Going "Parking"

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QUIZ: What is another word for “thumb?” Don’t know? Think about it for a minute. I’ll give you the answer a little later.

The pictures you see are some more of earlier trips. This time it is Mount Rushmore. More precisely, information about the sculptor of Mount Rushmore. The first picture was taken inside the museum and shows Borglum, the Sculptor, “hanging out” on the mountain inspecting the work. The second picture shows an actual sling used for that purpose and the gear equipment to operate it. The third picture is a shot of Borglum himself. You will note the sign to the left of the figure which gives information concerning his work. The last picture is a shot of that information. You will need to click to enlarge the photo to read the information. Quite interesting.

Now, let’s get on with the week that was. It has been real busy with a lot of doctor stuff. We are finished with that for awhile. Everything is going to remain “status quo” for now, meaning no surgery or invasive stuff going on for me. Can’t speak now for the future, but we are going to go about our business until such things are absolutely necessary. Going about our business right now means “Parking.“

What is Parking? It is not what you used to do as a teenager in your parent‘s car. Forget about it! It is my own term for the life style we will be pursuing for a while. The past year was spent traveling a great deal. We have shared that with you in over 56,000 words of text and pictures. Now, considering the cost of fuel and everything else, we are going to spend time volunteering in Georgia State Parks. We will be assisting the Rangers in helping in the campground. This activity is called “hosting.” Hosting is generally of two types, helping campers and maintaining the park grounds. I mentioned this to you last week.

We are now scheduled to be at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, GA for three months (July - September). Winder is about 20 miles from where our son Don lives. Then, for the months of October - December we will be at Stephen Foster State Park in deep Southern Georgia in the heart of the Okefenokee Swamp about 67 miles north of Jacksonville, Florida. In January of next year we will move a little to the north of the Swamp (about 98 miles) to General Coffee State Park until April ‘09. After that, it is whatever we decide. We may move to another Park spot (in some State or other) or we may decide to do a little more traveling about. We’ll let you know when we decide.

Have you thought of the other word for “thumb” yet? Have you searched the dictionary? Have you tried looking it up on the Internet? No? I didn’t think you would. You are just sitting there waiting for me to tell you, huh? Why do I bring this up? It is just something I do. You ought to know that by now. Actually, it has to do with going to the doctor. How?

In many doctor’s offices they have these video screens filled with medical information that is shown in the waiting rooms to educate and entertain those wishing they weren’t there at all. In spite of one’s self, it grabs attention. This is one of those little tidbits of information that passed in view. The other word for thumb is “pollex.” That’s it. No other information was given.

Of course, we being who we are, that little bit of information didn’t satisfy us. We wanted to know more. So where do you go when you want to know something? I don’t know where you go, but we go to the Internet. The fountain of all knowledge (and misinformation). This is what we found. “Pollex” is derived from the Latin “pollere” meaning “to be strong.” So chosen because the thumb is considered the strongest of the fingers. The Romans, however, used the word to indicate both the thumb and the big toe. But, in anatomy “pollex” is used for the thumb and “hallux” is used for the big toe. So now you know. Go confound your friends.

We will be leaving this spot in Tennessee to begin our “new” lifestyle on Tuesday, July 1st. As our lifestyle changes so may this blog. Since we will not be moving about often, we may not have a lot of exciting travels to share on a weekly basis, therefore, perhaps a monthly writing would be more appropriate. I am sure we will have many things to share with you, but it may lend itself more to a monthly “newsletter” than a weekly blog.

You can look for more words of wisdom on or about August 1st (or sooner if I so decide.) You can keep a check on the blog just in case I have some exciting news that I just can’t wait to share. The format of the blog may change a bit, or not. You’ll just have to check back to see.

Until I talk to you again, have a lot of fun! We intend to!!! Then……we’ll talk.

Change of Pace

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We have been in Tennessee now for three weeks. I guess you would call it “stationary,” at least for us, the way we have been moving around in the last 12 months. Since we have been sitting still, I thought I would just share some more pictures of our adventures “out west” that you haven’t seen.

The first one is of that “buffalo parade” we told you about in a previous blog. Traffic stoppers for sure. The second picture is of a bison searching for some grass to nibble along side of the road running beside the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park. Of course, you notice the snow. These pictures were taken in April ‘08 during our visit there. Did you have snow in April?

The last picture deserves a little more explanation. What you are looking at here is a hot thermal spring. The color is produced by billions of microorganisms called “thermophiles” living and prospering amid gases and heat---conditions that are lethal to humans. As you look at the spring’s patchwork of colors, you are looking at the world of thermophiles.

OK! These pictures show the world that was ours a short while ago. That was then! This is now! I promised to let you know what was going on with us in the medical arena. I will, so as not to bore you, give you the barest of “bones,” no pun intended, about the problem with my back and Carolyn’s knee. What! I didn’t tell you about Carolyn’s knee? Let me correct that oversight.

When we reach a certain age, we’ll not discuss what that age is, certain parts start to wear out. For me, it’s the back (along with a few other parts), with Carolyn it is her knee. Right knee. The problem, like with me, is arthritis. She has been limping along on this problem for several years. Periodically, she gets a “shot” in the knee (steroids) to relieve the problem. This is one of those times. Since we have been out of touch with our doctor for the past year, she was unable to get the periodical shot. Now that she has had a shot, she is about back “up to speed.” The doctor keeps insisting that she needs a knee replacement. Maybe at a later time. Now, we have places to go and things to do.

As for your’s-truly, I am also going to put off the surgery on my back. I am getting better and I think I can get along for a while. There is a little difference of opinion between the Neurosurgeon and my Primary Care Doctor about what such surgery would do for me. We’ll see. We will not rush into anything!

So, we are coming to a transitional period in our RV Life. We have spent the first year as planned, to travel extensively. Now, we are planning to “settle down” to a “Park” life for a while. State Park that is. We are planning to spend the next several months in Georgia State Parks as “hosts.” What is a host? In this case, it is a volunteer position in a State Park assisting the Rangers in the campground. In exchange for 24 hours of work (between the two of us) we receive a free campsite with all utilities furnished. Pretty sweet! This little deal saves us between $700 and $800 per month in camping fees, which we have been paying for the last year. Not to mention the HIGH cost of fuel to move our “mobile condo” from place to place often.

We’ll let you know more about this “new” lifestyle later. We would also like to hear from you and what is going on in your life. Remember, this Internet thing is a two-way street. Drop us a line or two, or a page or two. As the slogan for the TV program “20/20” goes, “We’re in touch, so you be in touch.” If you can’t type, that’s OK. We also have a phone number.

Hanging Out in Tennessee

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It is now Sunday, June 15. We have been a little busy this past week, with doctors and all. I’ll fill you in on this in a bit. I suppose you want to know all the details…..or not. Of course, I’m going to tell you anyway.

When we last left you, we were in a temporary site waiting for one to open with a sewer connection. We got one and moved last Sunday. We got the sewer connection we were wanting, but we still only have 30 amp service. This means that we can’t use the little oven and the electric water pot together, if the air conditioner is going and the TV is on, etc. I guess one out or two isn’t bad. We will make do.

You see a picture of our new site above (photos number 1 & 2). You can see by the second photo that we have our “dish network” set up for our TV service. This is the first time we have used it since we left Arizona, the 4th of April. You also see our bikes riding on the back, which also have not been used since we left Arizona. But we are not alone in this lack of bike use. In the third picture you see two RVs in front of our site that also have bikes hanging on the rear. Each of these has been here as long as we have, and their bikes have not been used either. Do you think it is just a “for show” thing? We promise to use ours……….later! The last picture is a view just to the side of our trailer. A nice country setting for an RV park.

Ok, so now I will let you know what has been going on with me and my back. I have been acting like the “crooked old man” of children’s rhyme fame. I’m sure that people who have seen me out wondered what in the world I was doing. Walk a few steps…stop and bend forward ninety degrees for a few seconds….walk some more and repeat…and repeat….and repeat. Not a pretty picture.

I got that MRI on Thursday. They had to sedate me so that I would be able to lie flat on my back, and perfectly still, for 30 minutes. I remember starting into the MRI tube, and I remember coming out. In between, I had a terrific 30 minute nap. The only way to go! The next day I went back to see the doc.

The story is that I have some severe nerve pinching going on in Lumbar 4 and 5, and some moderate to severe squeezing in Lumbar 2 and 3. Of course, you know that there are only five lumbar disks in the lower back. Number 1 only has mild to moderate problems. Three cheers for Number 1!

Ok, now we know what the problem is. So, what do we do? The next step is to see the Neurosurgeon. Hopefully, I will be able to do that this week. I have to wait for a referral from my primary care doctor. The person who makes the appointments was out last Friday, so I will try tomorrow to get the procedure completed. If all goes well, I can see the neurosurgeon on Tuesday….or maybe Thursday.

It is possible that I can stall surgery for awhile by having an epidural injection. We will have to see what the neurosurgeon has to say about that. We are still hoping to get to Georgia on schedule to do our camp hosting duties at Fort Yargo State Park. I have improved and am able to move a little better and with less pain. We’ll see how my luck holds. However, it is Parsons’ luck, and if you have been reading, you know about that.

That is enough about that stuff. After all, this is not a medical blog. We hope to have more “jolly” stuff next time. Until then, may your summer be filled with pleasure!

Back Again

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Did you miss us? OK, we’re back. I haven’t talked to you since, how long has it been? Let’s see, yeah, since May 18th . We have a little catching up to do. Now, where do I start?

We got back a little too early (or late) in the week to get the RV to the dealer. We arrived in Tennessee on Saturday, May 17. We found a campground in Goodletsville, about ten miles from where we used to live in a “real house.” We had stayed at this campground when we first purchased our RV. It is not the nicest place to stay, but it would do for three days until we took the camper to the dealer, which we did the following Tuesday. We got the fifth-wheel to the dealer early in the morning, got squared away as to what was needed for the RV, and then headed straight to Georgia.

Now it was a little more complicated getting away than just parking the trailer and leaving. The RV was scheduled to be at the dealer for at least two weeks. So, we had to empty the refrigerator and freezer since an electrical hook-up was not guaranteed. We packed cans, boxes and bags in containers and frozen items in insulated bags. We loaded all this in the truck along with clothing, personal items and bedding (more about this later). We had forgotten what it was like to pack for a trip. We got use to the fact that everything we need when we travel is just behind us in our “mobile condo.”

It is about a 285 mile trip to Georgia where our son Don lives. We were traveling early enough in the day to miss the after-work traffic snarl that is common in Atlanta. We arrived first at Don’s office to retrieve keys to his apartment and to the storage unit where a lot of our “house” stuff is stored. We needed to find some bedding for our stay there.

Don only has a one-bedroom apartment. He and the two of us makes three. A difficult mathematical problem for sleeping. Now, because of my back, I have always carried my own bed (one of those select-comforts, or sleep-number beds) and slept on the floor. We had another such bed in the storage unit that would serve for Carolyn’s use. So, we got the keys, dropped our things in the apartment and headed to the storage unit. Guess what? The key didn’t fit the lock. We called Don and the word is, he doesn’t know where the key is. Maybe at home. So we wait.

After Don got off work, and after some searching, we think we now have the right key for the unit. Carolyn stayed to start dinner and Don and I started for the storage unit just as the sky let loose with some very large rain drops. The rain drops got closer together and faster until it was coming down in “sheets,” sort of like driving under a water fall. When we pulled in front of the unit, the rain was still coming down in buckets.

Don got out with an umbrella and fumbled with the lock. I picked up another umbrella and followed. Splashing puddles as I went. There is no light in the unit, so we needed a flashlight. I was to pick up the spotlight from the truck, which, of course, I forgot to do. So, splash back to the truck and try again. He found the right key and had the door up by the time I arrived with the light. The rain was pouring into the unit, so we pulled the overhead door down to keep the furniture near the opening from getting drowned.

I turned on the spotlight and surveyed the mountain of furniture and “stuff” in the 20’ x 30’ unit. Where are we going to find a small package in this pile? I spotted what looked like bedding stuff in the back on top of one of the mountains. How do we get there? I moved an antique chair in front of one pile in preparation for my “climb” to the goal. Just below the chair was a familiar looking bag. I lifted it. It felt right. I opened it. Surprise, surprise---it was just what I was looking for. What luck! But that was about to change.

Since we had accomplished our purpose, we were ready to leave. We put our hands on the overhead door to push it upward. It wouldn’t budge. We pushed harder. It still wouldn’t move. Great! Were we stuck here? We tried harder, pulling upward on the door. It raised about six inches, but no farther. Our re-chargeable spotlight was beginning to fade. Terrific! Stuck in a storage unit without light. Who can we call? No one it appears. We had left the cell phone in the truck.

With renewed motivation we worked on the door until it was opened about fifteen inches from the floor. But we could get it no farther. Don decided to try sliding under the door to the outside, then we could work from both sides to get it opened. He did, but got soaked in the process. We struggled with the door from both sides, but it still would lift no farther. We decided to push the door down again and start anew. Now, I’m the only one stuck inside. We soon discovered that the door was off track and slightly askew. I pulled on one side of the door only and it began to raise. Finally, as the spotlight faded to black, I too could get outside in the pouring rain.

Our purpose for being with Don was to help him complete some jobs to finish renovating a house he had bought for re-sale. We spent a week there, with nights on the floor of his apartment and days working on the house. With my back still giving me fits, much of my effort was sharing my building knowledge with Don while he carried out the work.

After eight days in Georgia, we headed for South Carolina to visit with two elderly aunts, ages 95 and almost 93. I did a couple odd jobs for the aunt with whom we stayed, but mostly we relaxed. Then, it was time to head back to Tennessee and pick up our trailer.

At least, our luck is better than the RV’s fate in the first picture above. Wonder what caused that? Actually, it is a sculpture in Chicago. Fooled you, didn’t it? The second picture is no fake. It shows my aunt’s dog, Smokey, having a staring contest with a small rabbit that came onto the front porch. We discovered this encounter in passing. The dog had not made a sound. He just laid there watching the rabbit, and the rabbit watching him. They must have done this for at least five minutes. It was long enough for me to get my camera, make the setting for no flash (so as to not startle the rabbit), and take three pictures. The rabbit blinked first, and left.

We arrived back in Tennessee on Tuesday, June 3rd to pick up our RV. It took about one and one half hours to get settled up for the RV and unload the truck and reload the trailer. Then we headed back to the campground we had previously left. We had made a reservation for a spot upon our return. When we arrived, we got another surprise. We had no reservation. They had given our spot away and the campground was full. We soon discovered that every campground in the area was full due to a local music feast and auto race.

We made a phone call to a campground in Lebanon, TN, where we had stayed a year ago, to see if anything was available there. They had one site available. We reserved it and immediately headed that way, about 37 miles from where we intended to be. So, that is where we are now. The site we are in only has 30 amp and no sewer, but it is a place to stay. Maybe next week we can move to a better site with 50 amp and sewer. We’ll see. I have learned not to hold my breath.

As far as my back is concerned, I have seen the orthopedic doc and am scheduled for an MRI on Wednesday, then back to the doc on Friday to see what needs to be done. I have stronger pain meds now, so at least life is a little more bearable. I have made one startling discovery---pain is no fun! I bet you already knew that. Right?

I’ll be back later to let you know how it all turns out. In the meantime, hope for the best.

Did you know: The average pencil will write 45,000 words or draw a line 35 miles long. Why am I telling you this? Just thought you would like to know. In these terms, I have used 1.2 pencils writing (54,300 words) and 357 pencils marking a line behind the trailer.

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!