Pikes Peak or Bust

Today we headed up the road to Pikes Peak, it is nineteen miles up to the top but I think most of it is straight up.  This picture was taken above the tree line and doesn't really show the twists and turns.  I didn't get any better pictures as I was hanging on. Most of the road had no guard rails, just straight down.

 

When we got to the top it was 34 degrees with a nasty wind blowing.....brrrr......  We were aware that we might have trouble at the top with shortness of breath.  I got lightheaded and had a little shortness of breath and Robin got nauseated.  Once we started going down we straightened out.

The is also a train that goes up to the top and would also be a great way to get to the top.

 

The views on the way up and the way down were spectacular!!!  The pictures we took don't even

begin to do the views justice.

 

The Aspens are changing to fall colors and dotted the hills and mountains with awesome colors.

 



This road trip was awesome and I added a link to a few more pictures.

Pikes Peak Photos

Heading to Minnesota and on to South Dakota

We are now heading across South Dakota on Interstate 90.
Of course you can't past Wall Drug without stopping.

Had a little lunch and wondered around looking at all the touristy stuff.

Moving along the next stop was Mitchell, SD and the Corn Palace.

All the murals on the outside are done in corn and changed out every year at the cost of $130,000.
I can say one thing Interstate 90 is BORING!!!!  I could have set cruise control and went back and took a nap.  A couple more uneventful overnights and we are in my home town of Mahnomen Minnesota.  We will set up at the campground behind the casino for the next eleven days.

Nice campground and except for Labor Day weekend we had it mostly to ourselves.
We spent the next days relaxing and visiting.  During this time we really had a chance to decompress for the first time since the hectic summer we had.

We spent quality time with my son, Richie and his wife, Judy. My brother Barry and Karen Berger.
One day I went out to the cemetery to visit Mom and Dad.  It was so peaceful out there.
Seeing the little country church I went to as I was growing up brought back lots of memories.
I was baptized, confirmed and married in that church.

Pretty soon it was time to move on. 
We are now in Sioux Falls, SD.  We have officially become South Dakota residents.
We are moving on tomorrow, heading south towards the Balloon Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  We are taking our time....and making a stop in Colorado Springs for a few days and a stop at Raton, New Mexico area for a couple of days.

Yesterday it was pouring rain all day so we stayed in and did chores.  Today we finally got over to Falls Park and enjoyed......

Beautiful park, Sioux Falls is a nice friendly, dog friendly city.  Everywhere we went people were friendly and helpful when we needed it.  Our new "home".

We are getting used to living in a small space and don't seem to be having any issues.
Well maybe a couple....1) no matter want you want out of the cupboard or outside bin you will have to move something to get to it. 2) ......well maybe only one thing I can think of at the moment.

WE ARE RETIRED....WE ARE TRAVELING...WE ARE LOVING IT.....

More later.......

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