Glacier National Park (Day 3)

Lake Josephine overlooking Grinnell Glacier

The first day is easy, you just have to drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road, but deciding what to do the next day is harder...there are 288 trails.  Using Trip Advisor, we decided to go to Grinnell Lake.  You can take a boat most of the way,  but the boat was full, with a wait list by the time we got there, so we walked which added about 5 miles, but they turned out to be the very best part of the hike...alpine wild flowers everywhere.

Suspension bridge on Grinnell Lake Trail

We certainly were not alone, but it wasn't crowded either.  There seems to be a rumor going around that Grizzly Bears are afraid of little bells, lots of people walking around with bells on their belt, and holsters of bear spray.  We saw a few signs of bear activity...a couple of dig spots, and we met a ranger who was checking out some bear rumors.  When we got back, I read Deb the story of the last bear attack in Glacier Park, which took place in 2005, on yup...the same trail we were on.  Deb didn't sleep all that well last night.

Glacier National Park (Day 2)

The plan - out by 7:30, catch the morning sun going west, hang in West Glacier Psark and catch the evening sun back.

Wild Goose Island in Saint Mary Lake

The reality - out by 8:30ish, with a picnic lunchish, with the dog comfortablish in the back seat of the VW Beetle.  Within five minutes we see a timber wolf hanging by the side of the road...this is going to be an awesome day.  Half an hour later with several just incredible viewpoints (there is just no reason to take pictures, cause you will never understand the majesty of these mountains from anything digital) we arrive at Logan Pass.  There are several trails, but they are all covered with snow.  I tried walking on one and fell right on my....rhymes with Logan Pass.  The road is narrow with outcrops of rocks all the way...so much better in a compact car than an RV, even if they were allowed.     Fifty miles later, we are in Apgar, the western edge of the park.  I get a latté and Deb gets a Huckleberry Shake, both are delicious.  We stop by the lake for a super quick lunch.  Deb has offered to drive back, she says she will take it slow, but Mario Andretti watch out,  she takes the Going-to-the -Sun like a NASCAR driver.

Beargrass - unique alpine flower, blooms every 5 - 10 years

Back at the campsite by 2:00, we rest and prepare for day 3.

Glacier National Park (St Mary Campground) - St Mary, MT

Our rental car

We left Black Sandy pretty early in the morning, at least for us, filled up on fuel, filled up on water, filled up on lattès, and filled up on Internet.  Ready for three days of dry camping (we've done two days, but never three).

Sunrise!

The Going-to-the-Sun has a length limit of 21' (we are 24'), width of 8' including mirrors(we are 8'6") and a height limit of 10'(we are 10'6") so we rented a car in East Glacier Park which turns out to a town 30 miles south of East Glacier Park, where our campsite is as opposed to West Glacier Park.  All's well, however, because we rent a blue VW Beetle, which Deb has an instant appeal for.  Nestled snugly into the Rocky Mountains we are planning our next two days.

Black Sandy State Park - Helena, MT

Leaving Big Horn Canyon, we had a choice...back the way we came (safe), or down the mountain  on a 10% slope for 13 miles - you know my vote...it was a very scenic drive.  We left early, when the shadows were long.  It was a long 375 mile day, with lots of interstate driving.  This is our last day heading west, now it's a slow northern trek to Jasper.

Heusen Lake, MT

Our GPS found a shortcut to the campground, down a dirt road, over a rickety bridge, and thru someone's backyard...but we found Black Sandy Park, which is not black or sandy, but is next to White Sandy Park.  Our site (and all the other sites) was two yards from the lake and two feet from the site next to us...fortunately, it was Sunday night, so we had lots of room.  We had no internet, but Deb found an entire season of the Soprano's we hadn't watched.

Big Horn Canyon (Prune Creek Campground) - Dayton, WY

The last time we were in Wyoming, we were going to stay in Big Horn Canyon.  The pictures didn't look very inviting so we stayed at a KOA in Greybull. This time we went for it!  We left the barren Wyoming landscape on I-90, climbed 4000' up a mountain till we were at 8000', we went from barren to forest.  Thirty miles later we were at the small campground, all dry camping.

Prune Creek, WY

Our site, #6 was right on a meandering bubbling trout stream.  I mean this was cover of Field and Stream material. The temperature dropped from 90 on I-90 to 60. After walking along the stream for awhile, we put our chairs on the stream bank enjoying every last ray of sunshine.  I was planning to get up early to do some fly fishing but changed my mind when the temperature was 31.

There are even lodges with restaurants and a dump station down the road. This may be as close to heaven as I may get.

Indian Paintbrush

Custer State Park - Custer, SD

Badlands National Park, SD

After a brief stop at the Minuteman Missile National Site where it appears that we are disappointed that we didn't get to use any of our 65,000 armed missiles before they were obsoleted, we moved quickly to a redo of the Badlands loop.  We knew the perfect spot for lunch, unfortunately, we had just crossed into Mountain Time so it was a little early, so maybe it was brunch!

Crazy Horse Monument, SD

In the afternoon we stopped to stretch our legs at the Crazy Horse Monument, the flip side of the Mount Rushmore coin.  It's a statue of Crazy Horse on a horse carved into a mountain.  They have been working on it since 1939 and they have the face done...(so it has taken slightly longer than the 14 years to carve Mt. Rushmore).  I asked if they had a senior rate, they said that no, they don't charge more for seniors! They were dog friendly, and Drex tried to console all the people who left pets at home by letting them pet him.

Future plans

Custer State Park has got to be the most beautiful state park we have ever stayed in.  We got here fairly early and drove the 16 mile Wildlife Loop.  We saw hundreds of Buffalo, which are really Bison, dozens of Antelope which really are Pronghorns.... So it's really "Oh give me a home where the Bison roam, and the Mule Deer and the Pronghorns play."

When we got to our site in Blue Bell Campground (01E), the wind howled as a front went through,  ten minutes later it was calm and ten degrees cooler.  Had dinner (it's Friday night - date night) at the Blue Bell Lodge...Buffalo for me, Cow for Deb.  Washed it down with a bottle of Moose Drool Ale.

Kennebec KOA - Kennebec, SD

There is a billboard for the campground on I-90 that says, "Where's Kennebec?"  Not sure it's the best slogan for a town, but it might beat Mathews' "Be Here."

Got here early, did laundry, brought out the Barby for some Corn on the Cob and Pork Chops, watched Battle Bots on cable...

And that's what ya do in Kennebec, SD.

Stone State Park - Sioux City, IA

To get to our destination, we had to go west on I-80 which I had driven a dozen times between

 Pennsylvania and San Francisco...I always wanted to stop at the "scenic outlook" in Iowa...it seems like an oxymoron.  Well, we had the time, so we stopped...yup...an oxymoron!

After I had booked reservations at Lewis & Clark State Park, right on the Missouri River, the rains washed the site away, so the Iowa Dept of Natural Resources let me book someplace else, and so it was, just a place half way between where we were and where we gotta be.

In Iowa, you don't expect to be in the woods on the side of a mountain.  Well, it may not be a mountain by Colorado standards, but it was a first gear, windy road kind of trip.  We are tucked well into the woods, and all the trees are mitigating the 95 degree heat.  Our first night without A/C since Kentucky!

Nine Eagles State Park - Davis City, IA

We're in Iowa...just.  If you stretched, you'd be back in Missouri.  The Iowa Dept of Natural Resources says this is a gorgeous place.  It's okay...especially since we are the only ones here. They say it is full every week-end.  The sites are close together, so it would be very tight if it were full.

Once I got the internet working...turned out to be a loose antenna connection, we found out that just down the road was the lake that was the jewel of the park...so we trudged down the road (note to self...in 90 degree heat, driving is an easier solution) until we got to the lake.  When we got there we realized the beach was another 1/2 mile walk around the lake...so we found a nice little boat dock, and went for a long swim...especially Drex.  Our faith in the Iowa Dept of Natural Resources has been restored...

St Louis RV Park - St Louis, MO (Day 2)

Gateway to the West

A full day of being a Tourist with a capital "T."  The day started with the obligatory trip to the top of the arch.  Deb wanted to climb the 1,076 steps but unfortunately they were closed (since 1968) so we took the tram, which appeared to be large leftover clothes dryer drums which were hoisted to the top so you could look out over St Louis.  With the high heat and humidity, Drex went to "Dogs in the City" for some party time.  We went to the "City Museum" which is not a museum at all but rather an eclectic collection of repurposed stuff in an old shoe factory for kids to climb on, including an old school bus hanging over the edge of the eleven story building.  We climbed the 191 stairs to the 11th floor...oh yeah, remember those 1,076 stairs in the arch you wanted to climb...not happening.  After an hour of watching high intensity adolescent activity, we opted for something more adult  - a tour of the Budweiser Brewery, with free samples!  The tour covered everything from Clydesdales to Chandeliers. From there it was straight to Pappy's Smokehouse for BBQ.  A quiet dip in the pool...no question about it, definitely an A/C night...

City Museum

Anheuser Busch Brewery

St Louis RV Park - St Louis, MO

So here is the dilemma...35,000 mi of RVing but we have never been to Missouri, one of Deb's bucket list things is to climb the "Gateway to the West" (aka the St Louis Arch), and we have to get from Kentucky to Iowa, somehow.  The solution... a city RV park.  We know what to expect, we done them before...it's a parking lot with no shade in 95 degree heat.  We make the standard RV cocoon...shades down, window covers over the cab...A/C running and tough out the late afternoon with a viewing of Despicable 2.  As the heat breaks, we take a dip in the pool and discuss the inevitable question: to run the A/C  and not sleep because of the noise, or turn the A/C off, open the window and not sleep because of the heat.  We settled for the worst of both worlds, a few hours of no A/C, then a few hours of A/C.  The good news...by tonight, we will be so tired we can sleep either way...

It was Father's Day, and we heard from both boys, and Deb called her dad.  We were on the RV park network, so we could even Skype a little.  Sometimes we take the technology for granted, but having internet, and cell phones really makes RVing so much more carefree.

Kentucky Horse Park - Lexington, KY

Kentucky is a gorgeous state...it was neutral in the Civil War....kinda like a little Switzerland (actually a big Switzerland...it almost three times bigger than Switzerland).  After a quick stop at a Lowe's to get the stuff I need to fix the cabinet door, I came back to the RV...Deb was sautèing some sweet peppers in olive oil to go in our Arugala salad...that's the way to shop at Lowe's

A short time later, we arrived at Kentucky Horse Park.  A perfectly manicured park with 300 sites, all in concise concentric circles, with a pool in the middle.  It was full of enormous Class A motorhomes with balconies and outdoor movie theaters.  Everyone has a golf cart or an ATV with Mag wheels and

Metallic paint jobs.

We stayed outside till 9:30 pretending to read, while we people watched...tomorrow off to St Louis.

Greenbrier State Park - Caldwell, WV

We are finally off on our summer trip.  The first day is always a little rough, getting used to living in a more confined space with less than of all of our worldly goods.  Typically, the first day is an opportunity to realize which of those worldly goods we didn't mean to be without -  so far, only the Doctor Who DVD set that we were excited to watch.  Then there's the more confined space - the entrance to the State Park has a tunnel that is 9' high on the side and a huge concrete wall in the middle, avoiding the low side, I bumped the concrete wall, and bent the hinge on the entry door.  It's not serious but will have to be repaired when we return.

Then, one of the cabinet doors split apart.  That one is repairable, but will require glue and clamps (both of which are in our list of Worldly goods we thought we could do without.) Recently, we have been dining occasionally on Hello Fresh meals.  What marks a good Hello Fresh meal is lots of dishes and lots of scurrying around the kitchen.  Neither of those is a recipe for an easy RV meal, but after an hour or so, we had a delicious meal of Steak on Arugala with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Balsamic Vinegrette.

This is a lovely little state park, but it's probably won't make our jubilee list  

Smallwood State Park - Indian Head, MD

On our way to Alexandria, we found out that our little lunch spot on the Chesapeake has a NO PET policy in the summer.  We are thinking about adding Maryland to our "No" state list. As one of those states that has more rules about things that you can't  do than things you can do.  So went to a little city park that we got inadvertantly directed to the last time we were in Annapolis.  We had a nice lunch and then went for a walk.  I said, "Deb, you should walk on this side" After a few moments she saw the black snake she almost stepped on. I was hoping she would jump up in my arms or throw lavish kisses all over me... Nope, she just walked around the snake...she is turning into such a southern belle.

Dropped off the artwork in Historic Alexandria... Not really a place for an RV of any size and then off to the Campground (not even 45 minutes from Washington).  It's small and tired...probably not going to get an encore from us.

James Island State Park - Crisfield, MD

We are returning artwork from an incredibly successful Art Speaks on the Bay Show.  To encourage artists from around the state, we offer a courier service to pick-up and drop-off artwork at various locations. This year, we are providing courier service to the Eastern Shore, and Alexandria.  I know....we are just wonderful people, building up our heaven resume...or are we?  Maybe we are doing it to spend two gorgeous evenings on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay, or possibly to have lunch on the shore looking at the New Point Comfort lighthouse from the "other" shore.  No one will know our true intentions.