Full Circle

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You like the pictures above? Yeah? OK, I’ll tell you more about these in a few minutes. But, first, let me catch you up to date. You know that we got to Chicago and were not able to do what we had planned. So, we cut our stay in the area short and got ready to head East and South.

We knew that we would have some traffic to contend with in such a large city, but we didn’t expect this. It seems that all the people within a hundred miles jumped on the Freeway in front of us. It was stop-and-go. You know how it is, move a car length then stop, then get up to five miles an hour, then stop again. Now this would not be so bad if it were only a few miles, but 40 miles? The thing that really rubs you the wrong way is that you have to pay for the privilege. Yep, it’s a toll road on I-90, not to mention the high cost of fuel.

The first toll sign indicated that the fee for a car is 80 cents. Now, did we pay 80 cents? Not on you life. We were privileged to pay $2.25. OK, if we can get through here for that amount, not too bad. However, we crept up on another toll booth. Another $2.25. We have to pay a higher toll because of the number of axles we have. We have four axles. Now, we are surely finished with the toll having paid $4.50. NOT!

Have you ever been lost in Chicago? The Interstate system through Chicago has a lot of twists and turns. Sometimes there is a ramp right, then sometimes its left. It is difficult to know before hand which way to go to remain on the same route. Naturally, if you are in the left lane, you need to go right, and if you are in the right lane, the next one is left.

We were in one of those “left” lanes when we needed to go right. We saw the turn too late and had to continue onto an exit. We were headed for the downtown streets of Chicago. We couldn’t backup. We couldn’t turn around. We had to continue on. Can you image what it would be like trying to negotiate city streets in rush hour with a 39 foot trailer on a 22 foot truck?

We needed a quick solution to find our way back onto the Interstate, going the right way. Wendy to the rescue! You remember “Wendy” our GPS voice. As we rolled down the exit ramp, Wendy recalculated a new route to get us back where we belonged. She told us to go to the corner, make a left turn, and then another immediate left which would lead us back. A piece of cake. “Now, Everett, pay attention what you are doing.” No, Wendy didn’t say that, it was the little voice in my head. We continued on.

We approached the bridge crossing the Ohio River to Indiana called Sky Way Bridge. Guess what? Another tool booth. We had to pay to not get our feet wet. Not $2.25, not $4.50. No, it cost us $10.10, just to cross the bridge. The other side is Indiana. Ok, that is the last of donations to the city of Chicago, or the State of Illinois, or whomever gets the money. Are you ready for the next surprise?

We knew that Indiana also had a toll road (also I-90) and we were reconciled to the fact that we had to pay more toll. Very soon after crossing the river, we found the toll booth. $3.25 this time. How far is this going to take us, you ask? In about a quarter mile we came upon a “Detour” sign, sending us off the toll road onto a local road. We paid for using the toll road, but were denied its use. For 15 miles we detoured until we hit I-65 going south. No more toll. Truly, no more tolls. Three cheers! We bounced our way to Indianapolis on very, very rough roads. Speaking of “shake, rattle and roll,” we did.

Due to my little back problem, considering that I could only walk with pain, we cut our time in Indianapolis short and headed on to Clarksville, Indiana, area where we used to live. We enjoyed visits with friends, but took no “walking tours, ” except in and out of restaurants. We spent three days there then headed for Tennessee.

Clarksville is just across the river from Louisville, Kentucky. We crossed the bridge Saturday morning into Kentucky. We hadn’t gone far until we ran into stopped traffic on the Interstate. Three lanes of traffic setting still. We speculated as to what may be the cause when two ambulances went by going the opposite direction, toward the hospital. We assumed then that there had been an accident. We sat, then crept a few feet, and sat again. We were doing the 40 minute mile. It took us that long to get that far. Indeed, there had been what looked liked a horrific accident between two cars.

We are in Tennessee now. It is Sunday, May 18. I have an appointment with the doctor on Monday to see if we can figure out why I can only walk bent over with my nose level with my belt buckle. Funny thing, this back problem, I can sit and drive without pain, but I can’t walk ten feet without pain chewing up my hip and leg. Enough about this.

Oh, yes, the pictures. I had almost forgotten. We had a lot of time in Gila Bend, Arizona so I decided to get creative and produce some art work with fruits and vegetables. Not! I actually got these from the internet, or someone sent them to me, or some such. Someone was very creative. I’m sure you can tell what the art is suppose to represent. I thought I would just throw them at you to enjoy since I had not taken any photos on this leg of the trip.

An important note: Since our rig will be at the dealers being worked on (just old things that were not completed last Summer), we are going to be away without the RV for a couple weeks visiting family. So, I will not be writing the blog again until we re-unite with our fifth-wheel. We have reached full-circle. Twelve months on the road. I will give you more reflection in about two weeks. Keep checking. I will be back.

Stop and Go

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Here I sit, writing. It is raining. Why are we here? I’ll tell you in a moment, but first, let’s catch up from last week.

When I last wrote, we were “rocking and rolling” in our trailer being buffeted by 50 mile per hour winds. The winds became so strong that we considered leaving the trailer and going to hide in the campground Laundry Room or Restroom. We didn’t. We stuck it out and the winds diminished by bedtime. We had the whole RV Park to ourselves, or so we thought. The next morning we found that another brave soul had wandered into the campground for the night. We didn’t wait around for more weather. We left for Sioux Falls.

On Sunday, May 3rd, we checked in the Yogi Bear Campground on the East side of Sioux Falls. The Park was nice enough, but the space was a little short to fit both the trailer and the truck without infringing on the grass. Walking around the campground, we ran into our neighbors to the side of us and struck up a conversation. It was a doctor with his family; wife and four daughters. It turns out that he was an anesthetist who had a unique way of explaining his job. He said, “I get paid to pass gas.” OooooKay!! We won’t go any farther with that.

We spent two nights at that campground. We looked around the city a little, picked up some needed items for our meals, and generally just took a rest. Not a whole lot to see during this time of year. We left on Monday (May 5) for Minnesota farther down I-90, working our way back East.

We found a campground in Oronoco, Minnesota, just six miles north of Rochester called Tilley‘s RV Resort. When we pulled in no one was in the office. We found us a nice long campsite and settled in. Later, I went back to the office. Still no one was there. Another gentleman was also looking for the Manager, Owner, whoever. As I was talking to this gentleman, the owner showed. I told him where I had setup. He said, “Fine. How long are you staying?”
“Two nights.

“OK, why don’t I just catch you tomorrow.”

“OK!” I left. I guess he was too busy with something else.

We drove into Rochester to find a Mexican restaurant. Carolyn was in the mood for Mexican. We found one not too far away called Carlos O’Kelly’s. Now I ask you, “What kind of name is that for a Mexican Restaurant?” Someone confused Irish for Mexican, or the other way around. Interesting name, though. Good food.

When it came time to leave the campground, we still had not seen the Owner. We owed for two nights. The previous day I had found a lady in the office and asked her about paying. She told me the owner was real “laid-back” concerning the campground. Seemed that way to me. She called his phone and left a message that I wanted to pay. Didn’t work. If we had been dishonest, we would have just left. Instead, I called his number and told him we were ready to leave. He showed up about twenty minutes later. We paid. We left. Next stop, Lake Delton, Wisconsin.

Lake Delton, and sister cites of Wisconsin Dells and Baraboo, are mostly resort “villages.“ Dalles is a French word (meaning either "sluice" or "flagstone" and referring to the columnar basaltic rocks carved by the river).
One of the oldest sites to appear on maps of the western Great Lakes region is the "Dalles" of the Wisconsin River. It was identified as a convenient reference point by French explorers in the 1700's. The name stuck after the French explorers left Wisconsin, with the spelling and pronunciation Anglicized as the "dells". Wisconsin Dells is one of the oldest resort areas in the state. Most of the area, however, contains mostly man-made recreation to do with water.

Since we were in Wisconsin, we thought that it was necessary to find some good cheese. After all, the State is known for its cheese. We found a place in Lake Delton called The Cheese House. We bought some ten year old cheddar cheese for $15.89 per pound. Wow! The first picture above is of that establishment. They also have some interesting structures of wood. The second picture is of a restaurant called Moose Jaw, Pizza & Brewing Company. The last picture is of that “moose” on the car. I thought that was an interesting promotion.

So, here we are now in Union, Illinois. Another of those small places just outside a “big” city. In this case, Chicago. We are at a KOA campground in the North-West Chicago area. Some 40 miles from the city. Our purpose for being here is to visit the Chicago sights. Again, we try to work around the rain. We knew it was coming today, Sunday, so we decided that yesterday we would go to Chicago and spend the day. That’s what we decided. That is not what we did. Well, we tried to!

Those of you who know me, know that for years I have had a bad back. Well, it started acting-up a couple weeks ago, but I usually work it out. This time, it got worse. I take pain pills, muscle relaxers, sit with a heating pad and try stretching. So yesterday, Saturday, we planned our Chicago trip. There is a train running from Crystal City (about 16 miles from our campground) that goes into downtown Chicago. It is a commuter train, so it makes frequent stops along the way. In this case, about twenty such stops. The trip requires one hour and twenty minutes, each way, and runs on the hour.

The ride is pleasant enough, and the coughers, hyperactives (kids & adults) and the chatter-boxes, make it an interesting ride. We arrived at the large down-town terminal and disembarked. Our plan was to peruse Michigan Avenue (area known for its shopping), visit Hyde Park on the shore of Lake Michigan with museums and the like. When we arrived, I was having much difficulty walking. Pain! Pain! We decided to have a bite of lunch in the Terminal and strike out after a rest. By the time we had eaten, gone out onto Madison Street, tried to walk a few feet, I knew it was a “no-go.“ I could only make a few steps without doubling over in pain. We caught the next train back to Crystal Lake. What a time! Ride 1 ½ hours, lunch in the terminal and 1 ½ hours back. Some excursion.

We also filled the truck with diesel before getting back to the campground. We paid $4.42 per gallon. That is the most we have paid to date. Last month, we spent $1,150 for fuel. We are now adding some extra pennies to the quarters, dimes and nickels flying out the tail-pipe each mile we drive. So tomorrow, we are off to Indianapolis, Indiana. I can’t walk far, but I can drive. Sitting is not a problem, but walking….ouch!, ouch!, ouch! I’m sure it will get better…..but, when?

Plan "B"

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I am aware that you don’t know what plan “B” is. You don’t even know what plan “A” is. So let me explain.
Plan A is what we developed to get to where we wished to be by creating scheduled stops and making reservations where we wish to camp. Plan B, on the other hand, is to run like the dickens to get away from bad and dangerous weather! Forget reservations and scheduled stops, just get out of the way of what is coming. We are in Plan B,….. but let me back up and let you know how things have been working to this point.

We kept checking the Yellowstone hotline to see if the roads would open. We had almost lost hope of getting to the Park. Saturday night the message was that the roads were still closed. I checked again on Sunday morning, just in case it had changed. Ya Hoo! The roads were open without restriction. Since Sunday was to be our last scheduled day in the area, it was now or never. We quickly took off for Yellowstone.

The trip from Livingston, MT, to Yellowstone is 52 miles. From the Park gate to Old Faithful is another 56 miles. Our “day trip” turned into 223 miles, but we were there. Yellowstone, as you may know, is not only full of hot springs and geysers, but also many wild animals; buffalo, bear, elk the Proghorn antelope among others.

We did see Old Faithful blow its top. But, somehow, standing on cold snow banks waiting for the eruption was a little bit of a letdown. We waited around a little more than an hour just to witness the event. When the geyser died down after about three minutes, we hear one gentleman in the crowd comment to his wife, “We drove all this way just for that?” I suspect the weather took a little of the excitement away.

The first picture above is of Old Faithful. It now goes off about every 90 minutes, lasts for between 1 ½ to 4 minutes and shoots into the air from 106 feet to 180 feet. It is not the only geyser in the basin (sunken area) which is actually the inside of an active volcano, but it is the largest.

The second picture will give you an idea of the weather conditions on that day. Carolyn is standing in the walkway from the parking lot to the Visitor Center that had been cleared. As you can tell, the snow is higher than her head. The snow is not just “piled up,” it was that high all around.

We were able to see many of the wild animals wandering the Park, except for the bears. We took the time to walk some of the trails that had been cleared around Old Faithful. Some were closed due to bear activity. They were just awakening from hibernation and getting frisky, rolling down the hills, etc., so said the Ranger. We certainly didn’t want to encounter any bears on the path.

The third picture is a close-up of the buffalo that truly roamed the roads, without regard to traffic. There were sixteen of them holding up traffic on our drive in the Park. You can see how close they come to the vehicles. The picture was taken through my windshield.

The fourth picture is of a Proghorn Antelope feeding in a section by the road. The Pronghorn Antelope is the only animal in the world with branched horns (not antlers) and the only animal in the world to shed its horns, as if they were antlers. It is the fastest animal in the western hemisphere, running in 20-foot bounds at up to 60 miles per hour, and can run for hours at quite a fast pace. It is also called the Prongbuck, Pronghorned Antelope and American Antelope. Pronghorn can survive a temperature range of 180 degrees, from 130 in the deserts to 50 below zero.

On Monday morning (April 28) we were getting ready to leave Livingston to overnight (we had planed two days) in Sheridan, Wyoming then on to Rapid City, South Dakota the next day. We had a conversation with our neighbors, also preparing to leave, who were from Alaska. They asked which way we were going. When we said East, the wife said, “You had better get through South Dakota as fast as you can.” We weren't quit sure what she meant, but we were to find out.

We arrived at our campground in Black Hawk, South Dakota, six miles West of Rapid City, planning to stay for three or four days. We paid for three days and found our campsite. It was from here that we were to embark for Mount Rushmore. We had planned to do that the next day after an evening of rest from the drive. We checked the weather forecast and discovered that bad weather may be on the way. We decided to go to Rushmore right away that afternoon. It was a pretty day, so we did.

We gazed at the faces on the mountain, watched movies of it’s history and the wildlife on the mountain, visited the museum and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. The last picture is my “take” of the mountain. We found no information on how Mount Rushmore got it’s name. We consulted then Internet and found the following information.

"In 1883, a tin mine, the Etta, was opened, which caused excitement among Eastern investors, Shortly after, James Wilson, a New York mining promoter, engaged Professor Gilbert E. Bailey, state geologist of Wyoming, to examine mining claims in the area where Keystone was later located. In need of talent, as well as geological advice, Wilson hired Charles E. Rushmore, a young but able New York attorney, to check the titles to properties on which Bailey reported favorably. Although an Easterner, Rushmore quickly made friends among the miners and prospectors. One day he was returning to headquarters of the Harney Peak Consolidated Tin Co., Ltd., located at Pine Camp, which was north of the great granite peak soon to bear his name. With him were a local business man, and William W. Challis, a prospector and guide. As they neared this spectacular mountain, Rushmore turned to Challis and asked its name, Challis jestingly replied: "Never had any but it has now - we'll call the damn thing Rushmore". Thus in 1885, the chance remark of a rough miner to a visiting lawyer, fastened a permanent name to the mountain. The United States Board of Geographic Names officially recognized the name "Mount Rushmore" in June 1930." Forty years later, Charles E. Rushmore donated $5000 towards Gutzon Borglum's sculpture of the four presidents' heads on the mountain - the largest single contribution. The Memorial was dedicated by President Coolidge on August 10th, 1927." - "Mount Rushmore", by Gilbert C. Fite, 1952, University of Oklahoma Press.


The next morning we checked the weather forecast and decided it was ominous. We felt we needed to leave right away. Six to seven inches of snow was predicted overnight. Since we had already paid for three days, we were not sure if we could get a refund. Most campgrounds give nothing back if you leave early. We were lucky. We got a full refund, and in one hour we had gotten ready and pulled out headed to Oacoma, SD, some 210 miles ahead of the bad weather.

So here we are in the middle of Plan B. It is now Friday, May 2nd. We have been here now for three days, paying one day at a time. The place we had left is now covered with more than 12 inches of snow, and a blizzard is raging there as I write. The Interstate is closed. We left just in time. Here, it is raining and the wind is howling with gusts to 50 miles per hour. The trailer is rocking. We are the only ones left in the RV Park. Everyone else has left going somewhere. Not a good day for travel. Tomorrow, it is suppose to be sunny. We plan to leave for Sioux Falls, SD in the morning. We were waiting to move forward because Sioux Falls was having heavy thunder storms and tornadoes yesterday. We are in the relatively quite middle of the state.

Looking ahead, we have made new reservations in new locations and canceled others. We plan a couple days in Sioux Falls (the weather forecast is favorable), then on to Minnesota and Wisconsin. We are either running ahead of or behind the storm fronts as they, and we, move East. This time next week we plan to be in the Chicago area. We’ll see!