25 July: Drove south down eastern edge of N and S Dakota. Fargo was a cool town. Made a wrong turn and stumbled upon the Great Northern Bike Company. It was in what used to be the Fargo train station, it has a gelato bar in it. Camped in Whapeton, SD at a state park. Had trouble finding it, due to and lack of signs – like ones that tell you what state you are in. we crossed over into Iowa without knowing it. Camp ground had great bathrooms (learning to appreciate the small things in life). Also met James and Rebecca, who have an awesome old (1970’s) hard-sided pop-up. They are both retired Army. They also hooked us up with firewood.
26 July: drove through Nebraska. Hillier than I had thought. Dark as Egypt at night. Got some rain after dark. Total lack of signs made camp ground almost impossible to find. Stopped and asked directions a few times, but even the “locals” weren’t sure where to find this state park. Eventually found it and set up in the dark. Electric but no water. Took a bracing shower under the area’s one faucet.
27 July: Rolled out of the camp as soon as we could. Saw a bunch of pigs hanging out on the road. Looked like they were eating something on the road – maybe that’s the NE version of street cleaning. Got gas and asked about a place for breakfast. Since it was 10 AM, we got some looks like we were asking for something indecent. got sent to a great spot in Basset. It was a restaurant and hotel that hasn’t changed a lick since about 1952. See pics. Great omelets and big pancakes. Amused ourselves reading the local paper. Lots of auctions and interesting descriptions of the histories of towns in the area. Drove out to what was supposed to be a ghost town. Found two falling down bldgs. and one still operating (but closed for the day) general store. Not much of a ghost town. Headed back north into S Dakota and turned left (west). Drofve through Badlands – very beautiful. Stayed at Kemp’s Camp, right near Mt. Rushmore. Old steam engine pulling a coupled of tourist cars rolled right past the camp. Got one load of laundry done that night (one washer and one dryer for the camp) and was there when laudry hours started again at 0700 next morning.
28 July: Drove up past Rushmore. Decided not to pay to park; pulled over and snapped a few pics from the car. Maddie went to a hotel and paid a few bucks to print and fax her forms for work; meanwhile, Adele bought a sweatshirt. Drove to Devil’s Tower: pretty cool (not literally – it was hot and more humid than we have felt in a while). Rain storms soon after we left. Drove to Yellowstone, which was a longer drive than it looked on the map. Part of that was because of the winding up-and-down roads through the Big Horn Mountain Range. It was getting dark as Maddie drove through the mts. We didn’t see any sheep, but we saw lots of cows (including some on the road). It was again very dark. Lots of stars, but couldn’t see what was off to either side of us. Eventually got to East Entrance of Yellowstone – and were dismayed to see sign saying 51 miles to our camp area. At first thought it must mean 5.1 – nope, 51. Good thing the park has service stations with 24-hr pumps. Got into camp at about 2:30 AM. It was quite cold. Left Adele in truck with heat running while Maddie and I set up.
29 July: Slept late and then spent day seeing as much of Yellowstone as we could (without driving too much). Skipped Old Faithful in favor of seeing other less-crowded stuff. The park is incredible beautiful. Everywhere you look is another view that takes your breath away and has you reaching for your camera. Saw hot springs, geysers, elk, buffalo (including some on the road), and gorgeous river, streams, and falls. Gathered some wood (tons of down Long Pole Pine just laying around) and had a fire. Cooked some dogs and got to bed early (for us – around 10:00).
30 July: Got up early, around 6:20. Even Adele was up by 7:00. When it is 37 degrees, you want to get up and get the blood flowing. After breakfast, we took showers ($2 for 6 minutes of hot water) and rolled by 10:00 (our earliest start yet). After a wrong turn that cost us ½ hour (the roads in Yellowstone don’t have names, which leads to confusion), we headed toward the West Entrance. The road between the West Entrance and Big Sky, Wyoming is so beautiful. It goes down a valley along a river. Trout fishing and dude ranches. And stunning scenery. Heading up to 90 West for Idaho.
31 July: Last night we enjoyed the warmest temperatures since Ohio- over 60 degrees when we hit the sack. We stayed at Lake Coeur d’Alene in Idaho after driving through the remainder of Wyoming and Montana. The campground was right on the lake (driving in we saw a moose drinking right on the edge of the lake) and the grounds stretched up the side of a smallish mountain. Interspersed between the RV sites were little pine cabins with porches and swing benches which could be rented. We decided to wake up early the next morning in order to rent a canoe and explore the lake a bit, hoping to see some more moose, before getting on the road. We dragged ourselves out of bed only slightly later than we had planned and set out in our canoe, Daddy and I paddling and Adele sitting in the middle. After briefly poking our nose into the lake, we decided instead to explore the small river, which ended up being an excellent decision. We saw northern blackbirds, an osprey, great blue herons, swallows, and…a moose cow and her calf! They were less than less than 75 yards from us, peacefully having their breakfast of grass and fresh river water. We did our best not to disturb them and manage to snap a few pictures. After we got ourselves packed up, we headed into the town of Coeur d’Alene, which is a beautiful waterfront town, and surprisingly very bohemian. I guess that they are close enough to the West Coast to pick up on a little bit of the Seattle vibe. We ate lunch at an awesome pita place called “The Pita Pit”, which is a lot like Mo’s burrito place, but far more delicious and nutritious and without the inevitable regret after eating. We walked through a beautiful park down by the water, which had a really sweet wooden playground designed to look like a castle, a bandstand where a big band group was setting up to play and a nice beach access. I ended up buying an awesome rug for my room in my new house made entire out of recycled materials in a store called the Lucky Monkey Trading Co, as well as a new bag to lug my books around in and Adele got a cool reversible sarong skirt made out of discarded pieces of saris. After lunch we picked up some produce from a local farmer and got back on 90 West, heading for Seattle. After some major delays due to awful traffic caused by god-only-knows-what, we made it to the town of Snoqualmie, where the Snoqualmie Falls, used as part of the set from David Lynch’s tv show, Twin Peaks, are. will add pictures later when we have better wifi.
