Spring Green, Wisconsin and House on the Rock

Pull into the Wisconsin Riverside Resort on Sunday the 25th to see the House on the Rock. This is a pretty campground surrounded by the Wisconsin River on one side and corn fields on the other three sides. The river, like most of the rivers that we have seen on this trip, was running brim full. For dinner that night, Carl and I drove down to "Arthurs" for Turkey Dinner carryout. This was enough per serving for nearly three meals. No shortage in the servings here. Drove over the the "House on the Rock", about 8 miles south of town, on Monday. I was a little skeptical of this, despite Tom Hanlon's description - BUT, it was a great experience in everything. I can't begin to describe the variety within this "house". His personal home through a mock up village, a whale/giant squid battle, an infinity room, a hughe carousel with 249 animals (no horses), Asian sculptures, knights, on and on and on. Three sections and we were there most of the day, finally leaving exhausted. This picture is of Carolyn, Anna, and Carl in the "Streets of Yesteryears".

This will probably be the last entry in the Blog as from here we are just doing overnights throught Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and home. We expect now to be home sometime Friday afternoon, July 30th. See you there.

July 21st Badlands South Dakota

Wednesday July 21st we drove down SD-240, the Badlands Loop Road, to visit the famous scenery in this area. The Badlands were formed basically when water runoff from the Black Hills washed down onto the prairie area east of the Hills and washed away the soft sandstone and ash, leaving fantastic gullies and watersheds that create the tortured look of the land here. It is desolate, and at the same time beautiful and in constant contrast between the grasslands and the washed away landscape. We drove slowly around the loop road, stopping at most of the turn-outs to take a short walk and read about the landscape. Took a side trip out a dirt road to the Prairie Dog town. Saw the Bison herd at a distance only. If you are driving down I-90 in the area it is worth a day to see. Don't miss it.

We also discovered an old Minute Man Missile silo Museum where they were giving tours right at the intersection of I-90/SD-240. The tours were booked up a week in advance, so will have to plan for that next time we are in the area.

While here we also did the Wall Drug tour for a couple of hours. Interesting, reminds me of "South of the Border", but ten times more interesting. Now that we have been here, we don't need to come back to Wall.

I am getting this in a full week late because of a lack of WiFi until we got down to Richmond, Indiana where I am posting this from.

Sunday in Custer State Park

Sunday we got up fairly early and drove down to Custer, SD then on out to Custer State Park. We took the Wildlife loop counterclockwise, starting out in the mountainous area then down throught foothills into the prairie. Herds of Pronghorn Antelope were grazing everywhere that we cared to look. Down into the southern part of the loop, around the praiie dog town, a herd of donkeys were gathered around the tourists, especially the children, begging treats. On up the east side of the loop we went off pavement to drive the dirt road over to the buffalo corrals, where the rangers round up the herd and sell what they can't maintain in the park. The herd was just coming up over a hill and wandered across the road in front of and behind us, then on off to graze in other areas. I counted over 100 in this herd, and more were a little way off grazing separately.

Back in the town of Custer we had lunch at a small cafe and bought doughnuts to go. We were told about "grandma"'s Pie bakery so drove over and bought a large Strawberry/Rhubarb to take home with us for after dinner. Actually, it lasted a couple of nights.

Monday we drove up to Deadwood, SD and went up to St. Moriah Cemetary to view "Wild Bill's" grave and the other stones throughout the park. The view over the town from the top of the hill was amazing. Down to walk the streets and have lunch to a live country singer. The Ford Model T club was having a major rally in Rapid City and were spreading out throughout the area. We ran into literally, hundreds of them in the Hill City area and even out into the Badlands later.

Mount Rushmore

Friday, July 16th we drove up to see the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The walk down to, and through, the array of state flags was beautiful, as those who have seen it can attest. We too the tour walk down to the "cave" beneath Washingtons head and on around the walkway.

That afternoon we drove down into Hill City for a walkabout and window shopping up and down the street.

Saturday we went to visit Keystone for a shopping tour and then on up to "Bear Country", a drive through zoo south of Rapid City. Unfortunately, we had gotten a late start and most of the animals were down for their mid-day nap. We saw Elk with tremendous spread of antlers curled up in the grass, as were most of the animals. We saw them all, but had to look hard. The bears were an exception, walking about in their area and holding up traffic as they wandered across the road. After "Bear Country" we stopped by two wineries for a little sampling. A Corvette club was also doing some nipping and having a great time. We ended up buying several local varieties before heading back to the campground.

July 15th Black Hills South Dakota

Today, July 15th we pulled into the Rafter J Bar Ranch CG south of Hill City, SD. We took US-16 from the Devils Tower area and cut across country to come into the CG from Custer in the south. The trip was a pain because of road construction in several areas that held us up for maybe fifteen minutes each time. Not a major problem, but you hate to sit still when you could be traveling. Did OK until we came to the Hell's Canyon area. The road went down into the canyon via a series of sharp switchbacks then back up the other side using more switchbacks. Twenty MPH most of the time watching front for the road, ahead for oncoming cars/trucks, and behind to see how the wheels on the trailer were tracking. We made it. If you are up for an adrenaline kick, I recommend this section of US-16, otherwise just take I-90 to Rapid City and come south. This post is late because the WiFi at the CG was too limited to be of use, so we were not able to keep up with the Blog until arriving in Mitchell, SD on the 22nd. Sorry.

Yellowstone NP - The Adventure Continues

Tuesday, July 13th, and we drove back into the Park again today to the Old Faithful Geyser Basin for a trip around the boardwalk paths behind the old boy. We didn't get to this area either in 2007 or this week so we had to try it. They have some beautiful springs and geysers back there so I took a movie of one of them spouting off for us. Old Faithful was getting close to blowing so we stopped and found a nice place to take a movie from behind it, using several trees to frame the eruption. Very nice effect. The wind was blowing hard so I made good use of my tripod to steady both the DSLR as well as the Kodak movie cameras. Temperature is still holding in the upper 60's, fairly consistent each day that we have been here (upper 30's at night). Should pull out Wednesday morning for Billings, Montana as an overnight then on to Hill City, SD for Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore. More after getting to Hill City.

Painted Bison

For those of you who have been in West Yellowstone, you know that one of the common sights in town are the Painted Bison around town. We can't have a blog without a picture of one of them. This Bison was outside of the Wolf and Grizzly Discovery Center with others spread out around town.

July 11th Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center

Sunday morning we slept in on an overcast rainy day. The clouds were hanging below the tops of the surrounding mountain peaks so we decided to just spend the day at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center here in West Yellowstone. There is an interesting exhibit building as you walk in and then paths among the large cages holding some wolves and another holding several bears. The wolves were taking their mid day sleep and would only raise their heads every once in a while. A naturalist held a "seminar" over at the bear area which was very interesting, then they put up some bird food in tree branches and apple chunks under various piles of wood. I did get a good 30 minute movie of the talk and the bears coming out to find the seed and apples. Christine and Laura, I got a Teachers DVD on bears and wolves that I will bring back with me. It is to be used in a computer in the classroom to teach about the animals. Hope that you both find it interesting.

July 8 - 10 Yellowstone National Park

Picture of the back of the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone.

We arrived at the Lionshead RV resort Thursday afternoon early and set up (getting good at that). Friday is Carolyn's Birthday so she got breakfast and flowers when she got up, then drove up into Yellowstone for the day. Treated her to dinner at "Bullwinkle's" in West Yellowstone. Happy Birthday Carolyn.

Saturday we had breakfast and drove back into the park to "Old Faithful" and the basin. We had a nice walk down the outside trail toward the Riverside Geyser and the "Castle Geyser" then back down for lunch and a view of "Old Faithful" in the afternoon. On the trip back home we saw several single Bison, no herds through and stopped for awhile to watch part of the Madison River Elk herd as they grazed close to us. Of little note in descriptions of the Yellowstone area (noted in the Colorado Springs area also) is the phenomena of the EXPLODING MAYONNAISE. Anna, particularly has experienced this personally. At around 6000 feet altitude, mayonnaise in a plastic container will tend to be come over pressurized on the inside and come out forcefully when opened, much to her surprise. She had a laugh at Carl today however as he opened a tube of suntan lotion, and had to quickly put his finger on the hole to stop it erupting.

July 7th in Ft. Hall Idaho

We left Salt Lake City sad to be leaving Betty, Shielia, Neil, Barry, Karen, and Tim as they resume their busy lives. Thank you each and every one for a great time getting acquainted and reacquainted. Neil and Shielia a special thanks to the two of you for taking us under your wing and showing us around the city as well as the surrounding country, things that I would not have associated with SLC. The Temple grounds, the farmers market, copper mine, the lake, "ocean diving" in the desert, and the swim for the dogs as well as breakfast and Pizza. Barry and Karen, your family is great and we had a wonderful time at your home to meet everyone. And definitely not least, Betty - we loved getting to see you and talk again after these three years. Good luck on making the decision as to which house to buy. Love you all.
We stopped overnight at Fort Hall, a Shoshone/Bannock reservation, and hit the museum and the Casino. It was interesting to talk with the same lady at the museum that we talked with in 2007. She is full of stories about the past, legends, and current life in the Shoshone nation. We actually won a few dollars at the casino. ha

July 2 - July 7th Salt Lake City Utah

We are finishing a great few days with the Salt Lake City family. Arrived on Friday afternoon from Zion NP up I-15. Called Shielia after we got set up and made arrangements to meet her and Neil on Saturday morning for breakfast at the Farmers Market in town. Now this is not what I had in mind as a typical farmers market. It reminds me more of the Thurmont Color Fest. The whole park was occupied by food stalls and craft vendors. We briefly met Neil's son and daughter-in-law then hooked up with my Aunt Betty (mother to Shielia, Barry, and Tim) and Tim and walked the vendor stalls. Neil drove us over to the Mormon temple grounds for a tour and a chance to listen to an organ recital from the world famous Morman Tabernacle Organ. We were invited to Barry's and his wife Karen's house for a BBQ chicken dinner with everything. The whole extended family dropped by at one time or another so Carolyn and I got a chance to meet their children also.

Sunday we again met up with Neil and Shielia who gave us a first class tour of the highlights in the area. This included the hugh copper mine in the Western mountain then a drive down to the great Salt Lake and an introduction to the only salt water shark and scuba diving facility in Utah. This is in a natural warm water salt pools that has been stocked by a variety of salt water fish such as sharks, sting rays, angel fish, and many more. It is also used to train scuba divers in interaction with sharks. Neil was a diving instructor here. Monday, Carl and Anna returned from Baltimore and we had pizza with the family.

Tuesday we escorted Carl and Anna down to the Temple grounds so that they could see it first hand.

July 1st Zion Canyon National Park Utah

We arrived here at Springdale, Utah, at the southern entrance to Zion Canyon NP on Monday afternoon, June 28th from Las Vegas, Nevada. The drive was good, only about 170 miles, and we arrived about 1:30 pm. Hot day, around 105 deg, so we just set up and hunkered down for the afternoon. Carl and I took the shuttle bus up to the park visitors center and then transferred to the shuttle that runs through the park. We were able to get off at most of the stops and take pictures then hop the next shuttle on. Carl received devestating news about Anna's mother and we drove them back to Las Vegas to catch a flight to Baltimore. Wednesday, Carolyn and I walked down into Springdale and window shopped at the many small shops there. Had lunch at Oscars (make it a stop if you are in Springdale), then back to the campground. We took the dogs down to the Virgin River and let them swim for awhile. The day was overcast and the temperature stayed down in the 90's so was pleasant. Today, Thursday the 1st, Carolyn and I took the shuttle into the park and hiked the Emerald Pools trail and the Grotto trail, then walked into town for lunch at the Pioneer. Another clear hot day so stayed under the air conditioner until evening then took the dogs for another swim.