Back on track

So a few days ago Keith and I got tired of all the rain and decided to leave Custer, SD. We had planned a few hikes in Custer State Forest but at 50 degrees and rainy we didn't want to get sick. So we took off for Devil's Tower National Monument...but it was raining there as well! Ughh. So we kept going west to Buffalo, WY. We ended up staying in the backcountry of Bighorn National Forest. We had our first campfire of the trip as we finally made it out of the drought region. (Thanks Mike & Lin for the Jiffy Pop!)

We did about a 6 mile hike in the forest...but didn't see any wildlife..only back at our campsite did this lone buck decide to take a stroll. Thankfully Rosie was still tired from the hike and didn't decide to take too much interest.

So now we are in St. Mary's, MT, right outside of Glacier National Park. We spent most of yesterday traveling...and for the first day on the trip I actually did more driving than Keith! And I think I've trained him not to fall asleep once he hits the passenger seat!

We have a bunch of planned days ahead of us so stand by for more pictures and stories.
Hope you are all having as much fun as we are!
Taryn

Kodak Photo Album of misc South Dakota

Here are the pictures from Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Mount Rushmore and some other misc ones of our RV.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=nvgkyr9.5wjrgogl&Uy=u80n8m&Ux=0

Working our way through South Dakota

We're still in South Dakota but further west (@200 miles) from the Badlands. Over the last 3 days we have visited Wind Cave National Park, Mt Rushmore, Custer State Park and Jewel Cave National Memorial.

We finally came face to face with a few Bison and Burros ! The Bison are incredibly huge and look like they could slam a hole through your truck, we also saw one up-close while we were on foot, that's was a bit scary. There was this twisty back country road in Custer Park called Iron Mountain Road that went up to Mt. Rushmore. It made my hands sweat the entire way! (it had corkscrews turns w/ old wood bridges, blind turns into one lane tunnels and some nice 180 degree switchbacks), it's a must drive if you are up here and there were herds of Bison just crossing the road so you get some close encounters.....

Mt Rushmore is something you need to see once in your life. Its incredible what humans can do to change the earth. We went to the 9pm light show and its worth the trip back down the mountain at night after it.

It has been 8 days since we left but it feels like a month, the feeling of freedom and relaxation is overwhelming. Now I know what my boss (Lance) was talking about when he said you will try to rationalize ways not to come back........ But in our case we like too many toys so not working isn't a option, damn!

We have also meet some interesting people along the way. This guy about our age drove into the Badlands KOA on our last day with this brand new (still had temp tags) Class A RV (its like a big bus). He hops out and it is taking a bit to hook up with water, sewer and electric, like he hasn't really done it many times. So we got to talking (taking after Capt. Bob chumming up the dock) and two weeks ago he and his wife decided to take a 3 month trip across the US. The next week they bought the RV and here they are a few days later! (started in Seattle). It gets better... out walks his two kids and his wife showing very pregnant!!! He was excited that we were from CT so he could find were to go, his wife wanted lobster so they were going to Maine, see the leaves in VT/NH, go into NYC (he asked if I knew any RV parks near the city?) then go to FL and stay on the beach. All this while keeping his contracting business going. God help them...........

OK I've written enough, we are off to Devils Tower Monday and will work our way to Glacier National Park.

Kodak Photo Album of Badlands NP

Keith and I were going to do some hiking today but with the temperatures over 100 degrees for the second day in a row we decided to take it easy. The average temps for this time of year out here are supposed to be ~85 - 90 degrees. The heat wave put on an incredible light show last night. Pretty cool cloud to cloud lightening and huge wind gusts! With the extra time I decided to put together the Badlands photo album as well. Enjoy!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=nvgkyr9.5aps3x51&Uy=jc8npd&Ux=1

Kodak Photo Album from the trip out.

In case the few bits of pictures weren't enough to satisfy you...here is the link to out Kodak Photo Album.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=nvgkyr9.c7j2zbut&Uy=x3opxh&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

The Badlands NP

We arrived yesterday at the Badlands in SD.

We spent the day today traveling by car throughout the park. When the temps hit 101 in the afternoon we headed back to the campground for some R&R in the A/C. This evening we decided to head out for some hiking and got surprised by a huge thunderstorm. Knowing the scenery would look totally different in rain we chose to wait out the storm and ended up with some totally cool pictures. Enjoy!

Prairie dogs, Bighorn Sheep & Bison:















Badlands (dry):

Badlands (after the storm):

Travel day 8/20, Chicago, Corn & Mississippi

The day started out a little late as Keith set the alarm time last night but forgot to actually turn the alarm on. Since we stayed in Indiana last night and planned to drive to Minnesota our route brought us right through Chicago. I suggested an alternate route to avoid the city…but crazy Keith actually wanted to drive through Chicago!! Let me say we were the only RV on those insane city roads (which were also under construction).



What I found amazing about today’s drive is all the corn fields in America. Over 85% of the miles we traveled today were corn fields as far as the eye could see. What are we doing with all this corn? Keith was trying to tell me thats why we started to use ethanol for our fuel (hidden farm aid)…but seriously? The amount of corn that we saw today was insane.



On a final note, we are officially “out west” as we crossed the Mississippi River.

We got Michigan too!

So we added three new states to our list today and a National Park! Bertha (the RV’s name…thanks to Keith) traveled in Ohio, Indiana and also Michigan. We took the opportunity at the end of the day today to travel less than a mile out of our way and enter the great state of Michigan. Now we can add three more stickers to our state map.

We also took a 4 hour side trip to Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. This is one of the smallest & most recently established NPs. We opted for a scenic train ride through the park. The railway was established in 1880 and virtually replaced the old canal ways for travel in the Ohio valley. I would consider this park more of a historic piece of American culture than a natural wonder. We did see some pretty cool blue heron nests. (did you know that they make their nest on the tops of trees?)

Now I've got one new National Park up on Mark!

Cheers. Taryn

We're still alive and talking after the first day..... Mercer / Grove City KOA in PA

This has to be a good omen for the trip.......
Today 8am sharp we left CT and made it slowly down the driveway. Our neighbor Lin waved us goodbye. Taryn did an excellent job of directing. We have two way radios and I have been working with her on intermediate updates on my progress during tight maneuvering, in the past its been complete silence on the radio, was I going to hit something? Still going where I need to? So I would get the panic message "you're going to hit the tree in 2 inches...." (I love T, that's why its fun to pick on her a bit) but it worked like a charm today.

Official stats for gas mileage today, me 11.5 mpg, T 9.5mpg, she just loves to go fast.... We ran into some heavy traffic, sat for 1.5 hours (check the pictures) on Rt80 in PA, satellite radio is awesome in these situations, tons to listen to.

Tomorrow we hit our first national park, Cuyahoga Valley.

More info tomorrow night, this web link is slow and we're beat......

K & T

Its a GO...............

She (she being the RV, we need a name for her?, email us any ideas) is ready to go! We've just spent the last 3 days running around getting everything tied up, we're exhausted before the trip has even started!! Never thought you needed so many do-dads to live on the road......... still figuring out what they are all for. Had to replace both my batteries in my truck, one was completely dead and the other was on its way, so much for the chevy dealer doing the "complete courtesy checkup", I'm starting to wonder what they did do? The local NAPA guys we great, let me replace the batteries in the parking lot and they gave me the equipment to do a complete electrical check of the battery and alternator system. With the truck air condo, cell phones, satellite radio, GPS, inverter for the laptop and RV sucking juice from the electrical system, it needs to be in top shape.
T has out done herself with the ultimate of RV organization. I had to help her reinforce a shelf today to keep all the goodies. I swear she thinks there are no grocery stores outside of the east coast but hey if we break down on the side of the road we have enough food to eat like kings and a generator for the TV and air condo...........
I saw some fires in Wyoming and near Glacier NP, need to check into those.
Talk to you later..... K

Updated Map

The updated plan, 4 days to go!!!

Gotta love August!

Check out today's date. August 1, 2006!! Only a few more weeks of work and then vacation.

It is amazing how many people have said that this is awesome or they are jealous. It is great to have such fantastic friends, family and coworkers that are willing to support us in this adventure.

Live for today not tomorrow and remember that you work to live. Enjoy.