Yosemite

I'm working on my updates using Word on my computer, so yes, I am catching up. I just happen to have my phone and some wifi right now.

We're in Yosemite and it's our second full day. This place IS bear country. Yesterday I went to the car to plug my computer into our power box to charge it when I saw a note on the windshield. I first looked around to see if anyone else had one, nope. The note stated we had bear damage. I threw my bike to the ground and did a lap around the Jeep. The canvas soft top back passenger side corner had been clawed through and Tika's blanket and a poster was ripped out. No food value in a blanket, so we assumed he had a sniff and left. Tika's going to be so mad some other animal touched her blanket!

We were a parked in a high bear damage zone and near the garbage cans. Bears are smart. They must recognize certain vehicles and understand they are easy to get into. The soft topped Jeep is like comparing a potato chip bag with a tin can. Which do you think he'll try for?

It's been a long winter here and many of the bears haven't been awake long, so they're hungry! While we were unpacking our camp, boom, a bear behind the tent across from us. By the way, were not sleeping in our nylon tent, we're in a canvas tent camp with wooden frames and locks. We still can't store anything inside so our bear boxes are our saviors.

Last night, a new couple were moving in across the way and I was hunting in our box. The new guy started saying, "BEAR! BEAR!" I though he was messing with his wife, and so was she. Well, when I turned around to look, there was a bear - 10 feet away. Bill gave me hell for running inside instead of joining the bear force. Yeah, you go right ahead and yell at the bear. I'll be inside.

We were dying to see a bear up close in Yellowstone, and now we see them every evening. Be careful what you wish for.

Oh, and for those wondering about Tika, she's at a kennel in Mariposa.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Updated Photos

The Internet where we've been off and on has been something close to atrocious. I have all of the excuses in the world, "I needed to update my computer first!", "I needed the iPhone 4 update more!", "Icanhascheezburger.com network had new stuff to catch up on!", well, you get it. I did however update all of the photos. If you look to the right ----> you can see I've added another slideshow of photos. They can only hold 1,000 pictures, so the first one I completely filled. There are less than 100 in the second one.

New pictures! **Everybody cheer** So check them out!

Much needed update!

In Napa, CA.

Amazing wine tastings.

Wonderful dinner.

So busy.

So tired.

10 days, 10 posts, and 10,000 photos to post (almost).

Will update tomorrow.

Here's a tease (Del Dotto Vinyards Caves).

Day 20 Crater Lake, OR to Ashford, WA

Start Miles 10,642

End Miles 11,098

Total Miles 456

Another power horse day. I tried to let Bill sleep as long as he could on top of all of the gear in the Jeep. I couldn't sit still anymore around 7:30am, so I got out of the car. The cool air was amazing and woke me right up.

Crater Lake is overwhelming and breathtakingly beautiful. It's the deepest lake in the United States (1,949 ft deep) and the 9th deepest lake in the world. It's known for it's deep blue color and gin clarity. I wouldn't want to go for a boat ride on this water without a dry suit on - warmth and fear of falling in the deathly water.

We couldn't stick around though. We had to make it to Washington. As we left the park, I asked the entrance for a map as a souveinere and they looked at me funny. They asked when we got in and i told them 4:30 am. We looked like nuts. Go figure.

Bill has been dying for an iPad. We've called every Apple Store we've passed around the country and no one has had one. I called Best Buy in Tacoma, WA and they had 5. By the time we got there at 4:30, we bought the last one. Yay! That's what I started this entry on over a week ago!

We made it to Ashford, WA that night. Right outside of Mount Rainier.

Extreme Temperatures

Since we've started this trip, we've gone from hot hot heat to bitterly cold. Mountains to desert, it seems like we're not sure whether or not we'll freeze or sweat. Poor Tika and her hairless belly.

June 7, 2010: Arches National Park - 104 degrees

June 15, 2010: Crater Lake National Park - 26 degrees

We are sure that the warmest temperature will be shattered once we get down to New Mexico and Arizona. We'll be there in July, and for me it will be unbearable. Isn't that part of the experience though?

Day 19 Mammoth Lakes, CA to Crater Lake, OR

Start Miles 9985

End Miles 10642

Total Miles 657

First two things I have to say is, the gas in Lee Vining is $4.09 for unleaded. Now you feel better about what you're paying don't you? Second, I swear we were going to hit a deer or a bunny at some point during this ride.

We left Mammoth at around noon. We needed to ship some stuff out, grab some food, and do the best pack job ever. We headed straight to Mono Lake, and what a strange lake it is. Its is 2.5 times as salty as the ocean and 100 times as alkaline. There are large spires that stick out of the water every where, and when you touch the water its slick and oily. I didn't let Tika near the water because its packed with brine shrimp and an abundance of flying bugs.

For anyone who's been through Lake Tahoe and done the scenic route around the lake, knows what a terrifying experience it can be to look over the edge. For example, if you look at the picture, you can see there is a steep drop off from the road. Its like this on both sides of the road with no shoulder - just wide enough. The whole area is just beautiful but the roads are sharp and steep.

Hunger set in so we stopped in Trukee for dinner at Burger Me! This particular burger joint was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives by Guy Fieri on the Food Network. It was a good messy burger, but the trip must go on.

Bill has stamina, we all know that. I made the mistake of agreeing with him to "drive until you just can't anymore". We went through Reno and decided to go to Medford, OR. We were going to stop but Bill asked, "How much further to Crater Lake?" I should have answered, "too far". We ended up at Crater Lake National Park, at just past 4:30am - when the sun was coming up. The Jeep is full of stuff and you can only sleep on top of stuff. I tried to sleep in my passenger seat, yeah, I'm not 12 anymore. I can't do it, so I took quick cat naps for a few minutes at a time. Never again.

Day 18 Mammoth Area

Well we tried fishing Twin Lakes, but it wasn't a success. It was however, extremely pretty. The lake was gin clear so you could SEE the trout swimming around. They were just a tease though and didn't pick up what we were throwing down. Once it started getting cold, I'll admit, I went and played Sims 3 on my iPhone in the Jeep.

I also need to add the abundance of Mexicans here. Don't get me wrong, I'll take a Mexican over

a Cuban any day (plus their food is way better!), but hot damn speak english. Now where we were fishing was next to a small bridge and a smaller dam. Either these Mexicans were ignorant or they were f'ing retarded spics. It's my blog, I can say whatever the hell I want! Anyway, there was a sign that stated "No fishing From Bridge"... I'm wondering if they could read it. They almost got taken out by a couple of cars. Almost, what a shame. I'm only bitter because one of the little Mexicans kept smacking his pole in the water to get the worm off his hook or something... who knows, but it scared the fish and stopped us from catching them. They weren't the brightest, so snapping pictures of them next to the sign was like shooting fish in a barrel (if they weren't there, fishing would be that way).

P.S. my casting skills are a 10. Mike, you'd better be proud!

Day 18 Mammoth Area

Decided to go on a bike ride around the outskirts of town on the main path. Well, we couldn't leave Tika behind, as this was a family outting, so we brought her. Yes, I have a front pack for her just like mommies do. Let me tell you though, after going uphill for a while, that little porker gets heavy. Real heavy.

Bill surprised me with a nice little picnic he stowed in his backpack. We found a picnic table and ate amazing sandwiches (see Bills Noms post) and drank La Crema. It was very nice.

We're now going to visit Twin Lakes with our fishing poles to see what's our next fresh catch of the day!

Day 17 Mammoth Area

Since we're sticking around here for a couple of days, we decided to do some fishing. We tried just north of June lake, and we didn't even get a bite, so we tried just south of Grant Lake at Rush Creek. We had ultra light rods, 2 pound test, lures, night crawlers, and salmon eggs. Who caught dinner? I caught dinner! It was the second time I casted into the creek, I caught a rainbow trout. We haven't measured him, but I basically spanked the pants off every man fishing in the area. There was a family fishing near us and the man, oh man, was he jealous! Good. Beginners luck rules.

Oh, and as for Little Dog, Tika had an amazing time just running free while we fished. Of course we made sure she didn't venture too far, no desire to have her carried off by a raccoon or a bear! When I reeled in the fish, who was there to try and "get the fish" to solid ground? Tika. She was so unbelievably excited by the fish being reeled in I thought she was going for a bit of a swim. Those who know Tika, know her fear of water... yeah when its in cold rushing form, she's excited.

Tonight, we eat. A little surf and turf, a starch, and some yummy veggies.

This will be a feast!

Day 16 Vegas to Mammoth Lake

Start Miles 9406

End Miles 9881

Total Miles 475

We went to Hoover Dam, even though it was out of our way because that's just what you do out there. It's huge. What we noticed in the whole area surrounding Vegas is that they have the worst drivers in the world, please see the Vegas post. We got out in one piece and that's all that matters. We detoured through Death Valley, so see that post as well.

In Death Valley, we saw 100 degrees and by the time we got to Snowcreek Resort in Mammoth Lakes, CA, it was about 34. That's a 66 degree temperature change in a matter of a couple of hours. Once we got out of the vehicle, Tika was nothing but a hyper monkey running around in the grass and fresh air.

Thank you SO much to John and Natalie for letting us used their condo up here, its amazing. It great to have the fresh air and something larger than a mini cabin or hotel room. We're here for three nights, so its also nice to stay some place more than two nights. A kitchen right now is key, it gets old eating out at times, so we had a nice pasta dinner with garlic bread and La Crema! Yum. Since we got in late, ate dinner really late, we went to bed really late.

Day 15 Zion to Las Vegas

Start Miles 9240

End Miles 9406

Total Miles 166

On our way to Las Vegas, just outside of Zion National Park is the Virgin Trading Post. Sorry Mouse, we wouldn't get much for you in the old west. Haha, just kidding, its in the town of Virgin, UT. You've got to have a sense of humor to live in a crap town with such a name. The woman who worked there was quite the character. Apparently, her sister who's been married 8 times, yes, 8 times, just moved to Virgin. Not many virgins in Virgin. The Virgin Trading Post was just a souvineer shop that had a funny little wild west town outside of it to walk through and some asses you can feed carrots to. Funny all the well.

We ended up in Vegas before 8 and did a little drive down the strip. Sin City is quite the city. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. End of story.

Day 14 Bryce Canyon to Zion and Day 15 at Zion

Start Miles 9034

End Miles 9220

Total Miles 186

We left Bryce and stopped out to Grand Staircase National Monument/Park. We took a trail out to the arch and I was nothing but annoyed. Don't you hate washboard roads? Poor Tika bounced around the Jeep like crazy. Even though I complain, its another stamp on my Passport to Your National Parks book, and we did see something that 99% of people out there do not see. So I think that makes us cool. lol.

We did Zion National Park. All I really wanted to see at Zion were The Narrows, but they were closed due to high waters. It was a pretty park but not my favorite. We did Weeping Rock and the easy Riverwalk hike to The Narrows. Everywhere you look, they say "Do NOT Feed the Wildlife", that's because the squirrels are beggars. Bad. They'll do anything cute to get that food from you, even stand within a foot of you with those little beady eyes. This post can link to the Bill's Noms post since before entering the Zion National Park, we ate at Cafe Soleil and had a yummy lunch.

Instead of driving around we used the shuttle buses and did some people watching. Since we stayed at a Super 8 in Hurricane and can't leave her in the car, we decided to board Tika for the day. She got to stay at Doggy Dude Ranch. We're very proud of Tika's transition from the first few days where she was a moody and disobedient little one. Anyone who knows us knows that she has rules and is meant to behave in a certain manner. Well, she did very well at daycare and came back to us happy as can be. I'm glad we've brought her with us so she is exposed to such different things. It makes her a well rounded little pup!

Death Valley Detour

From Vegas to Mammoth...

As you can tell by the title, we're at Death Valley National Park in California. At the entrance to the park, at around 3,000 feet, it was a cool 84 degrees. At Badwater Basin, 282 feet below sea level, it's about 100. We watched the temperature rise by the minute.

While at the lowest point in North America, you can see a cliff face behind you with a big sign on it near the top that shows where sea level is. It's high up there. Overlooking this area is Telescope Peak and it sits 11,049 feet above sea level. Talk about drastic changes.

It's a low baren waste land with ruins from the mining days in the 1800's. There's also tons of salt beds where there was most likely once ocean.

Everywhere there are signs stating "Heat Kills". It's hot and dry and can kill you in hours. We have our handy cooler full of drinks and set to go!

Vegas

Las Vegas has the countries worst drivers. They beat South Floridians. Scary.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 13 Moab to Bryce Canyon

Start Miles 8549
End Miles 9025
Total Miles 476

We left our little cabin and headed to Canyonlands National Park for a quick tour. It was nice but those damn nats did nothing but drive us crazy. Some of the panoramic shots came out great and so did the one where I snuck up on Bill and Tika. Very sweet.

Moab to Bryce had a few pit stops and another was Cedar City. Unintentional, but it allowed us to go to Cedar Breaks National Monument. There I got high. The highest I've been in my life! Get your mind out of the gutter you dirty hippy, we stood at 10,350 feet with pictures and snow to prove it! I plan on getting higher soon.

We made it to Bryce and went through Red Canyon Dixie National Forest to get there. Really cool arch tunnel ways to drive through. We decided to check out the national park before heading to our next little cabin so we could get a quick scope of the place. Tika now knows the word "antelope". We took video of her absolutely shaking and whimpering with sheer excitement over the thought of getting the antelopes. I had to death grip her harness so she wouldn't end up out the window.

Annihilated

Just crossed the Nevada boarder and we hit our first significant thing since being on the road (4,000 bigs don't count). A massive bird flew into the window at about 73 mph. Yep, annihilated.

Bill's Noms

Cafe Soleil is yum. If you're ever right outside of Zion National Park, go there. Bill had a Tuscan tuna pannini on chibatta bread. This amazing sandwich had tuna, white beans, roasted peppers, kalamata olives, artichokes, melted provolone, with a lemon dijon aioli on a soft chibatta bread. We're making sure we blog this so we can make it at home and don't forget! For all those who've eatten Bill's lunches or may in the future, this is your lucky day!

I had an equally yummy wrap with trkey, bacon, and guacamole, but nothing special enough to write home about!

Day 12

This morning we got up quite early to check out Arches National Park with morning lighting. We did some hiking to see Double O arches. It was about 6 miles round trip with nothing but sun and these crazy little nats that did nothing but anger me. Apparently it is the time of season where these bugs are everywhere. The way to the arches I think we both wanted to either scream because of the bugs, or die because we're out of shape and sweaty. In the end, it was worth it. Thank you Camelback for your wonderful water reservoir backpacks. We sucked them dry in the 103 degree heat.

After those arches I wanted nothing to do but be in a bit of air conditioning to calm my flushed face. The coolest thing about Arches are their four wheel drive trails. Bill, being the boy at heart he is, wanted to pop his little Jeep's cherry. Yes, we popped it well. The thing about the trails are that they don't really tell you how intense they are. They just say you need four wheel drive - not a real four wheel drive vehicle like this puppy! It was 14 miles of nothing but terrain. I took some HD quality videos of Bill going up and down some hills that I'll post soon. Tower Arch is at the middle point of these trails and only those who take a Jeep out there can see it. I felt quite lucky! I think Bill was as giddy as a school boy. He Jeeped Moab!

We did Double Arches at dusk. You can see the photos of them. It was peaceful and serene until two young families with 7 kids came screaming through. They were funny though, the young boys were like fearless mountain goats. I'm glad I don't have kids, I would have had a heart attack. Arches National Park is beautiful, but if it it nothing but heat beating down you you daily. I couldn't live in Moab unless you paid me, but I'd gladly visit again. Next time, we're four wheeling as many pictures as we can.

Days 11 Yellowstone to Moab

Start Miles 7790

End Miles 8468

Total Miles 678

What a long day to get from Canyon, WY to Moab, UT. As you can see from the mileage it was far. Wyoming to Utah to Colorado and back to Utah, that was our route. The roads were super steep so drafting off a dualie towing a trailer behind it going mach really upped our miles per gallon. Once we lost the redneck behind the wheel, being stuck behind other motorhomers just didn't do the trick for us. Some of the routes we took warned you ahead of time, "No Semi Trucks" (the roads were hairpin turns with rock face cliffs and no guardrails), "No Amenities for X Miles" (there was nothing, and I mean nothing, for at least 100 miles), and my favorite, "Open Range" (you didn't know if a cow was going to pop around the corner or an antelope!

We didn't stop much, but for gas. Luckily by the time we got to our last turn, there was 3G so I could use my phone's apps to look up a place to stay. We stayed at Archview Inn. Classic place with a barn/school house used in many many movies. I posted photos of it. We checked in and went to Moab for dinner. Nothing but sheer exhaustion that night.

Updated Photos

I've updated the photos upto mid morning Wednesday, June 9th. Just click the slideshow to the right hand side of the page and it should bring you to the Picasa Web Photos website. Once you get to our photo album, click through! There are over 500 now! The best part I think is the map of the US that shows where every photo was taken. I love my camera and its GPS abilities!

Meals on Wheels

Has anyone ever seen of this new amazing phenomenon? Its like having your own traveling restaurant. Beware though, you must be at least a family of 4 with a minimum combined weight of 800 lbs. Its called the Odyssey Buffet! They frequent rest stops that have Dunkin Donuts or Burger Kings. All you must do is load the hatch back full of donuts and watch these traveling connoisseurs attack the trunk like Yogi in Yellowstone. Light colored Honda Odysseys need apply only. In southern heats the delectible delights in the back of these dark colored vans become rank... oh wait, they never last long enough to turn. All colors apply.

Between Yellowstone, WY and Moab, UT

Sorry for being so quick on the days with no real breakdowns or photo posts, but the internet is crap and its wicked late. Just letting everyone know we're not dead and "The Hill Have Eyes" is not real. Real posts will continue soon!

Days 9 - 11

Days 9 - 11 were Yellowstone National Park.

Start Miles 7520

End Miles 7610

Total Miles 90

One thing I have to say, coming from Florida is, it's damn cold. Our little Tika finally got to play in real snow! That was the goal. Unfortunately our goal wasn't to see low 40's, high 30's, no, but we did.

Once we left Jackson Hole, we drove through "Large Tits" (Grand Tetons), like I had stated earlier, but they weren't visible. I was so excited to see these mountains because of teaser photos from photographers such as Ansel Adams. He is amazing. Grand Tetons and Yellowstone border. A couple of miles into the south entrance to Yellowstone is a cliff along the road that is a complete drop off. I, myself, was almost too shy to look at it in fear that Bill would stray off in my wandering eyes direction. The elevation climb is steep, but you almost don't realize it until you look at the map and on a "normal" road you're at 8500 ft.

First thing we did before checking into our Canyon Lodge was to check our Old Faithful. We have been very lucky on this trip and even luckier to get to Old Faithful and have it blow 10 minutes later! The weather was awful, rainy, and so cold I wore multiple layers including a hat, rain jacket hood, and gloves. The first day had me frustrated, wet, and cold.

To make matters worse, we checked into our cabin and had no fridge or microwave (not really necessary, but a really nice added luxury), but also absolutely no hot water. The water that came out was colder than the water out of your fridge. Luckily, we had to sleep in our own single beds so we couldn't smell each other. (Yes, we also had bison chile that day). Shout out to Ryan from Wisconsin, he was the nicest waiter guy at the restaurant in the lodge.

Day two was gorgeous. The gorgeous you get when you've had a long winter and you finally see that day above 50 with the bluest skies and puffiest white clouds you haven't seen since last summer. It was still cold enough to layer, don't get me wrong, but the photos from that day were amazing. Check them out.

In our days there, we saw a plethera of bison and elk that lounged around not caring a bit for the humans around them. We saw a hunt, and it involved two wolves and one elk. We watched nature be nature, but the timing wasn't right for the kill. I was glad. We saw more birds, ducks, white geese, and unidentified flying objects than countable, and I was lucky enough to see a female moose.

As for the last day, it was back to the same old nasty weather as the past few days, minus the day before. We were on our way out, so who really put their panties in a bunch, neither of us. In the morning it was 41 degrees as we saw on the Jeeps temperature gauge, but by the end of the day I saw 97 degrees. That's a 56 degree temperature difference. My eyes are drying and burning just thinking about it.

Day 8

Today was minimal driving around town to wash the car, change the oil, and to get a peak (so punny) at the Grand Tetons (In French the mountains translate to "large tits"). They're covered in snow and I have sick need to go sledding now.

Today's been a good day to catch up with little things, have a bit of a sleep in, and to play tourist. Starting tomorrow we're going to be in the middle of nowhere, Yellowstone National Park. We were planning on tent camping the way through but because of weather and temps, it might actually snow in the park, we might have to stay in a cabin. It's June right? I did however buy Tika a puffy jacket today because she's Miss Hairless Belly and freezes past 60 degrees. She really is half Mexican.

Due to internet and phone service, we might not be able to update daily, but we'll still blog and mass update once we get service back. Lets hope the next few days are filled with wildlife and happy weather!!!

Day 7 Finished

We went west from South Dakota to Wyoming. Most of it was two lane roads with plenty of wildlife to see. There were dozens upon dozens of deer, antelope, and I even saw a moose. Once we entered the mountains, upward towards 6,000 feet, we saw snow. Real white, cold, snow. Neither Bill nor myself have seen snow in years, and Tika, Tika's never seen snow at all. Bill hasn't had his Jeep on a proper off road excursion and Tika needed to play in the snow, so we went off-roading to the snow! Tika seemed to enjoy herself.

We made it to Jackson, Wyoming at about 10 pm on Wednesday without a place to stay. We were smart before we left and raided AAA of their guide books. We decided on Antler Inn, only one block from the main strip of town. We really couldn't have found a better place to stay. A king sized bed, fireplace, free internet, dog friendly, and flat screen...I'm in.

For those who know Jackson Hole, we did go to the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar! I love the fact that the bar stools are horse saddles. We had a Fat Tire there and decided to hop over to Town Square Tavern to have real cocktails. They had a Wii for us to bowl with and I bowled the best game of my life! A drunk hippy said if Bill let him have a swing of it and didn't get a strike, he'd buy us a Jaegerbomb. He failed. We drank!

Day 7

Start Miles 6978

End Miles 7500

Total Miles 522

This morning was another gloomy one with fog and heavy clouds. We traveled up to Mount Rushmore rain free and a few peaks of sun breaking through. If you’ve never seen Rushmore, you don’t know what you’re missing. It’s amazing that it was started back in the 20’s by sculptor Gutzon Borglum. We went photo crazy here, naturally.

When we were at the main viewing area there were two large white mountain goats just off one of the main trails. Thanks to my family for taking me “scouting” on the back roads of Milton, Vermont when I was a kid. Now I can spot a moving animal from hundreds of yards away! Bill and I have now started to keep track of the animals we’ve seen along the way. It’s quite large.

In the gift shop at Rushmore, there is a “Passport to Your National Parks” and it’s exactly that. In America, there are some three hundred and ninety one national parks, monuments, and historical sites, and recreational areas. Each area has a picture and a dated stamp for your passport book as well as regional stamps. We now have a goal, and it’s to fill it up!

If you stop to Mount Rushmore, you must stop at Crazy Horse. Its a project that's been going for decades, slow and steady. Its a private, non government funded project and its going to be amazing once its done. It will be the largest monument in the entire world. The four heads of Rushmore will be able to fit in Crazy Horse's head alone.

Updating along the way

We’ve been on the way to Jackson, WY for quite some time now. We’ve gone through Casper, just a ghost of a city, and turned onto 20/26W on our way to Shoshoni. Along the way there should have been small blips of towns where we could fuel. Those towns are now non existant. Closed because of the economy or closed since the 70’s, who knows. All we know is there isn’t a gas station in sight. The one town with a population of 10, might not have a population of 10 anymore, maybe just two.

We’ve been getting major winds on our head which has slowed us down and guzzled the gas – just like a yacht. At a rest stop exactly half way between Casper and Shoshoni, we noticed we’re 57 miles to empty. It’s 50 miles either way, so best keep heading on. At least we’re being economical, 60 rather than 80. Let’s hope there’s a gas station, and that we make it.

At 40 miles, the gas light comes on. At 30 miles, it just says “fuel low”. Seeing this is nerve wracking. At about 19 miles, and our slow speed, motorcycles and a truck seem to think drifiting behind our big Jeep is the thing to do. Assholes. We reached the gas station in a small sleepy town! Yay!

Day 6

Start Miles 6843

End Miles 6978

Total Miles 135

Badlands to Keystone, SD

Waking up Tuesday morning was bright, early, and amazing. It was our first night camping on the trip and with the sounds of nature, the cool air, and a dawn of day made the both of us almost not want to get out of bed. The prospects of taking amazing pictures of the Badlands at sunrise were just too much to pass up. Luckily we brought a java press and Green Mountain Coffee to get us moving. Anyone who knows us knows coffee is a must!

The Badlands Loop is about 30 miles around the park. Those are the most majestic 30 miles of rock you could see, and as we took them, the sun started to really shine. The colors that are layered in the rocks make you look twice, yellows, oranges, reds, pinks, and greens.

At the end of the Badlands loop is Wall, SD. What I’ve learned is that if a state only has a few roadside attractions and nothing else, they’ll start advertising it in the state before. This could mean hundreds of miles of advertising. Wall Drug is just that, a roadside attraction with tons of advertising. The place is huge and full of tourist junk and “Free Ice Water”. If you’re 16 in Wall, SD, your first job is probably Wall Drug, makin’ the donuts! P.S. the people watching is epic.

Our goal was Mount Rushmore by 3, but the weather was nothing but horrible so we decided to see a bit of Rapid City to provision and then find a room for the night. The Presidential Inn & Suites in Keystone, SD is just minutes away from and is the only hotel with views of Mount Rushmore.

Day 5

Start Miles 6173

End Miles 6810

Total Miles 637

Day 5, had its interesting moments. We left bright and early from Robin's house in order to make the long trek to South Dakota. It was long, easy, and boring. For the tech geeks, remember when you first got a Windows XP computer and the default background is a green rolling hill with a blue sky? That's what we went through - minus the extreme photoshopping.

We made a quick stop off I90 to Mitchell, South Dakota. Mitchell has the worlds largest bird feeder, also known as the Corn Palace. Yes, its a palace made of corn. Yes, we were in South Dakota, and No, people don't have much to do around there. Every year they

change the design It was pretty interesting to walk around the inside and see the photos of past designs. It was an overly corny attraction, but another thing that makes South Dakota .... weird.

At about 5:30 we reached the Badlands KOA Kampground. Yes, they spell campground with a K. It is super well kept, and at one point voted the best KOA Kampground. Had a gourmet meal of lobster bisque, sauerkraut rye, gourmet cheeses, and artisian beer. Bill and I aren't beer drinkers by any far stretch of the imagination, but Fat Tire is great. We lit a fire at dusk and roasted marshmallows. It was picture perfect camping bliss. Tika was nothing but a happy hyper pup looking for the turkeys that gobbled all night around us. Below is dinner prep time. Yum!

Day 4

Day four was zero miles with either of us behind the wheel but we covered ground. Gustav was the perfect chauffeur and tour guide wrapped into a tiny little bundle (Robin). We were able to go from Menomonomie to the Minnesota boarder(ish) and around small town America.

What tour of Wisconsin would be complete without first stopping a place that makes cheese, and the taste of your first cheese curd. When first hearing of cheese curds, I think my stomach curdled a bit. After having one of those salty and squeaky little bits of joy, I think we both have cheese problems. I wonder if WI has a cheese addicts anonymous (Mouse)? We did purchase quite a bit of cheese, a meat stick, candy, and a couple of cheesy souvenirs.

I was however a bit confused at one point and very thoroughly laughed at when I stated that, “(noticing the sailboats in the marina) that’d be a cool little lake to sail on!” That “little lake” was the Mississippi River. Who’d have thunk it?

We walked around Stockholm, WI for a couple of hours. Stockholm has a population of 98. Just 98. It’s the quintessential little summer hippy community. They have everything from the little pub with spicy bloody mary’s, to the general store, art store, candy store, and bakery. We purchased a sauerkraut and rye bread and ate it last night with dinner. Amazing.

Towards the end of the day in Menomonomie, we stopped at a couple little places for drinks and epic people watching. It was amazing having the company I did while doing this. We’re a no holds group, except for maybe Shane, but its only because he’s still young. Wait a couple of years Shane and you’ll see it our way clearly.

It was nice to sleep in a home for two nights with the comforts of the family I used to intrude on the better part of my teenage years. Thank you! You'd better come down south soon!