Day 5 - and they think 91 with no humidity is HOT!!!

We had a really interesting day today. We started out driving to Sturgis, SD just to see what it is all about. That is where they have a huge motorcycle rally each year. It doesn't start until August 8, but they are definitely getting ready for it!!! Sturgis, itself, is not much of a town. They do have a motorcycle museum. But, from the pictures you can find on the internet of the motorcycle rally, it is really hopping. I suspect that they make enough money during a week or so in August to support the town the entire year. That is a picture of the museum at the beginning of today's entry.

Then we took off south on a highway that is supposed to help us find Nemo (the town, not the fish). The first thing I see on the highway is a sign which says the highway is a 'certified weed free highway'. I am still pondering what that meant. There were definitely weeds growing along the highway. So, maybe it meant that you could not smoke weed as you drove along the highway. I don't know, but I thought it was pretty interesting.

After driving a while, we found Nemo. The picture above proves it!! There was not much to Nemo, but I am glad that we were able to locate it without having to swim with the turtles.

From there, we drove on down through Hill City to the highway that goes by Mt. Rushmore (we did not stop at Mt. Rushmore this year, but you can scan our older blog entries to see the pictures from the last time we were here). Right before the turn, we saw a mountain goat family on the side of the road. There were beautiful lakes and lots of rock formations which I got pictures of. THEN, we went back to bear country. All of those pictures are in the slide show below!!!

The last thing to mention is that, on the way back from our outing, we saw a car from Iowa with an Ole Miss Baseball sticker in their window. We waved and they waved back!!! Isn't that great. All the way in SD and we find Ole Miss baseball fans!!!

Day 4 - We Found a Little Bit Cooler Temperatures

But, they will be gone tomorrow. We drove from Kennebec, SD, to the starts of the Grasslands in the rain today. Luckily, it had quit before we got to Wall, SD, because we really needed to go back to Wall Drug to see if it was as neat as the last trip. Guess what, it was not better the second time around. We went through all of the shops, had a piece of pizza, bought a little fudge and some doughnuts, and left Wall for Spearfish.

Jimmy had forgotten to pull the driving instructions to the RV Park where we are staying (same park at which we stayed the last trip when we went to Mount Rushmore). So far, I haven't taken any pictures of the park because they would look just like the pictures I took on the last trip!!! I might just reconnect that same set of pictures. I did take a few pictures today which I need to upload. I'll just attach them at the end of today's entry once I get them uploaded.

We drove into Spearfish trying to figure out where we could purchase diesel fuel before we leave to go to Billings. We checked out most of the stations and figured that we could not get the coach in (or out) of them. Finally, we went to the north side of the interstate and found a station that is just perfect - and has the cheapest diesel fuel in the area!!! What more could we ask!!!

So, we ate a quick dinner and headed back to the RV park. I was determined to get out and walk a little since it was cool enough to do so. Tomorrow we will head to the Bear park, or Mount Rushmore, or Deadwood, or something. Luckily, we are staying three nights here, so we don't have to rush.

We met a gentleman when we were out walking from Nebraska. He is heading to Montana tomorrow and on to Calgary for the weekend. He raises cattle and is meeting some other cattlemen friends at the Calgary Stampede. We hope this is the last weekend for the Stampede since we will be there next weekend!!! He told us that he had just placed an order for a new Tiffin Bus, so he is going to be going to Red Bay, AL in the near future!!!

Life is good. As we drove today, I kept thinking about a couple of Songs - America the Beautiful and I Stand Amazed in the Presence. Isn't that an interesting couple of songs to be in my mind at the same time? But, it is amazing to see the glory of God's creations and American is absolutely beautiful!!! So, it worked for me.

More tomorrow!!

Day 3 - Our Search for Cooler Temperatures

Day 3 began early with lots and lots of wind in the parking lot rv park at Council Bluffs! Enough to wake the cats. Peaches actually was making lots of noise and pacing the bed. She wouldn't get on the floor to pace - just paced the bed. The Bear rolled over once, looked at her and went back to sleep!

Even though our next leg of the trip is north, we had to back track to I80 and go northeast for about 20 miles to catch I680 west to get back to I29. There is apparently a bridge out on I29 which has resulted in that detour. We are now back on I29 heading north to Sioux Falls where we will turn west towards the mountains.

It has simply been amazing how many fields of corn and other crops we have seen! Plus there have been two places where we were driving through a low spot in the highway with big bags of gravel holding back the water on both sides and in the middle. It is like a bridge but you aren't up in the air! Lots of crop land is still under water.

I just updated the blog for everything else we did today, and lost it all. So, here goes nothing.

We had a little rain most of the trip to Kennebec, SD today. It was overcast all day - and COOLer than it had been. We never had to crank the generator - even when we stopped for lunch!!!

Peaches had a really good day - she just laid on her bathroom rug that we brought from home. Bear moved from his green bag to my lap to the dash to the bag to my lap to the bag to the sofa and back to my lap all day. He really likes to ride on the motor home. Everytime we would slow down or stop, he would jump on to the dash to make sure everyone could see him - as well so that he could see everything.

One thing we saw today was lots of fields of grains which had been harvested. With the bit of wind that was blowing all day, I kind of wish they had not been harvested. Then we would have truly seen the amber waves of grain!!!

Tonight we are staying in a KOA rv park in Kennebec. Ironically, it is the same KOA at which we stayed the on our trip to Yellowstone. No discount or recognition of that fact. The lady told us at check in that there probably had been four other owners of the park since we were last here!!!

Anyway, tomorrow we go to Wall Drug on the way to Spearfish. I truly think you could spend an entire day at Wall Drug and never see everything that is there.

Peace!!!!

Day 2 - Heading for Cooler Climes

Not actually a very log day in terms of miles driven, but still a long day. We came from Boonville, MO to Council Bluffs, IA. The drive was actually about an hour longer than it should have been due to the detour around the flooding on I29. As we approached the place to get off I29, we were surrounded on both sides by water. It was like the interstate was a long bridge. The detour itself was not bad, but it did add about an hour to our driving time.

We got to the Horseshoe RV Park and had to maneuver all around because I had put the casino's address in my phone instead of the RV park. But, we finally maneuvered into the line to check it. When we got here, we were the second RV to park, so we were basically given our choice of places to park. We picked slot 1 because it had nothing to the left of it. You have to back in, and backing is not our favorite thing to do. We made it though.

It was so hot, we had all three air units going, but the inside of the coach was just not cooling. Jimmy went up on the top to check to see if the units were frozen up or something. Lo and behold, the front unit was not running. So, down he came to check the switches/fuses or whatever and we had tripped the switch on unit 1. So, we flipped it back on and headed out in the Jeep to Omaha.

Just so everyone knows, Omaha is where the College World Series is played. Our team did not make it this year. But we did!!! It was all locked up. It is very large, but not nearly so beautiful as the ballpark in Oxford. But, we can now say that we have been there. Sure would like to return with our team soon!!! We had forgotten the cameras (they were on the coach), but I took a couple of pictures with my telephone.

We headed out of Council Bluffs with the last (hopefully) detour due to flooding. We have to go east and hook up with another interstate which intersects I29 north of the bridge that is out. I don't know where we will go tonight, but it will be somewhere in South Dakota.

Heading to Where It Is Cooler!!!!

Day 1-heading to cooler climes

We left Holly Springs today at eight am. We don't really have to worry about things being stolen while we are gone since it is all on the coach! Peaches has already moved to the litter box and The Bear is asleep on the counter for some reason. Nothing planned today except driving. I will update later when we get to where we are going!

Last night after I went to bed to read Jimmy comes up from the basement to tell me that the national park at which we are staying in Canada suddenly has full hookups available (we were going to just have power). So down the stairs we go to make new reservations and cancel the old ones. I was not looking forward to bath house showers since there will be three of us there for a few days! But it all worked out. And $240 for six nights is not bad! Couldn't do a hotel up there for that price.

Nothing very eventful today. We drove a little further than we normally do and spent the night on the parking lot of the Isle of Capri casino. Very nice parking lot. But it was very hot. We has driven most of the afternoon with the genaerator running and the three air units going full blast. It never got below 77 in the salon area. They told me inside the casino that it was well over 100 and that they were not being able to keep the casIno as cool as normal. Leaving for Council Bluffs, IA in the morning.

Starting to Get Ready

Yes, it is over a week until we leave heading north - but I have started getting ready.

Bear and Peaches have had their shots updated and will get the health certificates next week. You have to have that to go in and come out of Canada!! Of course, they are now feeling pretty bad. Peaches spent the night in the middle bathroom - just landed there and had not moved. The Bear was backed in beside the toilet in the same bathroom. They are still there - not moving - and Peaches cries if you pick her up. The Bear just goes limp and whimpers. Plus, their little noses are warmish.

The grocery purchasing has also begun. The other travel blogs Jimmy follows say to be sure and buy your paper towels in the ole US of A!!! So, got them, books for me, the frozen adult beverages that they sell at Walmart and the makings for spaghetti to make and take with us. Will be picking up a boneless ham, turkey breast and barbeque pork roast from Honey Baked next week (those were the coupons on the web today). Then I have to make the trip to Costco for stuff I need to buy in bulk!!! Most important is to stock up on my Coke Zero's!!!!

Have to get the Jeep's license renewed (expires in July) and both the motorhome and Jeep inspected next week. I think Jimmy also has to take it to the tow bar place and get them to check on something. Then there is the trip to the bank. I don't even want to think about that yet.

Next Trip

A few weeks ago, I mentioned to Jimmy that I would like to go somewhere this summer where the weather is cooler. I was thinking maybe the mountains of Colorado. But, Jimmy always takes the hint and makes a little trip into a wonderful experience. So, we are leaving around the 10th of July and heading to Canada!!! I'm going to start this blog with the 'getting ready' phase in addition to the going phase and the coming home phase.

Last night we coordinated Travis' travel to Calgary to meet up with us so that he can enjoy the cooler weather too!!! So, this is going to be a family trip, excluding only Rhett and Scarlett - Travis' cats. Peaches and The Bear have both been to the vets today to get all of their shots and their health certificates so that they can go to Canada in the motorhome with us. So, other than picking up a little more cash money, groceries, and a few other odds and ends, we are about ready to go!!!

Watch this site for more information as the trip gets underway.