Heading home from Alaska

     We have decided to drive a couple long days so that we can get home.  No sightseeing in the Black Hills on this trip.  We are both tired and anxious to relax.
     We started planning this trip 20 years ago at least.  We had a little Bethany pop-up camper and big dreams.  We drove this freeway to the Black Hills with our young family and enjoyed camping so much we just wanted to keep on doing it.  The old pop-up did not have air conditioning (pretty much like we have now with our broken unit) and no inside toilet or shower.  We are really spoiled now with our really comfortable queen bed, nice shower, big vanity, TV, DVR, and surround sound.
    The trip has battered our trailer some.  We will really need to work on the sofa since it is now propped up on a couple boards.  We need to get the air conditioning fixed as well as the cupboard door that the slideout crunched.
    We have lots of pictures and I have been working on editing them as we go.  I took one of a crop duster that was flying low over the freeway and scared us to death.  It is about the last picture that I took on the trip - just as we reached the Minnesota border.  I want to print out a scrapbook soon after we get home so we can show it to everyone.  I have also kept a good log of the Alaska part of the trip in our MilePost book.  There are so many entries for all the wildlife that we saw along the highway.  Sometimes a couple dozen in a single day.
     I can't wait to see the kids again and have a hot bath.  This has been a 10,000 mile, 70 day trip.  Wonderful and exciting, but it will be good to get home.

Devil's Tower, Wyoming Devil's Tower KOA

It was nice to get back on the freeway and make some good time. Such easier driving although not very scenic.  We are able to pass many RV's on the hills - our truck and 5th wheel are very well matched and we have had plenty of power even on the steeper hills.   The trailer is absolutely filthy and we are no longer staying in campgrounds that have big washing areas like we found in Canada and Alaska.  I hate getting near it and getting the crud all over my clothes.  In addition, we are overall quite tired and haven't even been washing the windows.  I think we will do that tonight so we can have a more pleasant view.
    We are seeing a lot of motorcycles on the road and in the campgrounds.  Some folks are riding the bikes and many of them on huge trailers being pulled behind even bigger motorhomes.   We have one of these big RV's next to us tonight.  It is about a 42' home with a huge, double decker trailer.  It has a motorcycle and Jeep on the bottom and a boat on the top.  They unloaded the jeep so that the lady of the rig could drive her laundry to the office.  I guess you just can't leave home without all of your toys.

     The area around the national monument is very pretty - rolling hills wooded with big pines.  We took a nice hike around the bottom of Devil's Tower and then sat and watched some climbers on the big rock.  They are much stronger than we ever were.  I certainly remember being here with our Boy Scout troop and watching some climbers on the lower parts of the rock only to discover that they were  OUR scouts.  Sigh.  After our hike we drove to the campground where we often stayed with our scout troop so long ago.  It is a very pretty campground, with some huge cottonwoods.  We could stay here if it was not too hot since there is no power.   We have noticed several groups at the KOA that look like scout troops as well.

    It has been cooler and sort of gray today, with a bit of a breeze.  Almost chilly when we got back to the RV.  I am really looking forward to getting home.