On the Road to Custer and enjoying Custer SP

Started out from Heber City to Custer Gulch RV Park in Custer, SD we will be overnighting at a KOA between Green River and Rock Springs WY and Rivers Edge RV Park outside of Casper, WY.

On the first day we did stop at Fort Bridger landmark and wandered around checking it out and making a little lunch.  The state of WY seems to be very windy most of the time, at least according to the people that live in that area.

Here are a few more from Fort Bridger.
Fort Bridger

Overnighted at KOA, windy..... Interstate 80 should be renamed Interstate "Windy".

Next day overnighted at Rivers Edge RV Park outside of Casper WY.  Nice campground and the owner, a young man, was very proud of his campground and it showed.  We took a walk down to the North Platte River.

ARRIVED AT CUSTER GULCH RV PARK.  Friday 08/26/16

Beautiful area and very nice campground, lots of green grass and lots of space between sites.
We set up and got ready to spend a couple of days touring the area, mostly Custer SP in SD.
Finally some quiet.  I could stay here for a long time....of course I say this now with the daytime temp of 75/80 and night time 50/55.  I would probably be singing a different tune in January......

First day we got up early.....I know don't want to make a habit of that.... and went into Custer SP and drove the wildlife loop and Needles Hwy.  Of course beautiful drive and since we got an early start we saw our fare share of animals.  Of course you can't go without seeing a buffalo.  At least I made it through the day without taking a boat load of buffalo pictures, which I seem to always do.

Also saw a few pronghorns

 

 

 

Turkeys

Burros

Prairie dogs

Deer

Here is a link to more pictures of the drive. Also included are the formations and one way tunnels along the Needles Hwy, just another beautiful drive.

Wildlife loop and Needles Hwy

Today, Sunday,  we got up and took a drive on Iron Mountain Hwy to Mt. Rushmore.
It was another beautiful day in the neighborhood.  The motorcycles love this road and there were lots of them out today.  This picture pretty much says it all.

We didn't stop at the monument this time,  we had been up there before.  One of the coolest things is going through the tunnels and seeing Mt Rushmore framed in the tunnel.

Here are a couple more pictures of the area.

Iron Mountain Mt Rushmore

This is a beautiful area and we could stay here another week and not get bored, but we still have to get some stuff done before the snow flies.

Tuesday morning we are leaving for Minnesota to see my son and more family and friends.  Hope to get there Thursday before Labor Day Weekend so we don't have to be on the road at that time

If I don't get back on before then I hope everyone has a safe and happy Labor Day Weekend.

On the Road

We started out on our journey on Aug 18, 2016.  First overnight was in Las Vegas, needless to say it was hot and steamy.  So it was hurry up and plug in and turn on the AC.  We set up at the Hitching Post in North Las Vegas.  Your typical desert campground with FHU.

We got up the next morning stored everything and went to start up MH.  NOTHING.....I didn't think it was a dead battery as I had dash lights and I could still work the slides.  Okay....go plug back in and start up the AC and call Good Sam.  Got them on the phone they sent out a mobile service guy to check it out.  He said it was a starter, that is what I figured it was.  He went and got a new starter and Robin went up to the office to sign us for another night.  Bummer.

Next morning all fixed and going to try again...no problems and off we go, next stop Beaver UT.  Arrived at the Beaver Canyon Campground early afternoon.  I was told it was a different kind of campground.  Cannot make reservations first come, first served.

 

 

Robin went into the office to check in....nobody around.....There is a little Mexican Restaurant behind the office/woodshed....Robins description.....she found an older gentleman having lunch.  We got setup for the evening no satellite to many trees.  Really liked this campground, most of the campers were full timers but very friendly.  We would stay here again.

 

We decided to check out the Mexican Restaurant for dinner.

 

It was a little place but the food was pretty good.  Open from 4pm to 10pm only.  After dinner we went for a walk around the park with Buddee and he seemed to give his approval....lifted his leg a lot.

California isn't the only place with fires, though I was told this was a controlled burn.

Next morning we were off to our next stop.  Mountain Valley RV Park in Heber City UT.  Definitely a different setting than the  night before in Beaver.  This is a very nice clean park, but I think I liked Beaver better.....

Once we got off the I15 and onto the 189 we enjoyed some nice scenery for a few miles between Provo and coming into Heber City.

This was Bridal Veil falls along the route, since it was Sunday it was very busy.  We followed the Duck Creek River for several miles.  Lots of river rafting and tubing. Fishing also.

We are setup in Heber City until Wednesday, weather is perfect, blue skies, no A/C, windows open and a nice breeze, sitting outside beginning to relate to this "retirement" plan.  Both of us are having a problem with knowing what day of the week it is........

....that is all for now.........



 

We are waiting for the house to close then we will be hitting the road.

Our first trip will be to South Dakota to change our domicile and get vehicle plates and Drivers Licenses.  We will be taking our time and maybe stopping along the way.  The Black Hills is definitely one area we will be spending some time.

Next on to Sioux Falls SD and then to Mn. to spend time with my son and friends.  We need to be in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the balloon festival.

Road Trip Mt Shasta-Crater Lake-Redwoods-2014

Our adventure started at 4am, the Saturday of Memorial Weekend. We headed out Interstate 5 through LA over the pass. (Note: I hate that part of the freeway-very rough). First day pretty uneventful as there is not much to see going North.

We stopped for the night at Flag City RV Park in Lodi, Ca. Flag City RV Park.  It is a large park with lots of pull through sites and very clean.  Easy on and off of the freeway with a Flying J and a couple of food places at same off ramp, but best of all they have Schwans ice cream in their ice cream freezer!

Our next stop was in Dunsmuir, Ca. at the Railroad RV Park.  This is a very rustic campground with lots of trees, I didn't even try to get the dish to work.  I have a few pictures of the campground in the link at the end of the blog.

Next morning we headed out the see Mt Shasta and the area near a little town of McCloud.
There is only one road up to the Mt Shasta area from the town of Mt Shasta.  Pretty drive.

After that we headed for the McCloud area to see several water falls in the area.  One of the Falls is in the McArthur-Burney Falls SP.

 

Slideshow of more pictures of the area below

 

The next day we headed to Grants Pass Or. ( I didn't know that you couldn't pump your own gas in Oregon).  We got settled in to our RV park for the next three nights.  Riverpark RV Resort. This a small campground but very clean and lots of grass.  The negative part is some of the campsites are very close together but if you are on the river there is room to sit behind your RV and watch the river. 

First day in Grants Pass we headed up to Crater Lake, I have to say that this was probably one the most impressive sights I have seen in awhile.

 

The weather was a little chilly, temp was 30 degrees with snow flurries.  The west rim was open to traffic but the east side was still closed due to snow.  We spent several hours there enjoying the view and taking pictures.

We headed back down the highway and stopped a the Rogue River Gorge and walked along the river to the falls.

The next day we went on a Jet boat ride on the Rogue River through Hellgate Canyon on the Rogue River. And yes we did get wet but it was a lot of fun!

Here is another selection of photos of the area.







The next day we headed out for the Redwoods along the coast on Hwy 101.  We had a campground for three nights on the Klamath River.  Klamath RV Park was probably my favorite campground of the trip.  The sites were all grass and close to the Klamath River.
We spent the next two days driving through the Redwoods.

 

 

 

All I can say is there are some really BIG trees.
More pictures below





The next leg of our trip took us through the Napa Valley area as we were heading back over the I5.  We saw lots of wineries and grapes growing.  We overnighted in Napa on our way back to Flag City Ranch in Lodi, heading home.

And last but not least are a few pictures of the campgrounds we stayed.



We had a great time!

Route 66 Kingman, AZ Christmas 2013

Since we had never been in the Kingman, AZ area, which also has some of the original Route 66, we decided to spend a few days checking out the area.

We checked into Blake Ranch RV Park, about 12 miles east of Kingman, on Saturday and got all settled in for a few days.  The park was rather quick as it was the Christmas holiday.  There were a few snowbirds and there were a few overnighters coming and going.  Nice campground and great for overnighting.

On Sunday we took a little road trip to the old mining town of Oatman, AZ. 

This little town has some tourist attractions including some regular residence, burros, who will beg for food at every opportunity.

One of them even befriended Robin even though she didn't have any food to offer.

Several of the old store fronts now offer all kinds of touristy stuff including some really nice local art and crafts.

The scenery was great on the way up and back.

The next day we headed in the other direction to the little town of Seligman, AZ for some breakfast at the Road Kill Café.

A review of the menu was on the wall when we entered.

We had breakfast and then headed out of some of the original Route 66 that would take us back into Kingman.

The next day was Christmas Eve so we stayed in the RV park and Robin fixed us a great Prime Rib dinner with mashed tators and veggie.. YUM!!!!
Christmas Day we got up early and headed home as Robin had to be at work the next day.
The trip home was uneventful except for and occasional wind gust. 
An end to another great mini vacation.  MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
See you next year.

Here is a link to more of the pictures we took along the way, enjoy!

More Route 66

Annual Thanksgiving Weekend at Lakeside RV Park in Pahrump, NV.

This has become an annual event for us every year on Thanksgiving weekend.  I think this is our fourth year going to this RV Park.

We started out at our usual 4am depart time, the weather was good. 

Our first stop in Peggy Sue's Diner, north of Barstow, for breakfast and to also give Buddee his breakfast and walk.  We arrived at the Diner a little before 6am so we fed Bud and he got his walk in before we had breakfast, Diner opens at 6am.

With everyone fed we are off to Pahrump.  We go to Baker and hang a left headed to Shoshone.  It is a nice two lane road across the desert.  It is usually a busy weekend for off-roaders dry camping along the road.  This year was no different and we saw several little cities of all kinds of RV's and off road vehicles along the road.

We hung a right at Shoshone and arrived at Lakeside RV Park in Pahrump at about 10am.

We love this campground for its fall colors.

 

After we got checked-in and got setup we called friends who have recently retired to the community of Pahrump.  We then joined Eldon and Nancy for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at Preferred RV Park in Pahrump.  We had a great time visiting and enjoying the traditional Turkey and dressing.

Usually we head into Death Valley for a day trip of sightseeing, but this year we decided to check out Mt Charleston and the snow.  It is nice to just visit snow and not have to live in it.
So Friday that's what we did.  It was a nice drive and I have added a few photos of the day trip.

 

 

 This is heading up Kyle Canyon with Mt Charleston up ahead.

 

 

 As we got closer the snow got deeper.

 This was up at the Lodge area.  We didn't see any ski lifts open, but did see some sledding going on.

 The return trip back to the main highway we headed down Lee Canyon.

 

On Saturday we met with Eldon and Nancy at the Nugget for a morning brunch and then they joined us at the MH for a nice afternoon visit.

Sunday we were up early and headed for home after a great weekend.

 

 

 

Grand Tetons-Yellowstone Trip

We started our two week vacation on May 25th heading for two days and three nights in the Grand Tetons NP and six days visiting Yellowstone NP.

First night stop in Cedar City UT at the KOA we got up at 3am and were on the road by 4am.  Arrived at the campground without incident and got setup for the night. 

Got up and on the road by 9am the next morning heading for Traveland RV park in Logan UT for our second overnight stop. Unfortunately our second day of travel was not without incident. 
Just south of Salt Lake City the passenger front tire tread separated from the tire doing 65mpg down Interstate 15.  Let me tell you there was several more gray hairs added to my head.  We managed to limp off the freeway and called Good Sam Roadside Assistance.
They managed to find a new tire and have it on the rim and back on the RV in four hours.  Whew!!!  Don't want to do that again. Still managed to make it to our destination on the same night.

Here is a picture of the tire!

 



The next day we got to our first destination, The Grand Tetons NP.  This park has some fantastic views and very majestic mountains.  It is very hard to put into words so I hope that the pictures will do it a little more justice. I will admit the pictures do only so much and they can't show the views like being there in person.  We spent two days and three nights in the park, staying at the Colter Bay RV park.  Nice park with Full Hookups and close to the Jackson Lake Marina.  We did have rain while we were there so there wasn't much sunshine but we still managed to do what we wanted to do while we were there.  Most of the rain was at night so it made for some good sleeping weather. They said there was a resident fox but we didn't see it while we were there.

   

 

Then we were on our way to Yellowstone NP.  This is one of our favorite parks, so far.  We love all the animals that we see when we go there. We setup up our home base at Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone. Nice RV Park with Full Hookups.  One of the reasons we decided to do a spring visit was being able to see all the young animals and to avoid the mosquito population.  The weather is a little cooler but that is okay with us.  I would much rather use the furnace a little in the morning and evening than having to use the A/C.  The sleeping is much better also.  We spent most days inside the park driving around and checking out all the animals. One of the best viewing areas for animals is the Lamar Valley area on the Northeast side of the park.  One day we spent staying in West Yellowstone, we did some shopping and Robin did some laundry.  The last day we were in West Yellowstone we took a little side trip to Mesa Falls Scenic Byway in Idaho, about thirty miles from West Yellowstone.  It was a nice little scenic drive with two stops at two awesome waterfalls.  The last falls we stopped at, the Ranger Station had a scope set up watching an Osprey nest with Mom sitting on her eggs.  Pretty cool to see.