the mountain. The cemetery used to be on a lower level but the town felt they needed that area for houses so they went up to the high point of the town and moved everyone from down below to up there. It is the Mt. Moriah Cemetery and it is where Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane and Potato Creek Johnny are buried as well as a whole lot more. Most of them only buried about 18 inches deep. The cemetery was in severe shape with bodies practiclly coming out of their graves until they allowed gambling in the town and now it is very nice and well kept and on the slopes down the hill is where the potters field is located all without markers. The cemetery is divided by denomination. Wild Bill and Calamity and Potato Creek are buried in the Methodist section. There is a Jewish section and even a section for the Chinese who were working there in the town, but there are only 2 left buried because the only way they would come there was if they were promised that 10 yrs. after their burial they would be dug up and sent back to their homes in China.

Mount Rushmore area--May 17-20,2010

We stayed outside Hill City,S. Dakota in Horsethief Campground nice and secluded. Nice place and nice owners. The first night we arrived we just went back into town and ate steaks at the Alpine Inn --an old hotel--very cozy, good food and reasonable. We are usually travelling on 2 lane roads and thru small towns and the population in all the areas is small;therefore, it is more likely than not that you will receive few if any tv stations using antenna or satellite which also means many times there is no phone or internet reception. I do miss those things plus it is hard to keep current with my blog. The next day we took off up the scenic Needles Hwy. so names because of the rock spires and the splits found in them. A beautiful drive and a slow one because of the curves. We even saw some piles of snow.There were 3 tunnels we went thru on that highway and they are only big enough for cars and when you went thru one you saw ahead thru the break in the trees, Mt. Rushmore--what a sight.

At Mt. Rushmore in the gift shop there was an elderly man signing books and he had been a driller on the mountain for 3 years when it was being done. It was interesting hearing what he had to say. The museum was really good and it had several short films: one about the sculpting process and one about the animals in the park. When looking at the mountain we saw 5 people up on the area just below their heads and when we read the newspaper it told us about them. They were from the Historic Scotland and Glasgow School of Art in coordination with the National Park Service and the Mt. Rushmore National Memorial technical ropes team. They were there to record 3-D digital laser scans of the mountain. The scans will be used for interpretive purposes, viritual tours and a realistic visual record of the mountain for posterity in case anything might happen to the mountain. At night at 9pm they light the mountain and a ranger gives a talk and music plays. We did not stay or go back for this--maybe if we come this way again. We also didn't get around to seeing the Crazy Horse sculptor which is not finished.

Bob needed to go to the chiropractor and I needed to see an eye Dr. for an eye infection so we had to go into Rapid City in the afternoon and by the time we hit a couple of hardware stores, two pharmacies, a GNC store, shoe store and a restaurant and both appointments it was time to head back to our RV Park. While going thru the city however on many corners were statues in bronze of Presidents in different poses. They were very neat. It would be interesting to walk thru the area and see them all up close. That day was gloomy and foggy up in the hills and only slightly better in the city.

We left Hill City for Deadwood on the morning of the 20th.

Hill City,S.D. and Mt. Rushmore--May 17,2010

We drove through Rapid City, S.Dakota and on to a little town called Hill City. We went a few miles out of town to Horsethief Campground which is where we stayed for 3 nights.We went on the Needles Highway--called that because of the pinnacle peaks and the slit in some of them. It was a really beautiful drive, very curvy and much incline. There were also several small tunnels to go thru--one lane and not high-obvisiously only in our car. It was quite stunning as you came thru one and in the break in the trees ahead you could see Mt. Rushmore. I had been to Mt. Rushmore before when I was younger, but it is always stunning. To see and hear how they did it is hard to imagine. There is no way that could ever be done now--our government would take forever and the cost would be prohibitive.

Continue Badlands Nat'l Park--5-16-10

Driving anywhere in this country is beautiful. The Badlands was beautiful in its own way. The buttes, spires and mounds where you could see their different layers and different colors. That land is very porous and it looses an inch every year. They estimate that within 500,000 years it will all be gone. As we drove thru we saw plenty of cute prarie dogs, pronghorn antelope, deer, and bison(very upclose) and that was cool. We didn't see any young yet but they were their fur.

We also went to Wall, S.D. where it all started with Wall Drug and giving free water to the passing people. That was how he got people started coming to his store and it continues to this day. It is a block long, I think, and has a very large eating area, a ice cream shop and lots more even in the backyard as they call it. The towns out here are so western and independent. The good part is they are individual store owners and the bad is it is hard to find some of the chain stores we have come to depend upon. You have to go to the larger cities which are very, very infrequent. But of the two I would truly prefer the individual owner stores.

We go from here to Hill City, S.D. which is the area close to Mt. Rushmore.

Badlands National Park--May 16,2010

We left Pickstown about noon and drove west and north to get to the Badlands. We saw lots of turkey and pheasant along the way.We had undulating hills and depressions where there was water and always ducks of one kind or another. Saw prarie dog towns and were always keeping our eyes open for wildlife. We don't travel the interstate unless we have to so we see a lot more. It is fun to stop in these small towns. We stopped in a town called Greely and ate lunch in the only bar/cafe in town and everyone was so friendly except the waitress and barkeep. It didn't take long for everyone to know strangers were in town. It is kind of hard to hide two motorcoaches on these wide streets.

We got to the Badlands yesterday late afternoon. We are now on mountain time. Our choice of campground wasn't as good this time. We did laundry and took showers last night so today we go sightseeing.

Pickstown, South Dakota 5-15-10

We stayed overnight in a Casino parking lot for free so that was nice and we went in and enjoyed some nice music one night although we hated to breathe and had to take showers when we got back to the coach due to the smoke. We had their breakfast buffet the next morning and it was good. I realized why all these casinos are allowed on Indian land. They are getting back at the white man for taking their land--they are taking the white man's money. We enjoyed the free stuff and left it at that.

The reason for us to stop at Pickstown which only has about 168 people is because we lived out here when I was real young when my Dad helped build the Corp of Engineers Dam. It is called Fort Randall Dam on the Missouri River.The lake is Lake Charles. The dam was finished in 1956.

We drove thru the town and took pictures. The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed here on Sept.8, 1804. It was unincorporated from 1947-1986. The town became quite large while the dam was being built and then deminished except for those who help maintain the dam and a few other hardy soles.

Tom Brokaw was from this immediate area and is seen around occasionally. It was nice to visit here as an adult and think of our family being here. Thanks to my brother for the memories he added to my visit.

Pioneer Village in Minden, NB--May 10

The weather is more like March than May. It's been rainy and cold for two days now and the wind keeps blowing. On the way here I saw two pheasants, beautiful green fields dotted with cattle and horses and rain. Pioneer Village is the dream of one man. It is the story of America and how it grew. It shows man's progress since 1830. He has accumulated more than 50,000 items from every field of human endeavor, 28 buildings on 20 acres. Authentic originals arranged in their order of development with lots of information to read. It is a fully self supporting non-profit foundation. Lots of school kids here today and they did presentations for them. Very educational. It is going to take a good while to see it all. We were here for a full 3 days. It is great to go with another couple who are slightly older than ourselves with different life experiences and from a different part of the country because you learn more.

Dodge City, KS--May 7-10,2010

This is called the Cowboy Capital, the Buffalo Capital of the World, Queen of the Cowtowns,Wickedest Little City in America among other things. It was founded in 1872 near Ft. Dodge on the Santa Fe Trail. By 1875 the buffalo were gone as a source of revenue. They were also killed off to chase away the Indians. Then the longhorn cattle of Texas were driven up. The town was a wild place. Wyatt Earp and his brothers and Bat Masterson and others were residents and peacekeepers at one time or another. We visited Boot Hill Cemetery and a recreation of a strip of the town and its buildings including the Longbranch Saloon, Church, Outhouse, School, etc. They have 16miles of brick streets thru town, an old Stone House and lots of churches. We visited huge cattle feed lots which is a big deal in the area and went out to the prarie to see the ruts in the ground from the wagons on the Santa Fe Trail. We enjoyed the area.

On the road north from Midlothian May 7&8

The first night we just parked in a Wal-Mart lot for the night in Childress, TX and the wind was so strong all day and night and the next day. It rocked the coach some all night. On Friday we finally got out of the top tip of Texas into Oklahoma and we staying 3 nights in Dodge City, Kansas. We saw a prarie dog town as we drove with their little sentinels standing watch. We saw a very large wind farm near Montezuma, Kansas. We passed an area that was just covered by gas wells and Dee and Marvin gave us a lesson in how that all works. It was really interesting. This is a big area for growing grains. The fields were so green and lots of grain elevators and with the wind blowing like it was when you passed one of these the wind currents caught you again and made it hard to steer. It was an interesting phenomonon(sp). One of the neatest things--we passed two groups of storm chasers. The lead vehicle looked like something out of a sci-fi movie(all metal covered with a pointed front end and of course all kinds of antenna and a dish). We also had to stop and take a picture of a very large dinosaur on the top of this hill next to the road out in the middle of no where near Canadian, TX. This for our grandson. The next couple of days we will check out Dodge City and the surrounding area and let Marvin get a little rest.

Midlothian, TX May 3-6

We stopped in Ennis, TX on Monday morning to have our CB checked out for the trip and then went on to Midlothian. We mostly just spent time with last minute chores on the coach and going thru our mail. I did try and seem some parrots I saw last year and the huge nest was still there but no sign of them. They go inside the nest unlike other birds who sit on top of their nest. Tried to give blood but they went thru the wrong vein and it clotted before they could get a full bag--so it was a waste and went to a small shop in the area and they had closed. They only thing I accomplished that day was picking up a book at Barnes and Noble and wasting a lot of gas.

Midlothian, TX

On the road again--heading to Midlothian, TX

All we did was drive today and now we are parked for the night and we will take off again in the morning. We are somewhere near Rosebud, TX on Hwy. 77 at a picnic area. On our way here we went thru a small town named Refugio and on its sign it said that it was the hometown of Nolan Ryan, the famous baseball player. I thought that was neat.

Aransas Pass & Port Aransas--Apr 29 & 30,2010

In Aransas Pass we stayed in a very nice park called Ranson Road RV Park for two nights. Unfortunately I had no luck birding. The wind was extremely strong so I caught up some on my computer and reading. On Friday night we took the ferry across to Port Aransas and that was fun. I think that might have been my first ride on a ferry with our car. It didn't take long. I think my grandson would have enjoyed it. We went to see my cousin Skip Carr and his wife Kathy. He is 56 and the last time we saw each other he was probably 13. His Mom and Dad transplanted him from a California surfer kid to a Hoosier. He finished high school in Columbus, IN. He has a younger sister Pam. They were both adopted. He and his wife own and operate a home health care business. They have no children. After visiting in their home for about an hour we went to a seafood restaurant and had dinner. It was great to see them.