Retired L.E. from Sonoma County, CA. We've been full time RVers for 8 years, covering all lower 48 states and not nearly seeing a fraction of what is out there. Enjoy life in the "here & now" for the future is not guaranteed. Live, Laugh, Love...Grandkids rock!
Just before we made our exit from Prescott, AZ, Jeanne & I ventured back out for a hike on the Constellation Trails. On our previous hike of the trails we kept to the interior trails. This time we chose to do the outer loop which is a little more than 2 miles and includes the Ranch Road Shortcut, the Rock Wall Trail, the Lost Wall Trail, and the North 40 Trail. The hike was moderate, only about a 200’ elevation change, minimal rock scrambling (you can add all the scrambling you want, in and amongst all the granite rock piles and formations), and very scenic but the only critters we encountered were the lizards.
Once we went jacks-up, it was “westward ho!” We did a couple of one-nighters at the Needles Elk’s Lodge and the Pilot truck stop in Tehachapi, then a two-nighter at the Merced Elk’s Lodge, and hit our destination of the Petaluma Elk’s Lodge as our base for doing our medical chores. Several days later, those chores done, we snagged Max for his summer adventure. We had him for a couple of days in Petaluma, then raced on out of Kalifornia, eastbound & down, to the Boomtown KOA on the NV-CA border. We did a 3-night stay for the weekend, Max & I making good use of the pool & hot tub. That hot tub turned out to be a real perk at the end of one particular day. Jeanne found a waterfall hike for Max to take us on, after a pre-requisite visit to the Cabela’s store for some hiking gear, of course. The Hunter Creek Trail leads to Hunter Creek Falls and is a very popular hiking trail for the locals. It turned out to be a 7 mile, round trip hike (out and back, not circular), with a 1,300’ elevation gain, no rock scrambling for the most part, with just a couple of short sections of very loose shale. To get to the best viewing area you must navigate some downed trees/limbs in the creek, and that could be problematic for those with balance issues or limited tread shoes. But if all else fails, the creek is only about knee deep at the deepest, there are plenty of spots where it looks ankle high. The views along the hike, as well as the waterfall, made it well worth the effort. While at the KOA we just HAD to walk on over to the Boomtown Casino where they have an arcade room for the kids. Max got his fill of arcade fun and we topped it off with his favorite meal (“cheeseburger, plain”) at the Mel’s diner.
This mama was our neighbor at the Merced Elk’s LodgeMax at Shollenberger Park, Petaluma, CAYeah, low tide STINKS!The adventure beginsYay! We made it to the Boomtown KOA!Max heading over to the casino for a little arcade time…Max & Oma prepare for the Hunter Creek Trail hike…Off we go…Max was always on the lookout for caves…Rest break with Oma!Max liked the waterfallGood thing max brought his good hiking shoes for thisThere were lots of mini waterfalls along the creek.Are we there yet!?
Boomtown in our rear-view, it was southbound toward Pahrump, NV. We wanted to show Max the “boondocking life”, so we did a one-nighter along Walker Lake at the Sportsman’s Beach Campground. We have stayed here a couple of times before and it is a popular stop over for many in the full-time RV lifestyle but we have never found it crowded (OK, usually there is nobody anywhere in our line of sight). We spent the day walking down to the water’s edge, chasing lizards. And too bad for Max that he does not wake up for Woody’s 2:30 a.m. toilet run, at that time I got a pretty spectacular night sky view including the Milky Way! After all, we were in an area of Dark Sky Parks (getting awful close to Death Valley).
Our campsite guard lizard at Walker LakeNow that is what I call a tough view…The water was like a mirror…
Moving along it was off to a couple nights stay at the Pair-a-Dice SKP RV park in the happening hamlet of Pahrump, NV. This was basically a rest stop along our route, with time enough to get laundry chores done and enjoy the triple digit heat. That is a wrap for now, consider yourself up-to-date. Until next post…
So, the sarcastically “great” state of Kalifornia always seems to sink its claws into any plans we would like to make and violently rip them from our grasp. Jeanne, being named Trustee for her mother’s living trust, was charged with the administration of the trust. This would have been a task that could be handled while still allowing us to be mobile. But, alas, Kalifornia DMV strikes once again. Jeanne’s mother’s car being registered in mom’s name and not the trust, the DMV requires a 40 day wait period from the date of death before one can submit all the forms necessary to change the title for purposes of selling the car, and all being done in person at the DMV. So then, we get the (dis)pleasure of hanging around even LONGER in that miserable state. “%&@*$#!&@^#%$!!!!!” We bounced around between the Redding RV Park, the Redding Elk’s Lodge, and Win-River Casino, trying to keep our long term costs down while burning time.
For what little downtime activities we could squeeze in-between taking care of trust business, we managed to get our bicycles fired up and ride parts of the Sacramento River Trail which runs from downtown Redding to the Shasta Dam (20 +/- miles one way). We also did some walking back at the Sundial Bridge over the Sacramento River. It was certainly a huge improvement over the past 4-5 years being in the area with all the past smoky skies due to wildfires (I don’t know why they continue to call the constantly occurring events “wildfires”; I personally think most if not all of them are being intentionally set, should be called arson fires instead). Never having experienced the great Redding Farmer’s Market, we wandered over to find it to be a pitifully small event at the civic center. More entertaining were the various pieces of artwork scattered about the grounds of the civic center. At some point during this stay Jeanne caught “the bug”. No, not that one. The “pickleball bug”. She decided she wanted to try it out and we found some fairly new courts had been erected at Enterprise Park in Redding. After a short outfitting run, rackets in hand, it was off to the park. After a few scattered days of chasing that wiffleball around the court, Jeanne decided she was hooked. Me, I’m easy, having played my share of racquetball (although the two sports are not even comparable), I was happy we found a mutually satisfying physical sport.
A view of the Sacramento River…The Sacramento River Trail with viewIt was a busy day on the trail…Still part of the trail, crossing the river.The sundial peeks through the trees…Is that one of those dreaded chem trails behind my sundial?The Sundial BridgeA view upriver from one of the bridges.The Redding Farmer’s MarketSome of the yard art at the civic centerNot one of the bigger farmer’s markets we’ve seenMore yard art……and still more yard art3 of the 6 Pickleball courts at Enterprise ParkThe other 3 courts.
The whole area of Redding has a yearly car show event called “Kool April Nites”, a local take on the Reno “Hot August Nights”, and various areas hold their own mini-events. One such event is the “Show & Shine” held at the Win-River Casino. We grabbed up Jeanne’s brother Dave and took a stroll through the restored, mostly classic cars from days of yore. One regret I have is that I never learned much about auto mechanics, I think it would be fun working on a restoration project now and then. I’m sure it’s a kinda expensive hobby…
Upon freeing ourselves from the grip of the DMV, we FINALLY got the go signal, went jacks-up with warp speed, and resumed a run towards Prescott Valley, AZ which we had originally planned back in December. Heading toward Hwy. 58 and the Tehachapi Pass (our regular route of choice for ingress and egress to/from Kalifornia), we made a very short detour/stopoff in Atascadero, CA, to say “Happy Birthday” to granddaughter Hailey (and belated “Happy Birthday” to granddaughter Ellie).
Nothin’ better than a little ice-cream Birthday cake!Future Roller Derby athletes…Hailey dodging the chickens…Ellie can dodge ’em with the best of them!Is there any reason you could imagine why we like leaving Kalifornia?Birthday girl showing off some electric hair!
Back on the road, it was onward to Prescott Valley. We did a one-nighter at the Needles Elk’s Lodge, then completed the route at the Prescott Valley Elk’s RV Park. Our point to the return stay was to further evaluate it as a possible landing zone for when we retire from the full-time life style and not necessarily to re-experience any major sightseeing as we had already done. That being said, we did take another stroll around Fain Lake since it is directly behind the Elk’s Lodge. In fact, Jeanne got the “good samaritan” idea to pick up garbage along our walk to the lake. It was not like trying that anywhere in Kalifornia, there you would need a truckload of garbage bags. Here we barely filled one bag. They also put on a weekend “farmer’s market” next door to the Elk’s Lodge, which we attended. This was a sad “farmer’s market” since there were absolutely NO produce stands (we were told it was too early for planting in the area, still subject to frost). It turned out to simply be a swap meet style of marketplace.
Fain Park and the fishing docksFain LakeFain Lake damThe drop from the dam…Some of the mining artifiacts on display at Fain Lake ParkMore mining “stuff”…
With our stay in Prescott coming to an end, we are preparing for a somewhat dreaded return to Kalifornia. We have some medical stuff we want to take care of with our PCP back in Santa Rosa. We are also planning a summer vacation trip for our 10 year old grandson Max. We are going to snatch him up after our medical chores and hit the road for a whirlwind summer tour of the midwest United States, the crowned jewel being a few days run through Yellowstone Nat’l Park. Max has not ventured into this part of the country, so we put together about a 5-week plan. So, now you are caught up. “Say ‘good night’, Irene!” And check out these moon pics. Until next post…
Nighttime in Redding, CALike Van famously sang, “It’s a Marvelous Night for a Moondance!”Blood Moon, photographer unknown…makes one wanna break out in a chorus of Warren Zevon, “Werewolves of London”
OK, OK, OK, so I know there has been a lengthy lull in the action. I’ll do my best to fill in the blanks coherently. So you last read about us in early December when we were in Lake Havasu City, AZ. Part of that stay we took the ferry boat over to the California side and the Havasu Landing Casino, the boat ride affording us some cool scenic views. Some of the sunset views over the lake were pretty amazing as well. While enjoying the lead up to Christmas, we happened to learn our friends (and my former workmates) Jim and Stacy Camara were also in the area avoiding their colder Idaho weather for a few months. We hooked up with them to take in some of the sights, like the London Bridge Swap Meet and a downtown Thursday night car show. We also were able to give them the tour back at Sara’s Crack as well as the Bunker Bar.
But alas, and the reason for our little blog hiatus, we got that frantic, crocodile tears call from Jeanne’s brother Dwayne, telling Jeanne that he thought their mom was near death. We hoisted jacks and abruptly terminated our stay at Lake Havasu, heading W/B and down back to Cottonwood, CA (Redding area). Their mom was pretty frail, weak, and basically bedridden when Jeanne got there, so she contacted the local hospice care outfit and got hospice started.
During this stay in the Redding area, Jeanne and I managed to run into a fairly clear day to make a return hike up to Chamise Peak for a blue sky viewing of the 3 Shastas (dam, lake, and Mt.).
Our nephew Alex (David’s young’un) had a basketball game that we were able to take in. It was certainly nice to see the Junior High kids playing a sport without having to wear face diapers.
There was a Boat/RV/Motorsports show put on at the Shasta District Fair that we took in with Dave and Alex. And dummy me, do you think I would have taken a lot of overall photos of the event? Of course not, I photo’d critter heads hanging on a wall, (1) watersports vehicle (a SeaBreacher), and one hokey stuffed Big Foot. Sometimes I just kill myself…
Well, 12 weeks into hospice care and Jeanne’s mom Yvonne is not even close to exhibiting signs of the end of her journey. Family tensions have been stretched to their maximum limit pretty much this whole stay, so we have decided to head back out on the road (not a whole long distance but absolutely escape out of Kalifornia once again). In the lead up to our escape, Jeanne planned out a “special adventure” for our (3) grandkids, Max (Santa Rosa, CA), Hailey & Ellie (Atascadero, CA), and as it turned out, Hailey & Ellie’s dad (Chad). Kind of a combined birthdays/Christmas celebration, destination: The Great Wolf Lodge in Manteca, CA. The Great Wolf Lodge is a franchise of lodges scattered nationwide which cater to family/kid entertainment. The main attraction at this one in Manteca is the large indoor water park consisting of several pools with water slides, a wave pool, water activities and fountains. The lodge contains an elevated ropes course, pee wee golf, a kids variation on a bowling alley, a mining attraction for those budding gold panners, an arcade, various shops and eateries. The lodge does a great job of putting on activities for all ages. There are characters for photo ops, kid’s dances, baby yoga, bingo, arts & crafts, a Build-a-Bear shop, and the main attraction, MagiQuest. The kids obtain a magic wand (with pass purchase or straight purchase) and there are numerous “stations” scattered all over the lodge where they wave the wand, watch an animated video or activate a “feature” and are given directions to follow (kinda like a treasure hunt). The theme is like that of a nature conservationist, the goal is to save the 5 trees of the empire. It is pretty intensive, took Max & I (3) hours of hoofing it back and forth across the entire lodge searching out all the features needed to complete the task and be certified a “Master Magi”. The grandkids had ample daily pool time and the goofiest big highlight of their stay was getting to push the elevator buttons to get to our 6th floor room. Ellie got to be the big winner at bingo with (5) total wins, Hailey got (3), and Max got (2). Hailey was poised to be the big winner at bowling, however Oma rocketed from behind to finish big. Max got to show off his prowess on the ropes course, completing both the lower level as well as the nose-bleed upper level. All in all it was (5) days of fun, I know because I’m still feeling it (getting old sucks)! However, I would recommend (3) days as the optimum stay length. The kids can cover all the activities in that time, any longer and it gets repetitive.
Fun time over, “good-byes” said, Jeanne and I headed back to Anderson, CA. That is where we left Rosie (the MH) and Woody (the wonder dog), at Dave’s house. A few days of road prep (laundry, food shopping, etc.) and it was jacks up, off to… Time out, put the jacks back. Jeanne’s mom took a turn for the worse after we returned to town. As it was, she passed to a better life on, of all days, at 2330 hours on St. Patrick’s Day. God bless her soul and thank you Lord for putting her suffering behind her. Until next post…
So we motorvated back to Kalifornia for family visits and medical/dental duties. We checked in and helped out with Jeanne’s mother’s health care, then looped around from Atascadero to Santa Rosa for grandkids’ literal face time. We ended up spending about two months in that God forsaken state, but the day we completed our last appointment (me getting a tooth crowned, had to wait 2 extra weeks for the dang thing to get molded/created/installed) we went jacks up and sped away toward Hwy. 58 and the Tehachapi pass, our preferred path of escape from Kalifornia. (***Spoiler alert – if you want to avoid my politically incorrect rants, skip now to the next paragraph***) Each and every time we go back there the amount of garbage, homeless encampments, graffiti, dirty air, and the quality of the roads seems to get progressively worse. The politicians (who KEEP getting re-elected) have run what once was the most beautiful of the lower 48 states right into the toilet. What’s worse, the people still living there keep putting up with the socialist and totalitarian crap spewed by the likes of Gav & Nan & Maxie & all the rest. The facemask Nazis are everywhere, screaming at unsuspecting customers who may errantly wander into stores without the suffocating face diapers being worn in “the appropriate” manner. Even worse, some businesses actually require proof of vax (“Your papers, please!”) if you want to enter their buildings. This whole farce of a “pandemic” got out of hand long ago. I got news for everyone – it’s the flu, people! Covid, the flu. Delta, the flu. Omicron, the flu. Guess what? All of the future 347 variants over the foreseeable future, the flu. And anyone with a brain can see how effective the big pharma vaccines have been. But hey, if you’re fearing for your lives feel free to keep wearing those ineffective face diapers, getting multiple (failing) experimental chemical injections, maintaining that social distancing, self-imposing your very own quarantines, and continue being blindly obedient sheeple to your ruling class. I’m changing the name of the state from Kalifornia to Psycholovakia. Right now, if you are asking yourself, “What gives this moron the ability to make such broad, sweeping condemnations of the state of Psycholovakia,” I spent 53 years of my life as a resident of said state. And with 9+ years of full-time RV-ing throughout all of the lower 48 for use as a comparison, I think I’m qualified to render the opinion. ‘Nuff said.
With very little time for tourista activities during the last two months, I will leave it at that with a montage of grandkid photos…
Our new adventure started at Lake Havasu City, AZ. Our home for that stay was the Lake Havasu Elk’s Lodge. (For any of you Elks reading this post, this Elk’s Lodge is an extremely happening place. One of the members we spoke to claimed it to be the second largest lodge in the country…). The RV lot for the lodge is a gravel lot with 25 FHU spaces that are fairly spaced apart. The lodge has an active calendar with all types of events and meals of which we made good use of during our stay.
Welcome to the Havasu Lake Elk’s Lodge
Our home at the Elk’s
A backyard view from our home looking toward Lake Havasu/Colorado River
First outing was a return visit to the area of the London Bridge. As is our custom of unwittingly arriving in areas during special events, we discovered that the annual Lake Havasu City Christmas Boat Parade was scheduled for that evening. After a quick recon of the area during daylight, we left only to return later for the parade which was slated from 1900-2100 hrs. Sometimes, no, oftentimes, “The best laid plans…”! The master plan was to head back a couple hours early, have a nice meal at one of the many restaurants in the area, then scope out our viewing site. We returned at 1700 hrs. to discover the parade is kinda popular in these here parts. Parking anywhere near was nigh on impossible, but we found curbside parking still within long walking distance. The area up and down from the bridge was jam packed with humans! Not only that, ALL of the restaurants were full with SEVERAL hours wait time. Oh boy, like the famous quote from a memorable Seinfeld episode, “No soup for you!” We soldiered on and found our viewing site for the parade and proceeded to hurry up and wait. The parade was pretty cool, after the boats did their thing some aquatic acrobats did their thing on lit up jet skis, flips & dips etc. We decided to cut out a little early due to impending traffic jams and boy howdy I’m glad we did. It still took a while to get away, thousands of other folks also had the same idea. But we survived…
When we were here a few years ago, we found a cool bar located out in the desert between Parker & Parker Dam, dirt road accessible, aptly called “Nellie E Saloon – The Desert Bar”. At the boat parade we spoke with a couple who mentioned a second desert bar located north of Lake Havasu City (about 6 miles from the Walmart). That one is only open on weekends, so on a bright and cheery Sunday we ventured north and found “The Bunker Bar”. This was a short dirt road drive (a couple of miles off the highway) to arrive at the military bunker themed outdoor bar. It is a big-time pro-military, pro-first responder, pro-America venue. They had a small converted freight container for a stage with a band called “Roadwork” playing at the time. Food bunkers are on site (pub fare) as well as a swag store. Family friendly, there are all manner of things for children to play/climb on and cornhole for all. The band was pretty good (rock-n-roll, baby!), the gee-tar man making his rounds through the audience while he played licks from the likes of Ted Nugent, Eddie Van Halen, etc. Jeanne even got to mug for the camera with him to the tune of “Stranglehold”…
The area of Lake Havasu has a cornucopia of outdoor desert activies for those of you so inclined. The whole area between Quartzsite and Lake Havasu City (70 some miles or so) contains non-stop boondocking opportunities, a lot of it very popular and on BLM land. Their are miles and miles of OHV areas, Jeep trails, hiking/biking trails, not to mention all the lake activity available at Lake Havasu/Colorado River. Jeanne found a popular hike at Sara Park, on the south end of town, called “Sara’s Crack”. We loaded ourselves up, sans Woody, and headed out to explore Sara’s Crack (pun, well, heck yeah, but no, we are not budding proctologists!) This was about a 3+ mile round trip trek containing a large slot canyon. There are several trails that take off from the parking area, mostly criss-crossing through the bed of the gully/draw heading toward the slot canyon, some branching up onto the mountainside, you can pick your poison. We chose the “yellow” trail and once we got through the slot we branched uphill onto what I think was the “blue” trail which headed up for overall views of the area. I would classify the difficulty level for our journey at moderate. There was some rock scrambling and rope assisted climbing.
So that about catches us up to the minute. Until next post…
Bozeman, Montana in our rearview mirrors, it was westward ho as we inch our way toward the Republic of Kalifornia. Our next stop was in Idaho Falls, ID, at the local Elk’s Lodge. We spent a few days in the area, coming to the conclusion that Idaho Falls is a bit too much “Back To The Future-ish”, aka: not real modernized yet. We did check out Jalisco’s Mexican Restaurant for a little sustenance, and found it to be right on top of the town’s namesake “Idaho Falls”. They have a walking/biking trail that runs along the Snake River that traverses the area right in front of the restaurant and at the “Idaho Falls”. Due to inclement weather, we were not able to partake of the bicycle trail while we were there. And by the way, if you are ever in the area, Jalisco’s is very good Mexican cuisine. And in our travels around the area we encountered the Eagle Rock Fountain, a touristy photographic opportunity inside the traffic circle at the intersections of S. Utah Ave. and Bridgeport Rd. Of course, we had to snap a few…
Onward and upward, it was off to the area of Twin Falls, ID. We made a couple of days stay home at Anderson’s Camp, right off the freeway in the area of Eden, ID. We used the time to check out Hansen’s Bridge over the Snake River and the reason for the name “Twin Falls”, that being Shoshone Falls. It was a bit underwhelming with the low flow water and all, but still very scenic.
Our home at Anderson’s Camp
The pavilion at Anderson’s
Typical campsites
The pool area
Anyone for cabins?
Welcome to the Hansen Bridge
That’s a big gorge…
The Snake River
From Twin Falls we were off for a return trip to the Boise area some housekeeping chores and a short rest from our recent frequent moves. It was very nice not being in heavy Kalifornia/Oregon smoke. In our many forays into the Boise area over the years we are finding it is getting progressively more congested each visit, no doubt thanks to the influx of all the Kalifornia escapees. Driving anywhere is a chore in and of itself. And let’s talk about those rising real estate prices…well, maybe later in another post. Wow, this was a shorty. Until next post…
The Colorado Springs Elk’s Lodge is smack dab in the middle of town. They have a nice Lodge facility but limited RV hookups which need a little more attention than they get. With a no reservation system, we arrived and the hook up sites were full. Well, sorta full. Of the approximate 13 sites, one was used for parking two cars in, one space was taken by the lodge trailer (I think for their veteran’s program equipment), and the sites are so skinny it could be problematic with dueling slide-outs. The lodge seeks “donations” of $25/night for the hookups (W/30A), with a dump station on site. They have a large paved parking lot and allow dry campers to stay…but seek “donations” of $15/night for boondocking. A little overpriced in both instances.
This was a short stopoff for us. Being the big city town that Colorado Springs is, Jeanne was overwhelmed with joy to find Trader Joe’s & a Costco. We made good use of the opportunity to supply up. What little time for sightseeing we had, Jeanne found the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park about an hour’s drive away near Cañon City. We headed out there early enough on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend that we had easy parking at the visitor’s center of the park. We paid the $30/person fee (Youch!) and wandered the park unencumbered by thick holiday crowds. Jeanne was a little apprehensive about walking the bridge over the Arkansas River (it does tend to shake, rattle, and roll a bit), but she mustered the courage and conquered the approximate quarter of a mile walk. The amusement park itself has various activities (some come with additional fees!), but none of them garnered our interest other than I took the aerial tram ride across the gorge, Jeanne took a pass on that. The views from the tram were a bit obstructed by the foggy/scratchy plastic windows. The park has zip lining across the gorge that was pretty popular, as was a bouncy thing-a-ma-jig, some type of bungee-bouncy-swing perched on the edge of the canyon, I think they call it the Sky Coaster. There are areas for small humans, including a carousel ride, playgrounds, and the park is extremely dog-friendly, K-9s everywhere! A couple of small stage areas are set for live bands (one was sound checking as we were leaving). The walk across the bridge provides great views of the Arkansas River 956’ below, where we watched white water rafting enthusiasts float downstream. There is also a train ride that follows the river, at river level, with viewing cars set up for folks to ogle the scenery.
We left the park as it became absolutely jam packed and the parking lot a nightmare of cars circling like sharks, waiting for that one rare opportunity to present itself. On our way back home, we took the very short side trip onto Skyline Drive. This is a one-way skinny paved road along the Dakota Ridge above Cañon City which provides good views of the valley and nearby mountains. There is also a walking trail along the ridge for those so motivated.
Since our arrival in Colorado Springs we managed to return to “life with smoke”. It seems the smoke from the currently burning left coast wildfires is off-and-on wafting it’s way over the nearby states, including Colorado, so here we go again, breathing labored and eyes afire. It has truly gotten old at this point. Our next stop was just a breather (oh when oh when will the puns stop?!?!?) at the Douglas KOA in Wyoming. Yes, we got rested. And yes, smoke still reigned.
Our home at Douglas KOA
Typical sites at the KOA
A little smoke-aided “Good morning” to ya…
Thanks, Kalifornia!
We wanted to explore the Little Big Horn Battlefield (the site of Custer’s last stand for those of you hoodlums who ditched history classes) near the big city of Garryowen, MT. It is a National Monument run by National Parks Service and is really out in the middle of nowhere, not many choices for RV parks nearby. We found the 7th Ranch RV Camp just a couple of miles from the monument, so we called 7th Ranch home for the next couple of days.
The “battlefield” is actually 2 separate battlefields about 5 miles apart. From the visitor’s center/park gate a paved road travels the 5 miles from the area of Custer’s battlefield and his Last Stand Hill to the Major Reno-Captain Benteen battlefield. There is an audio tour available or you can do as we did and explore on your own. Points of interest are well marked and most have signs describing the sights before you. There is an Indian memorial, an Army memorial, and a National Veteran’s Cemetery on site. After the slaughter (Custer & his troups were severely outnumbered by the various Indian tribes involved), the army dead were allegedly buried where they fell. Some years later the officers were exhumed and transferred to other cemeteries around the country, Custer himself was moved to West Point. The remaining deceased were also exhumed and re-buried in a mass gravesite at the top of Last Stand Hill at the Army memorial. All original Army gravesites are marked by white marble headstones, a few with names, most with the generic “U.S. Soldier 7th Cavalry”. The Indian casualties are not accurately accounted for but estimated in the 60-100 range. They were immediately moved by surviving tribe members to traditional burial methods. There are a few red granite headstones scattered in and amongst the battlefields that depict the location where certain named Indians fell in battle. It was about a 3-hour excursion for us to cover both battlefields and other points.
From the megalopolis of Garryowen it was off to another breather stopover in White Sulphur Springs, MT, at the Conestoga Campground and RV Park. Our purpose and aim was and has been to check out some properties all around Montana for a possible landing zone for when we decide to come off the road. From here it was on to the Gallatin County Fairgrounds in Bozeman, MT for a longer respite while checking out lots for sale.
Welcome to Conestoga RV Park
Not real crowded…
Our home at Conestoga RV
Even little ol’ White Sulphur Springs lays claim to a craft brewery…
Inside 2 Basset Brewery
In all our running around in the Bozeman area we did manage to squeeze in a hike up the mountain. Jeanne found a mundane sounding “College M” hike, a trail up to the big white “M” created out of painted rocks to designate MSU. There are basically 2 trails up; the shortest, most direct route a little over a half mile one way, the other “easier” trail about a mile and a half that zig-zags up to the “M”. Jeanne, feeling her oats, chose the short route for our uphill trudge. That decision was second-guessed most of the way up, it was WAYYYY steep, lots of gravel and rock face climbing, and she nearly gave up several times. But bless her soul, she muscled up and completed the climb. It turned out to be more than a 600 foot elevation gain in that short half-mile. Enjoying the views while we caught our breath, we were treated to a solo paraglider buzzing the mountain face. Breathing back to relative normalcy, we chose the safer, longer trail back down to the trailhead. All told it was a little more than 2 miles round trip for this “mundane” hike. Well worth the effort…
Of course, with Montana taking pride in their craft beer industry, Bozeman had no shortage of adult beverage dispensaries. Over the course of our 5 day stay (yeah, no, we are not quite ready for the 12-step shuffle) we forced ourselves to test the waters with a little sampling at MAP Brewing Co., Outlaw Brewing Co., and the Bozeman Brewing Co. They all had worthy endeavors.
A little interior art, MAP Brewing style…
Inside MAP Brewing
This guy has a cool beard…
Welcome to Outlaw Brewing
Outlaw Brewing, on the inside
Welcome to Bozeman Brewing
So here we sit, at the end of our Bozeman experience, contemplating the fate of the world, throwing darts at the map of the U.S. trying to figure out what state we want to “live in” next. Stay tuned…
One last stop off before we left Michigan was to check out Pere Marquette Park in Muskegon. We let Woody lead us out onto the jetty for a clear view of the lighthouse, beach, and open “ocean” that is Lake Michigan. It was a nice, clear day, not a lot of beach goers in the morning, and we got to watch the ferry “Lake Express” head out to sea with a load of passengers. It was nice to see the crystal clear quality of the water…
Michigan behind us, it was off to our next stop, West Lake Park near Davenport, IA. West Lake Park is a county park with a couple of campground areas, one with FHU’s and the other with W/E, all surrounded by several small lakes. Unfortunately for us, as usual, the park was in the middle of some type of restoration and the lakes were dry for the most part. So much for the anticipated scenery! We still tried to make the best of it. They have a hiking/biking trail around the park which we attempted on our bikes, only to find they do not mark the trails and trying to follow the map on the park’s information pamphlet was an ugly endeavor.
We stumbled upon the Freight House Farmer’s Market in downtown Davenport next to the Mississippi River. We walked the area of the market, it being the modestly sized market it was, and it was a typical farmer’s market with the various booths of produce, crafts, wineries, etc. It also had a small stage area with a live band for entertainment.
Welcome to Freight House Farmer’s Market
I’m sure the River Bandits do not mind loaning their parking lot to the market…
Veggies!
It was not a large market, but still quite a few folks.
Eat fresh!
A backside look at the band performing
Stompbox Brewery was our lunch stop of choice while walking the downtown area. They had some pretty good adult sodas (aka: beer) and holy moly what a lunch! I had a polish sausage and Jeanne had a veggie burger and both were humungous! After completing that gluttonous orgy, we had to walk it off in a big way. Nearby we checked out the Skybridge. Skybridge is an elevated walkway over the main drag, River Dr. At night it is supposedly lit up in spectacular fashion. But we chose to see it in daylight and we were treated to some cool views overlooking this part of downtown and the mighty Mississip.
Continuing our post-lunch-walkoff, we ventured down to the LeClaire Park & Bandshell. This is a large park area for music venues and we just happened upon a practice session gearing up for the current yearly event titled “Riverfront Pops”. It is a music festival featuring the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, each year they perform a musical homage to a particular musician, and this year they are playing Mick Jagger tunes. Orchestra does Stones, quite a concept. We watched part of the practice session, then mosied further down the river area to a small parking lot area where a band called “Squonk” was playing for a small crowd. Their music was something similar to Woodstock fare.
The Dallas County Fairgrounds became our next short stop in Adel, IA. The campgrounds for the fair were nice enough, we got FHU’s with 50A service albeit parked right under a thick tree, so much for satellite service. We only stayed a couple of days, quickly toured (read “drove through”) the megalopolis of Adel, then continued on our merry way.
Kinda tight fit at the fairgrounds…
Our home at Dallas County Fairgrounds
They even had a KOA style jump pillow in the playground
“Downtown” Adel, IA
Every little town’s got to have an old courthouse…
More of Adel
A couple of quick stops at some KOA’s was on our agenda. We have been running into issues finding places to stay lately, lots of full RV parks and whatnot. We overnighted at the Grand Island KOA, then parked for a couple more days at the Ogallala KOA, both in the barren state of Nebraska. At Ogallala we at least had to check out their “world famous” Boot Hill. This was a disappointing re-creation of what once was. Apparently the graveyard basically burnt down years ago; most of the “residents” had already been relocated to another cemetery; and all the wooden grave markers are re-created versions of the originals.
Our home at Grand Island KOA
Home at Ogallala KOA
Ogallala had some cool premium sites, their own patio, BBQ, and even dog kennel
Gotta love them Nebraska summer skies…
The Boulder County Fairgrounds campground in Longmont, CO provided us with a good base to do a couple of days of exploring. It was a small campground with W/E and a dump station on site, and for $15 per night, just about the right price. They run a farmer’s market which was very convenient for campers such as we to check out. And nearby we found the Left Hand Brewing Co. as well as Oskar Blues Brewery to go visit. Left Hand was OK, but Oskar did not disappoint since it is one of my favorite breweries.
We took a day drive out to Nederland, CO in search of a brewery our son Chad recommended we hunt down, Knotted Root Brewing Co. The drive was very scenic through the mountains and we happened upon Boulder Falls. This is a small waterfall area tucked back just off the highway, popular tourist stop. After gawking at the waterfall, we continued out to Nederland. It is what I would call a small hippy town (throwback to the 60’s), kinda reminded me of my working days in the river town of Monte Rio, CA., but even smaller. But Dorothy, we are not in Kansas any more. In fact, we are in Colorado now, as evidenced by the massive proliferation of marijuana shops. There must have been at least 3 different shops we passed while driving around town. As a matter of fact in just about EVERY tiny little town we drove through here in this area there were numerous pot shops in each town. Dope smokers rejoice! (Lots of sarcasm here…). We found Knotted Root, sampled some of their fare (underwhelming) with a deli sandwich, then returned home to prepare for another travel day.
On the drive to Nederland, mountain climbing is a popular activity
Mountain climbers up close…
Welcome to Boulder Falls
Looking across Boulder Meadow Reservoir at Nederland
A closer view of the falls
A look downstream from the falls area
Jeanne trekking up canyon
Approaching Boulder Falls
Boulder Falls
Welcome to Knotted Root Brewing
The food truck at Knotted Root
Knotted Root offerings
This pic of a Nederland free spirit had issues loading into the media gallery, it may not make it. Sue me…
Next stop was the KOA in Central City, CO, in the mountains outside Denver. It was a nerve racking drive, what with the altitude and grades, constant worry over frying either my transmission or my brakes. But we survived and arrived. This was a very nice KOA, but along with that it was pricy as well.
First order of business was to go ‘splorin’ the big city of Central City. This was a big mining area back in the days. We parked “downtown” and walked the area, gawking at the old buildings and quaint layout of the town.
Another suggestion from Chad was to hunt down the town of Frisco and a local brewery, Outer Range Brewing Co. It was about an hour’s drive from Central City, further up into the mountains with some pretty steep grades along the way (glad we were Jeepin’ it!). We tested some of Outer Range’s brews with our lunch, their Ledges Imperial IPA was outstanding as was my Ahi Poke lunch. I’m not one for eating fish bait, but this raw tuna was pretty tasty.
The drive off the hill into Idaho Springs, on the way to Frisco
A view without the windshield…
Tunnels through the mountain on the highway to Frisco
Inside the tunnel
Welcome to Outer Range Brewing
The offerings…
Our source for lunch, inside Outer Range…
Ahi Poke? Never imagined I would enjoy raw tuna…the rice tots were a nice touch
Now Central City is a small town alright, but it is a little bigger than what we had covered in our walkabout previously. I suggested we return and cover a little more ground in the Jeep, and Jeanne agreed. Holy moly Billy Batson! We got caught up in some of the one-way streets and ended up a very short distance away through the hills at another megalopolis called Black Hawk. Black Hawk is even smaller than Central City, but it is a virtual mini-Vegas. Wall-to-wall casinos, most of which are of the very large sized variety. There was a small area of town that looked to be newly constructed/renovated buildings with the outward appearance of being residential but me thinks they were soon-to-be little stores & shops. Well, twist our arms, we just HAD to test the waters in the casinos at the Pai Gow tables, it has been a while since our last transgressions. It was a good time had by all (both of us hit straight flushes within about 15 minutes of each other)! And this time we managed to avoid donating it all back to the house…
Our time in Central City expired, it was onward and upward, actually downward as in down the mountain. We managed to get off the mountains without frying either transmission or brakes again, and made our next stop at the Colorado Springs Elk’s Lodge so as to regroup and plot out our next course of action. Until next post…
We survived our torture in good ol’ Red Bay, Alabama to the tune of about 18 days. The temps in and around August tend to be in the large number range and this time they did not disappoint. Plus, we got to enjoy some pretty intense humidity just to enhance the pleasure of our stay in Hades. We got the fixes done to Rosie that we needed, and then got the added enjoyment of doing some of our own fixes after the Tiffin gremlins went to work on us. I actually got to tear apart and repair our front toilet for a serious water leak, being the expert that I am in plumbing repair (LOL, very much in the NOT category!) It was a $hitty job, but I persevered…(insert lots of loud moans here).
Our home at Red Bay, AL
We have yet to fall prey to the enticements of Swamp John’s restaurant in Red Bay…
Yup, these guys were out in force, bring your earplugs…
Next up on the agenda was to head towards Indiana for a visit with my cousin Bev & her family. We happily put Red Bay in our rearview mirrors and made our way to a return stay for a couple of days at the Good Ole RV Resort in Goodlettsville, TN (Nashville area). There we got some big box shopping done (Costco) before we headed north. We barely had time to do much in town, but at least the RV park still puts on live music nightly, so we got to see some old-timers do some pickin’ & grinnin’…
A little pickin’ & a-grinnin’, at Grand Ole RV Resort
Bill Monroe’s Music Campground in beautiful downtown Bean Blossom, IN, was our choice for home for a couple of days to visit cousin Bev. This is a very large, rustic campground that puts on the Southern Indiana Blues Festival, the Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival, and the Hippy Hill Fest 2022. The festivals tend to draw large crowds, we were lucky we were there at a non-festival time. The park office also houses what they call the Bill Monroe Bluegrass Hall of Fame Museum which is free to wander through and gawk at all the memorabilia. I will forewarn all you RVers wanting to check this park out…DO NOT RELY ON YOUR GPS DEVICES TO GET THERE!!! Rosie (the MH) has a trucker’s version GPS and it still led us on a tour of half-lane, overgrown with trees, heavily traveled back-roads along Lake Lemon. #%$&@^%#*!&&!!!! But we survived…
We took a little time to check out downtown Nashville, Indiana. It appeared to be a huge tourist attraction, geared more toward bikers, and it was certainly busy the day we were there. We walked the main drag checking out the shops, then stopped off to quench our thirst at Big Woods Pizza/Quaff On Brewery. Not much to write home about on the suds…On the way home we found a covered bridge, Indiana style. The poor ol’ thing had it’s share of graffiti…
Welcome to the Bean Blossom Bridge, circa 1880
Nice graffiti…NOT!
This guy was just going for a swim under the bridge. He looks suspiciously like a baby Copperhead…Let’s all go swimming!
Jeanne does a little “bridgin'”
We got to have a very nice visit with Cousin Bev, her daughter’s family Leila, Jay, and their little ones, and Bev’s son Luke. Regrettably, we missed out on Bev’s hubby Greg, he was away on a job. Leila put on a great brunch spread and we thoroughly enjoyed the eats and the family time, a big thank you to all.
Since we were in this part of the world, and with a small break in the action vis-a-vis the China-virus-hysteria, I had my sights set on a visit to one of my favorite breweries…Founder’s Brewery in Grand Rapids, MI. We headed northward and landed at Steamboat Park & Campground in Georgetown Township, MI along the Grand River. We used our time for some errands/chores but the highlight for me was checking out Founder’s Brewery. It’s a large one, as far as crafties go. We had a nice lunch there & sampled some of their wares that I had not sampled before.
Our home at Steamboat, looking out at the Grand River
A frontroom view out the windshield…
Not too jam-packed
One of the kid playgrounds and the pool area
The pool
Even the pool folks get a view of the river
The Grand Lady paddlewheel tour boat, docked at the office. Like always, click on pic to get full view…
Here’s a future dugout canoe heading downriver, just needs to be dug out…
Being caught up on the blog posting is a good feeling. Until next post…
My technical adviser wants me to correct myself. Regarding getting the email notification about a new blog post, it does not contain a link, it just simply opens up into the blog itself. But if you choose to read it there, you cannot get the photos to open into the carousel mode of viewing, so all you will see is the cut-off versions. Like I advised, if you sign up for the email notification, once you receive one you would be better off just opening the blog in your browser of preference. Nuff said…
After leaving the North Shore area, we headed south, aiming for Red Bay, AL. We did an over-nighter at the Minneapolis Southwest KOA, then headed into Des Moines, IA for a couple of nights at the Des Moines West KOA. We made good use of our time in Des Moines, starting with a visit to the Des Moines Downtown Farmer’s Market in the Court Av. district at the base of the Polk County courthouse. This has to be one of the premier farmer’s markets we have been to, coast-to-coast, hands down. It was jam-packed, humans and K9’s, and they had wall to wall booths for farmer’s products, crafts, and all manner of food to nosh on. Several musical entertainers were interspersed throughout the massive downtown area. Being kinda like “produce snobs” (former life-long residents and escapees from California, the produce capital of the U.S.), we were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the fruits & veggies.
Welcome to the Minneapolis SW KOA
Our home at the Minneapolis SW KOA
Yup, it was a little thick with trees…
They had a nice indoor pool at MSW KOA
Our home at the Des Moines West KOA
Nice little fishin’ pond at the KOA
Plenty of play space for the kiddies
They even had some jump house stuff. Looks like the bounce pillow was out of commission.
While we were downtown, we veered over to the capitol complex and wandered the grounds taking in the statuary. At least we got to see some history before the numb-nuts cancel culture gets to it…
On our way to find some chow we cruised by and found Pappajohn Sculpture Park. A walkabout took us by several “interesting” pieces of sculpture. It appeared the park would best be enjoyed after dark, since all the sculptures seemed to have ample spotlights surrounding or contained within each piece.
From Des Moines we continued south to the tiny town of Kansas City, Missouri/Kansas and a couple of days at yet ANOTHER KOA, the Kansas City West/Lawrence KOA. It was OK as far as KOA’s go, the only drawback was it is about 30 minutes driving to get to downtown Kansas City and be prepared for at least one toll highway, I-70, the toll is between KC and Lawrence.
Our excursion into KC led us to check out the City Market, a semi-indoor marketplace. It was a sad example of a “city market” in that there was a serious lack of patronage when we were there.
Lunchtime we took a short stroll to Jack Stack Barbecue and partook of some BBQ that came highly recommended through social media and local sources. The area was pretty cool to walk through, the BBQ fare was good but not extraordinary.
For our grand finale in the big city we stopped by the Boulevard Brewing Co., local brewer of craft brews. What I found out, heretofore unbeknownst to me, was that Boulevard has two “sister” breweries, Brewery Ommegang and Firestone Walker Brewing Co., and those are certainly a pair to draw to! And Boulevard has an outstanding offering in their Space Camper Major Volta Imperial IPA…
Southbound and down, into Branson, MO we went. A couple of days visit with Jeanne’s sister Denise’s family provided us with a nice day on Table Rock Lake with Denise and husband Tom, and a nice BBQ feast put on by Jeanne’s niece Savohna and husband Robert. This stop has now taken top billing for how far off direction my on-board trucker’s version GPS (nicknamed “Rosie”) can possibly get. We were programmed for the Tall Pines RV Park near Silver Dollar City, but Rosie took me in the opposite direction, up into the hills above Table Rock Lake and the half-lane wide, winding and congested roads. For that particular day’s lesson in 4-letter word vocabulary, Jeanne, I do sincerely apologize!
Red Bay, Alabama hasn’t changed much over the course of the last 7 years. I’ll cover our exploits there in the next post, stay tuned…
Programming note: My technical adviser (aka: my wife) informs me of a problem viewing photos via the link provided if you sign up for email notification regarding this blog. She gets the email with the link, but when she uses that link to open the blog, nothing happens when she tries to initiate the carousel viewing feature for the attached photos. Seeing that I reached my wit’s end many moons ago, my only suggestion for viewing uncropped photos is to go to two4trippin.com directly through your browser and not use the link in the email. I apologize to all for my technological incompetence. And now, we return you to your regularly scheduled program, already in progress…
