Badlands South Dakota

Heading north west from Sioux City, South Dakota we stopped over night in the middle of the South Dakota Prairie Lands, where we have continued to experience temperatures over 100.

After one night we continued on toward Mt. Rushmore. We took a side scenic drive through the Badlands. I can't image what early pioneers thought as they traveled west through the beautiful grassy prairies to then come upon what looks like another planet. I was so taken by the stark beauty that I took over 85 pictures of the area.

Good thing I have a digital camera! More to follow from Mt. Rushmore.

Gateway To The West

The drive from Memphis was an easy trip. We arrived at our campground and set up in record time. The temperature in St. Louis was just as hot as Memphis, 100. We were here only a short time when I noticed our back A/C was not working. Chris and I checked breakers and could find no problem so we called Tech Support at Lazydays, where we bought our coach, and left a message. As he was calling back, Chris noticed we had no power to the plugs in our kitchen slide-out. This is now a bigger problem.

100 degrees outside, only one A/C, and half the power out, OH NO and only one week into our trip........HELP........After much trouble shooting and no positive results, our tech suggested unplugging from the campground power and starting our generator. This way we could see if we still had the problem. We Didn't! So back to the office to report to them that they had a problem with the electric hook up. They changed out the 50 amp plug and we tried again. So I'm inside waiting for the A/C unit to kick on when David calls and there is a problem with the alarm system at home.........NO POWER.........I Hate Electricity!

Everything settles down and evening is setting in when Chris, while sitting outside, notices this pick up truck circling around the campground. It pulls in across the large lawn facing us and parks. (He is sure they are casing out the joint.) The office was closed and Chris thought we should call the Sheriff if we could not find an after hours number. (He was ready to call 911!) A few minutes later Chris opens the door and says "Don't Do Anything!....... Our big threat was a family tenting with 5 children! OK Chris Chill Out!!!!!!!!

Today we traveled into the city to see the ARCH. What an architectural wonder that is. Afterwords we visited Grants Farm owned by Anheuser-Busch. These beautiful grounds house many wildlife animals as well as the majestic Clydesdale Horses. I drank my first beer a Budweiser Lime. This farm was once plowed and planted by President Ulysses S. Grant. His cabin is still located on the farm. So enough of the adventures!

Tomorrow we are off the Kansas City, MO and hopefully cooler weather.

Good Old Days

Check out those "white walls," they don't make them like that any more!

As you can tell, we visited Elvis's home, Graceland in Memphis, TN. It is a beautiful home. It was fun to see his cars and needless to say hear his songs being played.

We are staying in a campground across the Mississippi River in Arkansas. You can't believe the heat.........over 100 today. We might have to come home to get out of the heat. HA! Tomorrow we are headed to St. Louis.

New Orleans

St Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square in the French Quarter of New Orleans is just as beautiful as ever. The French Quarter was as crowded as Disney and very hot. As we walked around there were musicians playing wonderful New Orleans Jazz.

We had a wonderful lunch at Acme Oyster House which has been featured on the Food Chanel's, Drive-Ins, Dinners and Dives. We started out with the most wonderful appetizers of grilled oysters in garlic butter with Parmesan cheese on top. We then shared a Seafood platter. Yum...... While we were eating, a little girl around Layla's age, walked by Chris, stopped and smacked him on the shoulder. She must have thought he looked like someone because she grinned and kept on walking. The waiters were laughing and you should have seen the look on Chris's face. She must have thought he needed it.

We drove down through the Garden District with homes dating back to the early 1800's. There amongst the beautiful southern homes we drove past Loyola and Tulane Universities.

We have already had a bump in the road. Our rear camera has gone out. You should have seen Chris and I reading a wiring diagram and switching camera cables! The Good Lord help us All. Tomorrow we are off to Memphis for 3 days. Elvis Here I Come...........

Westward Ho

It is that time of the year for us to take off again! As you can tell from the picture we have a new addition to our family. We are towing a car this year. I must tell you I went down kicking and screaming! Now I know they all say the car will follow behind you and you'll never know it is there. Yea Right. I am already in a 35 foot long monster and now you have added 10 more feet. I can see me now passing this poor little smart car and change lanes smaking it into the brim. Guess I will let Chris drive and I'll navigate.

Chris talked me into the towing by hitting my weak spot.......GOLF. By towing we can take along our clubs and expierence mountain golfing. Another reason was saftey. We will be in areas where there will not be towers for cell phones. In an emergency we can unhook and use our car.
Our German Sheppard, Misty, in Jan. had a stroke. She has recovered nicely, but at 13 1/2 years old we know we may need to see a vet while on the road. That is much easier in a car.

We are pulling out on the 4th of July with a wonderful 2 month agenda including New Orleans, Memphis, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone and much more.

Stay tuned for updates on our travels.

Spelunking in Virginia

We arrived here yesterday staying for 2 nights. The Caverns and the camp grounds are located on the same property. I took the first tour of the day, so it was a "privet" tour. Later in the day they have larger tours. It is a small cavern located in the side of the mountain. The tour took around an hour and there were 300 steps to go up and down. Part of the cave goes up 6 stories into the side of the mountain and down under the ground 10 feet. So today I was 10 feet under! I will need my Advil tonight after climbing all those steps and "Bring on the Wine!"

The drive from Hagerstown, MD to here was beautiful. We paralleled the Blue Ridge Parkway so the view was breath taking and enjoyable for the driver since we were on I-81 all the way. The camp grounds here at the caverns are reminiscent of Trailer Trash Park in GA. A lot of full time residences, pick up trucks and motor cycles. One traveling motor home has 5 dogs outside, 3 German Sheppard and 2 smaller dogs. Inside she said she had a female Shepperd with puppies. Couldn't imagine how that RV smelled. Chris wanted to say only 1 night but we stayed so I could go through the cave.

This trip has been a great experience. What a Wonderfully Beautiful County we live in. We have really enjoyed the campers we have met along the way. In Hagerstown we met two couples from Holland. They flew into NY, where they rented an RV and are traveling around for 3 weeks. They will end up in Boston where they will drop off the coach and flying home. Tomorrow we make the turn south to Charlotte, NC. Guess it is time to think about heading home. (After all there is an up coming wedding!) I see by my watch it is Wine Time!

15 Miles On The Erie Canal

Traveling from Maine through NH and VT was breath taking! The Mountain ranges are beautiful and both states are mostly forests. As we entered into NY and traveled along I-90 we ran parallel to the Erie Canal. Most of you reading this will not know the song mentioned in the title. I learned the song in grade school when we studied the Erie Canal.

We stayed at Herkimer, NY where they had a Diamond Mine that you can mine for diamonds (for a fee). Yeah, I can find enough diamonds to pay for this trip! Well, let's not hold our breath. It turns out that the diamonds are quarts and they give you a hammer to bang on rocks to find them. Where is Sandy when I need her? We met our friends Gary and Janet Townsend at the camp ground in Herkimer. They drove over from northern IN to meet us. After checking out the Diamond Mine, Janet and I decided it was more fun finding our diamonds in a jewelry store! We took a side trip into the small town of Little Falls located on the Erie Canal. The picture is of the Lock in that town.

We had lunch in a small cafe down town where Gary ordered Ham and Bean soup. Well it was a vegetable soup with beans (nothing like our ham and bean). I was going yo order a Gyro Sandwich but it was made with beef. Oh well, Janet and I ordered a salad. Gary and Janet only had a couple of days before they headed back to IN but it was fun sitting around the camp fire with them. We hope to do much more camping together if we can get Gary to retire.

After Herkimere we are headed to Batavia to visit Chris' brothers and do some golfing. I had problems with the WiFi and being able to Blog so that is why it has been some time between entries. Back soon with a posting from the Pocono Mountains.