Monthly Archives: August 2013

Been covering a lot of ground the last few days.  About 250 miles per day so we could spend a couple days with an aunt, uncle and cousin in cedar rapids, Iowa before finishing this portion of the road trip in Chicago this coming weekend.  Settled into cedar rapids last night, just when the weather is cooling off nicely.  Looking forward to exploring the town today and some jazz in the park this evening.

Jalapeno giving us some attitude for the long days in the truck

One of the stops on our bike tour

Saying goodbye to my aunt and uncle

After a crappy night’s sleep due to the nasty storm, Chris motivated me to get up and go for a run before getting back on the road for another long drive through Nebraska today. I was feeling pretty cranky from lack of sleep, but as we got running, I started feeling better. As Chris mentioned in a recent post, it’s amazing what exercise will do for your mental health! Fortunately, there was a shower at our campground, and after a run, real shower, and a cup of coffee, I was right as rain!

Got back on the road to continue our way east. Not much for scenery but miles upon miles of corn, with some soybeans mixed in, for as far as you can see. Getting more and more humid as we head east.

Found a nice state park with a campground in Ponca, NE, along the Missouri River. Decided to splurge for the full electric site so we could run the ac. After settling in, we decided to take a bike ride around the park. We rode up to the lookout over the Missouri River where Lewis and Clark traveled during their expedition out west- apparently it took them 2 months to travel upstream, and only one week as they returned east to cover the same distance. You can also see 3 states from this viewpoint- Nebraska, South Dakota, and Iowa. Afterward, we enjoyed a “clean out the fridge” dinner, watched a movie, and enjoyed our air conditioned trailer. Another big day of driving tomorrow!

Last couple nights have been very similar with great, calm conditions at sunset, sending us into some good sleep. Sometime between 2am and 4am the thunderstorms have been rolling through. Lots of lightning, thunder, rain and some hail. Spend a couple hours awake, hoping that the lightning keeps it’s distance and wind gusts don’t blow a tree down. Glad we weren’t in a tent…

Never a good sign to see bright pink on the radar

After spending a couple of days seeing Mount Rushmore and exploring Custer State Park and the Black Hills, it is time to continue making our way east. At this point of having to drive through South Dakota and Nebraska, we don’t really have anything specific on our list, or any recommendations from others on what to see. Looks like its just going to be a lot of driving until we get to our next destination of Cedar Rapids, Iowa to visit some relatives.

Our first stop before heading out of Custer was to hit the dump station. We were completely out of water and had a sink full of dirty dishes. We filled up with water just fine, but when I went to attach the poop hose for dumping, I noticed it was gone! Our poop hose was encased in a plastic tube attached to the underside of the trailer and apparently broke off at some point while we were driving. Looks like we are adding that to the list of replacement items that we need to purchase, along with the cap to the water tank that we also lost recently:)

Got back on the road and settled in for a long ride. A lot of grass, corn, and soybeans as scenery. Found a campground in Valentine, NE to stop for the night. Jalapeño has been doing well on the long rides but is definitely ready to get out of the car whenever we stop. I have to agree:)

Up kinda late last night watching a movie called Barton Fink.  A strange flick from the Coen brothers which we thought was rather drab.  Up til around 1am watching that nugget, so we slept in a bit this morning.  Downloaded a few area maps and noted a nice loop hike a little north old us.  Drove over to the trailhead near Sylvan Lake around noon.  Enjoyed a nice lakeside lunch before hiking.  Beautiful scenery along our hike with another great day of weather.   Nice to be out hiking again after a few days of just driving.

We chose number 9 up to the peak, then 3/4 back down

Made it to the peak!

After our hike to the peak, we made it back down to see the cathedral spires and little devil’s tower.  Lots of things name around here with Devil.

Back down at the trailhead around 5pm, in need of a cold beverage.  Good crowd of bikers nearby at the lakeside cafe where we enjoyed people watching over a frosty bud-heavy.

Looks almost fake with the rocks coming out of the water

Some wildlife along the route home.  Cooking up some buffalo burgers for dinner!

One of our cozier dispersed spots

Settled into a dispersed campsite late this afternoon.  Felt quite lazy and sluggish from all the driving, an existential funk if you will.  Finishing off a leftover partial cinnamon roll had left me in a sugar depleted doze.  Luckily Cindy motivated me to go for a run.  What a difference just 30 minutes of exercise does for mental health!  Found out about the evening lighting of the Rushmore monument, so we drove over to it around 830 pm.  Spectacular viewpoints along the Needles Highway on our way over.  The tunnels are the best part, especially seeing the monument through them.

Quite an amazing sight to see at mount Rushmore. An amazing work of art which really enlivens your patriotism. An interesting duality though, especially after reading a number of native american books during this trip. While they were 4 great men representing an amazing history of a nation from birth through world dominance, the complete annihilation of the Indians is an immense tragedy. Unsure about the choice to build this monument in the middle of historic Indian territory, rather than back east. It was mentioned that the original thoughts were to sculpt the faces of Lewis, Clark and an Indian chief. I think that would have been more appropriate. Overall, a great 1 hour presentation consisting of a park ranger intro, short film about the 4 presidents, lighting of the monument accompanied by music and finale of bringing all the military audience members on stage to bring down the flag and introduce each one of them.

Lots of driving the past couple days.  Making our way southeast.  Left Bozeman on Friday around noon.  Had slept in a bit then a late breakfast before hitting the road.  Passing up a bunch of spots we would like to see, but always need a list for next time, right?

Back into Wyoming

Slowly losing the mountains for rolling hills

Our last mountain range is the Bighorns

Some quick research online turned up a vast array of forest service roads just off highway 16, west of Buffalo, Wyoming. This is the bighorn national forest.  Past 9pm when we pulled in.  Since the sunsets get earlier as we get further east in the mountain time zone, it was getting quite dark.  Didn’t get to search around much, but found a suitable spot for a night.

Woke up on Saturday around 6am to the moo-ing of at least 5 cows standing around our camper.   Neither of us got up to check it out, but luckily they had moved on before we arose a bit later.  Back on the road, continuing towards south dakota.  Stopped along the way at Devil’s tower.  Seeing quite a few motorcycles on the road.  Discovered that Sturgis bike week starts on Monday.  So, lots and lots and lots of motorcycles driving around this area.  Sorta depressing leaving the mountains after being around them the last 3 months.

Powder river coal... $$$ for all you railroaders

View of devil's tower, an interesting geological formation

Plan on spending a couple nights around this area of the black hills, Mt Rushmore, Custer state park and maybe the badlands.

Woke up to some rain in Missoula this morning, and enjoyed a relaxing morning with our hosts Al and Bequia.  Its been a while since we’ve had a rainy day.  After coffee, breakfast, and a shower, we said our goodbyes to our gracious hosts and hit the road, heading east.  We really had a great time in Missoula with Al and Bequia and will have to make a trip back to visit again!  On the way to Bozeman, we stopped at the Lewis and Clark Caverns for a tour.  We paid the $5 vehicle entrance fee, drove up the mountain to the visitor center, but when we got there, a nasty storm rolled through. We waited nearly an hour for the storm to pass, but by then it was already 5pm and the tour was 2 hours long and since we had more driving to do (and it was still raining) we decided to eat our $5 donation to the state of Montana, skip the tour, and continue on.  Got to Missoula around 6pm and decided to walk around downtown. Turns out, there was a festival, Music on Main going on as we arrived.  Enjoyed a couple of beers listening to some free country music by Dale Watson, and of course entertaining people watching!  Afterward, we decided to wait and eat dinner in the trailer after finding a dispersed campsite just outside of town in the Gallatin National Forest.  Rested up for a big drive tomorrow!

Caves!

Dark skies:

The storm!

Music on Main

Spent last night at a house near the lake.  Enjoyed a delicious steak dinner and crawfish omelettes for breakfast this morning.  Drove down to the lake to check the wind. Surprisingly breezy, so we took off on the sailboat for another day trip. A nice 12-15 knot breeze moved us along nicely across the lake and around a few of the islands. Cindy took the helm for most of the trip, being her first experience on a tiller boat with success on a downwind wing on wing tack. She did great!

The helmswoman

Spent a few hours on the water before driving back south to Missoula. Stopped for lunch at a quaint roadside cafe. Spent the late afternoon seeing the river and downtown area of Missoula. Came back around dinner time to enjoy a delicious meal of fresh salmon, beet salad and cherry sorbet.

River surfing

Good size railyard in Missoula

Post bike ride beverage establishment