Heading home

   Our last night was in a campground just west of Des Moines.  We have stayed in this area many times before. It has been cloudy most of the day and looks like a storm.  We aren't going to detach the car tonight so we found a campground with long pull-through sites.  Unfortunately in this campground some of these are "side by side" sites which means that two RV's are pulled in close to a single set of electric, sewer and water connections so that with our slide out we are about 4 feet from our neighbor.
   This KOA has been purchased by new owners.  They are trying hard to come up with fun ideas to attract families in the area to camp for the weekend, use the swimming pool and playground, and participate in activities. Good business for the campground, but it put large groups of people on small sites.  In several sites a tent trailer, a tent and two cars were crammed into a small space.  One family set their tent up almost on the road.  Last year two small kids were killed when their tent was hit by a car so this looked to me like an accident waiting to happen.  Most campgrounds work to keep the tents very securely away from drivers.  We sat outside and watched the group next to us.   A couple of 8 year old girls coached a 5 year old boy into throwing rocks on top of the tent trailer and eating a chocolate bar that was laying on the ground.  Little devils.
   Suddenly the rain came up and everyone ran inside their tents.  Fortunately for the families spending the weekend, it stopped after an hour.  We opened our awning to get it to dry out before we store the camper for a couple weeks.
  This was another short trip for us.  I am not really ready to go home.  I had a great time with Mark and Joyce in the Black Hills.  It was so much fun to share the joys of RVing with them.  We loved camping in the national park campground.  It is just the reason that we bought this smaller RV.  I am already looking at other national parks that we can go to and spend time camping in the park.
   I never regret the time we spend traveling.  I miss my family when we are gone and I am unhappy when we have no phone service so that I can talk to them all, but I always enjoy the time in the outdoors.  I am almost always optimistic.  I like to plan for the next trip as we finish the one we are on.  However, I also know that circumstances can change things in an instant and so I sort of savor each trip as though it is the last one.
   I am thinking about returning to the Olympic Peninsula and the Cascades or perhaps back to Yellowstone without 28 Boy Scouts.  Once again I invite you to come along - in person or through the blog.  We love company.

Nebraska

    I had a huge problem in finding campgrounds for the trip home without a computer or any campground books.  The campground in Golden is a sister campground to the one in Estes Park.  We found the information on it in the office in Estes.  I had a KOA book and found a KOA campground in Nebraska along the Platte River, but when I called to make a reservation I was told that the campground was closed for the season due to flooding damage.  So I was back to the map looking at a large part of Nebraska that has very few campgrounds.  However, it DOES have a lot of State Recreation Areas along the Platte River.  We stayed at one on our way to Yosemite.  I used my phone to get a number for the Johnson Lake, SRA.  The park ranger told me that they never fill up on weeknights so although I was too late to get a reservation we should have no trouble getting a site.

   In the heat and humidity of this summer I was determined to find us a spot where we could hook up to electricity and run the air conditioner.  We can run it off the generator for a while, but probably not all night.  So we took off from Golden for our 350 mile jaunt to Johnson Lake.  The first part of the drive was through Denver which was surprisingly quiet, and up I76 which was also quite quiet.  Then we got onto I80 which seems to carry half of the truck traffic in the Midwest.  Each time a big semi passes us we are first blown to the shoulder and then sucked into the left lane.  Makes for tiring driving.  The camper can only go 65 when we pull our car (due to transmission issues with the car not the weight).  This means that on 70 and 75mph freeways  we are continuously passed.    Fortunately there was no crosswind today - very calm.
    Johnson Lake SRA is seven miles off the freeway which makes it very quiet.  The sites were huge and far apart with big cottonwoods shading all the sites.  The campground was located all along the lake shore so everyone has a view of the lake.  there was a nice swimming beach, playground and boat launch just down the shore from the campground.  We drove around the large lake after dinner and read a sign that told us it is a hydro-irrigation lake.   A huge canal ran out of the lake towards the nearby farms.  There was a variety of new, huge lake homes and tiny, old cabins surrounding the lake.  It was a beautiful, quiet evening.  We sat outside until after dark just enjoying one of our last nights on the road.

Colorado Railroad Museum

    We have come to Golden to visit two places: The Colorado Railroad Museum and the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum.  We started with the quilts which are located in an old building in downtown Golden.  Downtown is actually fairly small - dwarfed by the huge Miller-Coors complex on the edge of town.  (The only two days a week that they don't give tours is when we were in town).  The rest of the downtown is nicely restored old buildings with lots of antique shops, cafes and businesses.  Clear Creek (actually more of a river) runs through the edge of downtown and has a beautiful river walk and parks all along it.  It is a pretty area to walk and shop.  The quilt museum is in one of the old buildings.  The information that I found online says that they have over 400 historic quilts and a new exhibit every two months.  The current display is of about 40 quilts by two quilters. The largest quilts used some very traditional applique patterns - all hand done and hand quilted.  Tiny, tiny stitches with some intricate designs.  I must admit, though, that I was looking forward to seeing some really old quilts - perhaps made by the gold miners or pioneers in Colorado.  After getting a taste of some beautiful quilting we walked further downtown to a quilt shop which had a lot of beautiful new quilts, fabric and quilt kits.  I managed to only buy one pattern.

   We left downtown and drove along the railroad tracks to the Colorado Railroad Museum.  A small indoor display gave us a lot of history about the development of railroads in Colorado.  Downstairs there was a large HO gauge train setup by the local model train club.  The large portion of the museum was outdoors where there were dozens of restored historic rail cars and engines.  There was also a large "garden" gauge layout which had working steam engines, bridges, tunnels, waterfalls, and mountains of Colorado.  I really enjoyed watching all the kids walk around this exhibit and talk with the volunteers who were running the trains.  There was some great detail in the buildings and houses that were part of the display.  It was a great museum.

Golden, Colorado

     The drive from Estes Park to Golden followed another narrow canyon, but this time we were going down, down, down about 2400 feet.  As we approached Boulder, Colorado, we saw many cyclists on the road.  So many that we thought there was a race, but then noticed that they were biking in both directions and on the cross roads as well. The area has bike routes marked on most major roads.  It appears to be a town with a very active population.  There were many beautiful homes perched high on the surrounding hills as well as pretty gardens and parks.  Beautiful in the summertime.  Not so sure about driving those steep driveways when there is ice and snow.
    Our new campground - Dakota Ridge - is very high end with lots of green grass, cement parking pads, and lots of trees.  It is really well kept which is a nice change after the weeds and dirt roads of the last campground.  We are at the edge of town, away from most street noise, with a great view of the foothills.  A walkway at the back of the campground leads to the top of a rocky mound where you can look out over Denver.  It has been quite hot but today it is rainy and much cooler.  The downside is that it's hard to take pictures of the view.
   We settled in and then drove to Lookout Mountain where Buffalo Bill Cody is buried.  Although he is well known for the town in Wyoming that is named for him, he wanted to be buried outside Denver.  He was a man who love publicity so perhaps he felt that he would get more notice if he were buried on this high point.
   The Buffalo Bill Museum is a fun place to visit.  There are many items from the Wild West Show including some film of the actual show and recordings of Buffalo Bill's voice.  It was a fun thing to do on a rainy day.  The view from Lookout Mountain was pretty foggy, but the drive around the area took us past lots of huge new homes.
    As we drove back we saw high fences along the freeway with crosswalks and underpasses for wild life.  This allows the elk, deer, fox etc. to safely move across the freeway from one area to another.  Nice for the wildlife, but also for drivers.  I would hate to hit an elk - those guys are BIG!

Old Fall River Road

     Old Fall River Road was opened in 1920 and was the first auto route into the high regions of the park.  We thought that we would miss the opportunity to drive it because late spring snows had prevented the annual work that needs to be done to open the road.  It is closed during the winter.  The road is a one-way, 11 mile gravel road which takes you up the Fall River valley to the visitor center at Fall River Pass, 11,796 feet above sea level.  When we arrived in the park the predicted opening of the road was not until later in August.  However, when we were at the Alpine Visitor Center after driving the Trail Ridge Road we saw cars driving on a gravel road behind the center.  The Ranger told us that the road had just opened, so today we decided to drive it.

    The road has a series of switch backs and follows a route traveled long ago by Indian hunters.  There are no guard rails and very few road signs.  The speed limit is 15 mph so it is not a quick drive.  There are few places to pull off to view the scenery, but you need to be careful not to get too close to the edge.  No picnic tables, no rest areas - just great views and a sense of following in the footsteps of adventurers.
    There were a surprising number of cars on the road - it was Monday and had only been opened for two days.  We also saw a fair number of Park Rangers on the road - keeping an eye on road conditions and offering help to anyone with car problems.  There is no phone service in the park so no calling AAA if you are stranded.  We saw one Jeep pulled over getting some Ranger aid.
     As we drove above the tree line we could see dark clouds forming above the Visitor Center.  We had read warnings in all the park publications about staying in your car when there are lightening storms.  With all rocks and no trees you are a real target for lightening at 12,000 feet.  I wasn't thrilled about being on the dirt road when the storm hit.  There were quite a few areas where the road was rebuilt after being washed out.  We were lucky and the rain held off until we got to the top.  Then the wind came and really got chilly.  I felt sorry for the folks who were only in T-shirts and shorts.
    We drove back down to Heavenly Valley for a picnic.  The rain stopped and it was warmer so we enjoyed watching families with small kids climbing on the rocks around the picnic area.  One especially adventurous boy climbed to the top of the rock pile.  I kept hearing, be careful, Matthew, come on down.  Seemed like just yesterday we kept saying the same thing to our rock climber.
    It was raining again by the time we got to the campground, so it was a good time to plan the next leg of our trip to Golden, Colorado.  I was really frustrated in trying to find a campground there,  I forgot to pack the Western half of my Woodall's Campground Guide, and I don't have a working computer.  Luckily we noticed in the brochure for our current campground that they have a sister campground in Golden.  The folks at the office made reservations for us and we are good to go for the next two nights.  Whew!

Estes Park, Colorado

     We left the national park campground to stay in a commercial campground in Estes Park, which was only an 8 mile drive.  The town backs right up onto national park land.  When we got to our new campground home - Spruce Lake RV park, we were too early to check in - the previous tenants had not checked out yet.  So we parked the RV and had coffee and donuts while we read the paper and caught back up on what was happening in the world.  Sometimes no news is good news, but now we are current.  After we had waited about and hour and a half I was getting pretty impatient since there were a number of open sites - apparently we had been somewhat forgotten as other folks checked in.  At last however, we got to our site with a nice view of the mountains on one side and a huge motorcycle trailer on the other.  As we were setting up two elk walked into the campground and decided to eat some grass.  Wildlife really up close and personal.
   After many days of picnic lunches we decided to go into town for lunch.  Yikes!  Sunday traffic in Estes Park is pretty overwhelming.  The main street in Estes Park is also the one of the main roads to the entrance to the park.  Most of the RV's, trucks, campers and cars going to Rocky Mountain drive through Estes.  On top of this are the thousands of folks staying in motels and condos in and around town.  There was no place to park.  We drove around a bit and found ourselves up on the hills above town in the Stanley Historic District.  F.O. Stanley, inventor of the Stanley Steamer car came to Estes Park and built the Stanley hotel.  It is a beautiful white resort hotel overlooking downtown Estes Park.  He developed the resort area as a destination for the tourists who were now arriving by car.  He built the Fall River Hydro plant in 1909 to power the hotel and resort buildings.
    We always like to have a meal at the historic hotels in or near the national parks that we visit so we stopped for a delicious lunch at the Cascade Restaurant in the Stanley Hotel.  Rick had a great clam chowder and I tried an elk burger - mmmm.  The view from the veranda was wonderful so we sat and relaxed for a while after lunch.  Then back downtown where we found parking.  The Fall River goes through town.  A river walk has been developed along it with benches, playgrounds, gardens, and cafes.  A beautiful addition to the town and a place that was less hectic where we could enjoy the beauty of the setting.
   We relaxed at the camper the rest of the afternoon as a sudden shower sent everyone indoors.  I am frustrated that there is almost no phone service still at this campground.  We had to drive a couple miles higher into the hills around town to answer a phone message.  Now my computer has mostly died.  I guess I will resort to the written word.

Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain NP

   First let me say that my computer died while on our trip so my blog is delayed.  we had a wonderful time and after a visit to the computer Dr. I may be back in business.
    Rocky Mountain is not a very large park compared to many of the western parks.  It is about 415 square miles.  A Ranger giving a talk to some Jr. Rangers commented that some animals like wolves can’t be introduced into the park because there is so much commercial and residential land development close to the park.  All of this development creates heavy use of the park’s trails, roads, and campgrounds.  The campgrounds have been completely full every night. 

    Today we drove the main road through the park.  Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuous paved road in the United States.  It is 12,183 in elevation at its highest point.  We were gasping for air as we walked around the visitor center at the top of the road.  This amazing road followed the path created by Enos Mills who came to the area in 1884.  He led nature trips into the mountains.  The original road was completed in 1922 for the early visitors to the new park.  I can’t imagine driving the long up and down hills with a car built in 1922.

One of our first stops of the day was at Hidden Valley which was a ski resort until 1992.  Now the Park Service has reforested many of the runs and planted wildflowers in the lower meadows.  A stream which had been routed underground has also been directed back to its original course through the valley.  Other areas of the park still have underground canals.  In the early 1900’s “The Grand Ditch” was built to transfer water from the western slopes to the eastern plains.  There are still extensive underground pipes which supply water to Park buildings and Estes Park.

    Although the upper elevations were pretty cool, it was much warmer today.  Our late afternoon relaxing under the awning was hot until the evening breeze began.  If the temperature trend continues, it will be good to get to the commercial campground in Estes Park where we can run our air conditioner.

We saw elk today – 4 huge males resting in a snow field and then just around the bend was a group of females and young browsing on the slopes.  There are so many elk in the park that some areas had to be fenced off so that the new trees could grow instead of being chomped on by elk.  We also saw a few deer right up by the road and a fat marmot begging for food at one of the turnouts.  Then, as we drove into Estes Park – almost in town – we saw a coyote crossing the very busy street.  I wouldn’t leave my little dogs out in the back yard in Estes Park!

    The wildflowers were blooming beautifully at the high elevations.  We took a walk out into the glacial tundra and saw so many varieties of tundra flowers.  I wanted to get a picture of the gorgeous Indian Paintbrush along the road, but they seem to grow only where there is no safe place to stop.  I love the huge variety of birds we are seeing as well, including an amazing blue something that sat right next to me in the campground.

     I have loved the views, the quiet, and huge spaces in the national park campground, but I will be happy to have my phone and internet back tomorrow.  Yeah!

Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park

   The temperature dropped into the low 50’s last night – the first time we needed the quilt over us.  But the morning was sunny and soon warmed up as we had a slow start today.  The altitude certainly makes us tired.

    We made it an easy day.  There are several Visitor Centers in the park.  Moraine Park Visitor Center has a small museum which explains the creation of the large, flat, meadow strewn with rocks which is just outside the museum.  Huge glaciers used to cover the area and left behind thousands of boulders and many small streams.  The area was the site of 3 hotels, a nine hole golf course, and many shops before this became a national park.  Now the buildings have mostly been removed and the area is regaining its natural beauty.  The Visitor Center and Museum are located in one of the remaining log buildings.  As we drove in to check out the Moraine Park campgrounds we saw a coyote crossing the road in front of us.  I was so surprised I did not get a decent picture.  Following the coyote was about an 8 year old girl.  I was wondering what she was doing walking down the road alone.   Then as she got to the entrance to the campground a Ranger walked her back to her family.   She must have gotten turned around on her way to the restrooms.  This campground still has trees and lots of big boulders.  Therefore a lot more shade than the one we are in.  However, the wonderful mountain views are blocked by the trees.  Everything is a trade-off.

    We also stopped at Beaver Meadows Visitor Center – it is large and modern.  We watched a movie about the park to get oriented to the roads and trails.  Our drive took us along another rushing mountain stream.  There are many fly fisherman enjoying the high water and abundance of trout. 

     In the afternoon we drove even higher in the park to Bear Lake.  This was a popular attraction and the parking lot was full.  There is a shuttle which runs throughout the park and helps to keep some of the congestion down at the most popular sites.  Luckily we found a spot and discovered the beautiful lake had a half mile walking path around it.  No challenge in Minnesota but at almost 9500’ it was work.  A large portion of the walk was wide and flat for strollers and wheel chairs.  It is so nice to see these remote areas made accessible.  There are several wheelchair accessible trails in the park and an accessible camgground at Sprague Lake.  This campground is one of the sites visited in another of the Nevada Barr novels about Rocky Mountain National Park.

    Our campground emptied out quite a bit and now is filling up with weekend campers from Denver, Loveland and other nearby communities.  Nice to have such beauty in your backyard.  We spent a quiet late afternoon watching folks arrive.  At one point we watched in horror as the awning on the camper next to us blew up and over the top of the camper.  Rick and another neighbor rushed over to get it under control before it banged up the siding.  Then we got out the tie downs for our awning and secured it from the unpredictable breezes.  Now it’s time for a campfire.

Rocky Mountain National Park

     We are watching the sun go down in Glacier Basin Campground at Rocky Mountain National Park.  It’s a beautiful evening, but cooling off quickly.  The campground is about 8 miles into the park up a narrow, winding road.  However, the campground area itself is quite large as it sits in a meadow that used to be covered with a glacier. 

     Our drive today was only a little over 200 miles but we gained 3500 feet in altitude so we are both pretty tired.  It is 8500 feet here at the campground.  For the first part of the drive we could see the Laramie Mountains in the distance.  Not spectacular, but mountains.  Then, as we drove through Cheyenne we came up over a hill, and there they were – The Rockies.  Snow covered peaks, jagged, magnificent. 

     Most of the drive was freeway until we got to Loveland.  Then we drove for several miles through a very busy town.  Finally the road narrowed and we drove 25 miles along the Thompson River through a winding canyon with steep rock walls.  The river was just thundering along.  Sometimes the walls of the canyon were so steep I could hardly see the sky.  We got to Estes Park and were amazed at how busy the town was.  Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the most visited in the park system.  The town is only a couple miles from the park entrance so there are dozens of motels, campgrounds, and shops. 

     We are nearing the weekend and all the campsites are full.  Either reserved or already filled by folks waiting this morning to get a site.  The large group site seems to be full of Boy Scouts.  Most of the trees have been cut due to the pine beetle.  Half of the area is reserved for tent camping only.  The other two loops have some spaces big enough for small RV’s.  There is no electricity or water at the sites, just amazing views.  Five snow topped mountains are just outside my window.  The campground is full of activity, but quiet.  I am so glad that we scaled down our RV to a size that lets us stay right in the park.  It is a wonderful time.    It rained a little this afternoon and the air got quite cool. Now the sun is down and we are chilly.  What a fabulous sunset.  Colorado!

Douglas, Wyoming

     We left our quiet, green campground and drove south and west into Wyoming.  I was amazed to see that even Wyoming is still pretty green so late in July.   Many of the larger streams and ponds were still full of water.  Maybe Texas should send some of their poor, starving cattle here for summer vacation.  However, Rick read that South Dakota lost a lot of cattle in the last heat wave so perhaps green grass and water isn't enough.
 We have driven this road before in the winter when we were young, poor, and loved to ski.  We would start very early in the morning from MInnesota and end up driving through Lusk, Wyoming after dark.  Today as we drove through in the day time we saw the rolling prairies, antelope and cattle farms.  I was surprised to find several nice rest areas along the way - an unexpected bonus.
    Our drive was relatively short - under 200 miles.  We had planned to stay in Cheyenne but it is rodeo week and all the campgrounds are full.  The campground here in Douglas is really full too - probably overflow since there just aren't that many campgrounds that have an amenities in this area.
   We took advantage of the nice pool and were entertained by a couple German families.  I told Rick that we had seen so many Germans on the road we should go to Germany and try camping there.  There MUST be a lot of campgrounds since there are so many Germans who love to come to the U.S. and camp. We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting under our awning - alternately getting rained on and escaping the hot sun.
    This is the first campground that I have ever been to which includes a horse pen and horse stalls.  I suppose that folks in this area are frequently traveling with horses and need a place to keep them overnight.  We have quite an eclectic variety of neighbors - foreign travelers in rental RVs, rundown semi-permanent campers, very fancy 40+ foot Class A's, tent trailers and us.  Makes for a great time of watching everyone move around the campground - about the only entertainment.
   Tomorrow we head into the dead zone - a national park.  No phones, no Wi-Fi, just us and our portable house.  I will catch up with my blog when we come down out of the mountains.  We will be busy tomorrow filling our water tank, dumping our sewer tanks, filling up our gas tanks (gas is always really expensive if it is available at all in national parks) and filling our pantry.

Hot Springs, South Dakota

     Mark and Joyce left for Wyoming today.  It was such fun to spend a few days touring the Hills with them.  I am happy that they are enjoying the RVing way of travel.  We also leave tomorrow, so today we did housekeeping duty.  Washing a week’s worth of clothes was a breeze with a really nice laundry just across the grass from us.  We tidied up the RV, checked the tires and put outdoor stuff away because for the first time it looked like rain.

     Connie and Terry told us that they enjoyed the Mammoth site in Hot Springs – about an hour south of us.  We drove there through Wind Cave Park.  When we toured the cave we only saw a small part of the parklands.  It is beautiful, rolling prairie.  Today we saw the large bison herd which lives in the park.  I have never seen so many buffalo in such a short time. 

     Hot Springs is a pretty little town.  Most of the downtown buildings were built of pink sandstone from a local quarry including a large VA Medical Center and State Veterans’ home, the courthouse, Union Station, as well as hotels and business buildings.  Water from the hot springs has been channeled into a huge indoor pool – Evan’s Plunge – built in 1891.  We did not visit the pool today, but have been there in the past with Boy Scouts. 

     Today we went to a site where approximately 25,000 years ago huge Columbian and wooly mammoths died when they fell into a sinkhole and couldn’t get out.   This sinkhole is sixty-five foot deep and 120 X 150 feet around.   So far the bones of over 58 mammoths have been uncovered.  A huge structure has been erected over the dig which is still unearthing the skeletons of these huge prehistoric creatures.  A short tour explained the history of the site and told us about the work currently going on as they continue to work through layers to uncover additional skeletons.  It was fascinating to both of us.

    We had a quiet afternoon and then went to a steak dinner here at the campground.   A local musician provided serenaded us with some old cowboy songs.  They didn’t sing Happy Birthday to Rick, but he got that when we went to dinner last night with Mark and Joyce at the Desperado Bar in Hill City.  When we got back we heard from both sets of grandchildren (and their parents) so it was a great birthday for Rick.

Adventures above and below ground

    We began our day with a drive through Custer State Park on the Wildlife Loop Road.  It is an 18 mile long scenic drive which winds through prairie and woods.  Custer's buffalo herd as well as a herd of wild burros live in this area.  Soon after we started the drive we came upon some of the 1500 buffalo who live in the park.  Once again they were just wandering along the road.  We saw many bull, cows and calves right up next to the car.  This is the closest I have ever come to these buffalo while driving in the park.
   A bit further along the drive we saw a band of pronghorn antelope browsing about 50 yards off the road.  Again, this is the closest I have seen a whole group of them.  Their white markings really stood out against the green prairie grass.   It looked like one buck and a bunch of  does and fawns.  They were not intimidated by our cars.
   A bit further on we came upon a group of burros on the road.  This herd is descended from burros used to take visitors to the top of Harney Peak.  When the tours were stopped the burros were let loose to roam in the park.  They were very tame and let folks pet them.  Very pretty animals.
    After a picnic lunch at Blue Bell Lodge in the park we drove south to Wind Cave National Park.  Much of the above ground area is rolling prairie and home to additional herds of buffalo and antelope.  It was a beautiful drive to the cave tour building.   We took the 1 1/4 hour Natural Entrance Cave tour with 300 steps (most of them down).  Since it was in the high 80s today, the 53 cave temperature actually felt pretty good to us.

    Wind Cave is the 5th longest cave in the world with 130 miles of explored passages.  There are still many areas to explore so it may move up in the ranking.  It is a dry cave with no internal rivers.  Therefore there are none of the usual cave formations - stalactites and stalagmites.  It was made a national park in 1903 and was the 7th park in the National Park system.  It became a Game Preserve in 1912 when a herd of bison was introduced to the park.   The cave is very three dimensional with many winding tunnels which move through various levels.  It has extensive amounts of beautiful "boxwork" formations.
    Our group of 40 amateur spelunkers descended into the cave and moved down a series of stair cases until we were about 160 feet below the surface.  The cave is well lit and has cement walkways and good handrails on the stair cases.  We were really fascinated by the many places where tunnels went off in all directions from our main walkway.  After winding through many narrow passages we came to a larger cavern and stopped to hear the Ranger give us more information about the cave.  Then the lights blinked out.  Some came back on.  She said that it was not usual for that to happen and went to a phone nearby and called the issue in.  Then the lights all went out.  She turned on her flashlight and asked everyone in the group to turn out whatever light source they happened to have with them.  Many cell phones and a few flashlights came out.  She asked us to decide if we were comfortable moving through the cave with only flashlights or if we wanted to wait for additional rangers to arrive with more lights.  We elected to move forward.  I was amazed at how orderly everyone was in moving through the sometimes very low ceiling, sometimes slippery and angled walkway, steep stairs and tight winding passages.  The group included some kids, teenagers, senior citizens, and me with my cane and knee brace.  We all helped each other as we moved along until we came to an area where the lights worked again.  Very nice to see that people can be calm and helpful  when necessary.
   It was a great tour and we came out of the cool cave to a very dark sky and rain in the air.  I regretted not closing up the camper.  However, as is so often true in the mountains, we drove through sheets of rain but got back to an entirely dry campsite.  Yeah!

Crazy Horse Monument

    The weather continues to be wonderful – cooler nights and warm, sunny days.  We have a huge, grassy area between our two campers so we can move our lawn chairs from one patch of shade to another.  This gives Rick a good perspective on all the surrounding campsites to watch our fellow campers backing in and setting up camp.  He really loves to observe their technique.  Joyce and Mark are missing their dog, Libby, and so they spend a lot of time watching and talking to our camping neighbors’ dogs. We have all enjoyed watching one ambitious little guy on his two-wheeler riding round and around our section of campground.  Every now and then he takes a pretty good tumble on the gravel road, but he just dusts himself off and hops back on the little bike.  I love being in a great campground with lots of family activity. 

We visited Mt. Rushmore yesterday, so today we went to the “Other” huge mountain sculpture – Crazy Horse.  This monument may someday be a three dimensional carving of Chief Crazy Horse on a horse.  At the moment the only part that is finished is the face of Crazy Horse with many other areas marked in white paint and beginning to take shape.  The project is somewhat controversial – between the Native Americans and the family that is creating the sculpture and between our group as we visited it.  Over 50 years ago Korczak Ziolkowski, a well known sculptor who had worked very briefly on Mt. Rushmore, was asked Lakota Chief Standing Bear to create a memorial to Chief Crazy Horse to show that the Native Americans had heroes as well as the white man.  Korczak started the project in 1948 by himself.  He made a scale model of the final project.  Korczak died in 1982 with only a small portion of the project completed.  His wife and seven of his ten children continue to work on the project.  In 1998 the face of chief was unveiled - it is powerful and has great detail.  In addition a huge visitor center including a large collection of Native American artifacts, a restaurant and a replication of the Korczak’s studio and home were built. 

There have been many opportunities for the project to take state or federal funding to move it towards completion.  The family believes that it is needs to be a private enterprise.  Some Native Americans do not believe that blasting millions of pounds of granite off of a mountain that is sacred to them is a good thing.  The final monument will be 563 feet high and 641 feet long so a lot of the original mountain will be gone.   I guess that I am of the opinion that somewhere along the line this has become a memorial to Korczak Ziolkowski and his family rather than a project which belongs to the Native Americans.  Whatever the case, the collection of Native American items is very interesting and the huge face of Crazy Horse is quite striking. 

We enjoyed our visit – Joyce and I bought earrings from a Native American vendor in the cultural center.  We went back to the campground for lunch and then visited the train museum and the wood carving museum.  Neither one was much to write home about.  After a supper of buffalo burgers we enjoyed a campfire.  All around us other groups of campers gathered around their fires as well, as the sky grew dark and the stars came out.  I imagined that we were pioneers on a wagon train resting after a busy day.  One more day of touring with Mark and Joyce and then they head for Wyoming. 

Custer State Park Needles Highway

     We spent the day with Mark and Joyce driving the Needles and Iron Man scenic highways.  I have been on this drive so many times and still am in awe of the rock formations and the beautiful vistas.  The Needles highway was finished in 1922.  The tunnels were probably quite adequate for 1920’s cars.  Now the maps all describe very clearly the height and width of each tunnel.  In addition, there are clear signs on the road warning drivers about the coming tunnels.  The problem is that once you have ignored the signs and driven your oversize vehicle/camper along the road nearing the tunnel, there is no place to turn around.  The road is narrow and winding with only some very narrow turnouts for viewpoints.  We saw one rather large RV stopped along the road to the tunnels looking quite unhappily at the map.  The RV that Mark rented has a new awning – the old one having been torn off in one of the tunnels.  Today, however, we drove the nimble little CRV and had no difficulty at all.

     We stopped many times along the way to take pictures.  We noticed huge areas of trees within the park that are turning red or dead.  A mountain pine beetle has attacked trees in large areas of the park.  The park management is thinning out the pines in many areas to try to control the spread of the beetle.  Its sad to see such large areas that are becoming barren of trees.

     One of our first stops was at Sylvan Lake for a walk around the beautiful little lake.  My knee is better this trip. so I joined the group for the flat, level section of the walk. The lake is stocked with trout and we watched families all along the shore catching fish.  In another area a couple dozen chairs were set up for an afternoon wedding.  It was a perfect day – breezy, sunny, and a little cooler.  The pictures from the wedding would be beautiful.

     We stopped for lunch at one of Custer State Park lodges along Legion Lake.  Another beautiful place to stay while enjoying the beauty of the park.  Many of the park buildings were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930’s.  The buildings look very similar to ones built in some of the older Minnesota State parks – also by the CCC.  While we were at the visitor center we saw group who were learning to pan gold.  It was one of Custer’s men who discovered gold in the Black Hills.

    Our highlight of the day came as we drove past the Custer State Game Lodge.  President Calvin Coolidge used this lodge as his “Summer White House” in 1927.  Just outside the lodge we saw a herd of buffalo walking beside and on the narrow road.  Traffic was slowed quite a bit as the huge animals and their many calves walked slowly down the road.  They mostly completely ignored the cars and the people taking their pictures.  It was really fun to have such an up close experience to them.

Our final stop of the day was at Mt. Rushmore.  We took many pictures, but were unable to capture one of Mark on top of Washington’s nose.  It was interesting to note that much of the area on the back side of the mountain where the heads are carved is now very clearly signed as Federal Property – No Trespassing.  No more climbing up to see if you can get to the heads!

     A great day with many pictures and lots of kidding around.  

Rafter J Bar Ranch

    We drove from Badlands National Park on back roads to the Black Hills.  There was almost no traffic and lots of interesting rock formations along the way.   We looked and looked for buffalo herds which were reported to be in the area but only saw cows.  However, that brings to mind my cow observations.  Yesterday we saw a cow standing alongside the road looking up and down the road with a puzzled expression.  There was not another cow, barn, house, pasture anything in sight.  I wondered how far this cow had been walking before deciding that it was lost.  Today we saw cattle standing on top of big bluffs along the road looking down at us as though they had climbed up there to watch the traffic go by.  Maybe they are smarter than I think they are.
 Anyway, back to our road trip.  I bought Rick a fancy new GPS for his birthday.  We can set it for the height, width, length and weight of our camper so that we don't get routed into a spot that we can't get out of - tunnels, bridges etc.  This new GPS also includes an altimeter.  It was fun to watch the numbers as we drove up off the plains and into the Hills.  We are at about 4900 feet here near Hill City.  Although it has been a pretty warm day - in the high 80s, we were told as we checked in that the temperatures have been in the high 40's at night this week.  I can't wait to put on a blanket when we turn in tonight.

    Way back in the early 80's we bought a tent trailer.  One of our family vacations took us to the Black Hills.  I remember how hot it was going across South Dakota. We stayied one night near Wall with temps in our tent at about 90 most of the night.  (Now many tent trailers have air conditioners.  Ours only had a small fan.)  The next day we were driving along late in the day looking for a campground in the Hills that wasn't right on the road.  Luckily we came across the Rafter J Bar Ranch.  We were given a grassy site under some lovely shade trees.  Then when the sun went down the temperature dropped 25 degrees and I knew I was in heaven.  Well here we are back again - at Rafter J Bar.  Camping under huge red pines, the temperature dropping as quickly as the sun.  I may need to put on long pants - haven't worn anything but shorts for so long!   Heaven.
    We set up camp and were just finishing lunch when Mark and Joyce arrived in their rental RV.  They have a spot next to us with a nice green lawn in between.  We set up the lawn chairs and had a peaceful afternoon and a family dinner.  The only thing better than a beautiful evening in the Black Hills is being able to share it with family.  Tomorrow we will take off on a search to find where Mark was able to climb on George Washington's face - he remembers doing this sometime in the past.  Stay tuned.

Badlands

  I always forget how long a drive it is across South Dakota.  We left Pipestone early (for us) and drove through miles of construction.  I took the wheel for a bit to give Rick a break.  The flat, straight roads of South Dakota are perfect for working on my driving skills with the new camper.  Despite the fact that it is late July, the prairies are very green and there is water everywhere.  It was a beautiful drive.

We got to the Badlands in late afternoon.  We drove through the northern end of Badlands National Park.  The views were amazing.  It was in the 90s but much drier here.  Our plan was to park the camper and head back to the Visitor Center.  We are staying about 6 miles from the park along the White River in a shady campground.  However, the pool was calling us, so we went for a swim instead.  All I can say about the swim is AHHHHH!

As we sat by the pool we could feel the heat abating. and a whisper of movement in the air.  We had a quick supper and decided to drive out into the Badlands.  Earlier, the midday sun had made the terrain so bright it was hard to see.  However, as evening began to slide into the park we could see the fascinating contours of the rock formations. 

A storm passed through and we could see huge black clouds, lightning bolts and sheets of rain flowing across the prairie.  Then a double rainbow formed, just for us.  We stopped at several lookouts and trailheads.  The air was fresh and clear.  At one viewpoint the sign told us that one very clear days we could see a butte three miles away – and there it was off in the distance!  It was the perfect time to walk among the formations in the shadows and cooler evening.  We stayed on the path, though, since there were many “watch out for rattlesnake” warnings.

As the sun began to drop behind the rock formations a nice breeze came up and the meadowlarks were calling goodnight.  The damp prairie grass smelled of summer.  The clouds turned pink and orange.  We just sat and looked out at the amazing panorama. Sometimes as we travel I recognize moments that need to be captured.  This evening, in the mystery of the Badlands, was one of them.    We took lots of pictures, but you will need to come here and spend a sunset in the park to get the full experience.

Pipestone National Monument

    After several days of really punishing heat and humidity we got the camper packed and hit the road.  It was an unusual day for our first leg of driving because we were headed for a sightseeing destination rather than just trying to get a bunch of miles behind us.
   We drove Hwy 169 south towards Mankato.  This drive was so familiar to us after our years of attending Mankato State University.  The drive has changed a little, but there is still a big statue of the Jolly Green Giant as we headed into the Le Sueur valley.  We drove through St. Peter which was hit so hard by a tornado a few years ago.  It is good to see all the flourishing new trees which were planted to replace the hundreds that blew over.
   We drove cross country out of St. Peter through small towns with huge grain elevators.  The corn is high and green.  I read that the huge, green corn crop is part of the reason we have had such terrible humidity.  All the rivers, lakes and potholes are full to almost flooding.  We should send some of this water to Texas.
    Our campground is just outside the Pipestone National Monument.  We plugged into the electricity, turned on the air conditioning and drove a mile to the Visitor Center.  The soft red stone which is found in the Pipestone Quarries has been used by native Americans for over a thousand years.  Smoking tobacco through pipes which are carved out of the stone is a major part of tribal and spiritual ceremonies for many Plains tribes.
    The Dakota Sioux controlled the Pipestone quarries in the 1700's.  As the United States expanded west into the quarry areas a treaty was signed to give access to the Native Americans.  In 1937 Congress established Pipestone National Monument to protect the quarries and provide quarrying for certified Native Americans.
   The monument area is small.  A 3/4 mile walking trail follows a stream which flows through the quarry area.  Part of the trail was closed due to flooding, but we took our water bottles and walked out to a small falls hidden among the rocks.  It was a beautiful setting and we enjoyed the walk despite the high humidity and temperatures.

   Tonight we are feeling the wind shift to the north, the humidity drop along with the temperatures.  I am hoping for the predicted overnight temp of 62 so we can leave the windows open in this quiet campground.  A beautiful night.. 

To the Hills

     We are taking an unprecedented second RV trip this year.  In a few days we head to the Black Hills of South Dakota and then on to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.  I am so happy to be getting back on the road in our new RV.
    In the past couple months we HAVE used the RV at the cabin as our extra bedroom.   We took advantage of this by also working on the RV and reorganizing a few spots of inside and outside storage which didn't work as well as we anticipated.  Some items needed to be made more accessible, some less.  Rick worked on getting the load balanced, the front end aligned and the tires properly inflated to reduce a bit of the sway when we have a side wind.  It all helped and the rig is nicely stable on the road.  Downside was a problem with air leaking from the tires which made us think we had a flat.
     We will be joining my brother Mark and Joyce in the Black Hills.  We had a lot of fun last year when they met us in Oregon.  This year Mark and Joyce are renting an RV similar to ours in Rapid City.  Their tenting days may be over after enjoying the new luxury of an RV.  I am really looking forward to spending time at our favorite campground in the Hills - Rafter J Bar.
    After touring the Black Hills with Mark we will split up as they head for the Big Horn Mountains and we drive south to Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park, Colorado. We will be camping in a national park campground without electricity or water.  Dry camping for 3 days.  It will be a good test for the new rig.
   I have read about a drive in the park that is the highest paved road in a National Park - 12,000 ft in places.  Joyce's sister Betty was in the park just two weeks ago and some of the roads are still covered with snow.  We are packing some warmer clothes for the chilly nights.   We spent quite of bit of time in southern Colorado on our Yosemite trip.  This is our first time in the northern section.
   We still have a lot of packing to do but this should be an easier trip to get ready for because we left the RV packed with many items for use at the cabin.  We just need to put our clothes in the closet and fill up the refrigerator.  Then in less than a week we will be off on another adventure.

Back from the Natchez

    When we left Minnesota the weather was cold and spring hadn't arrived yet.  Nothing was growing in the fields (actually it was below freezing the night before we left and we were worried about our water tanks freezing).  By the time we got to southern Mississippi the corn was thigh high and the weather was in the 90's.
   We stopped at many battlefields, the homes of two presidents (Lincoln and Jackson), one king (Elvis), and Sam Clemons.  We drove all but 15 miles of the longest National park(way) in the country.   We spent time in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and  Missouri.   We crossed a lot of very flooded rivers, including the Mississippi several times, but were gone long enough to see the waters recede as we drive north again.  So many rivers that I have confused a couple.  The two major rivers which come together in Paducah are the Ohio and the Tennessee (not the Illinios).  I will have to correct that in my earlier post.
    We saw a lot of empty store fronts, old cars, worn clothing, hitch hikers, homeless folks with grocery carts, dilapidated  neighborhoods - the economic downturn really hurt the South.  We saw so much tornado damage in the wide swath of twisted and downed trees as well as the bright blue of tarps covering gaps in the roofs of houses still standing.  We saw hundreds of homes and businesses under water or under mud due to the flooding.  Almost all of the campgrounds we visited had workers and families living full time in their campers -  because they were flooded out, lost their home, or because they have to follow the available work.
    On the flip side we saw many families having fun together.  A family of nine shared our space on the deck of the Mark Twain riverboat.  The oldest boy was 10.  He had three sisters and three brothers.  All well behaved, busy, cheerful kids who made me miss our grandsons.  In another campground we met a little girl who never sat down except on her bicycle as she rode around saying hi to everyone.  Last night dozens of families gathered around campfires (and beer) to celebrate the end of a successful NASCAR trial.  They weren't rowdy, just a bunch of Americans having a good time.
   Bin Laden was caught and killed while we were on the road.  The DOW went up and down and up again.  Some Republicans joined the Presidential race, some dropped out.  Summer came to Minnesota and went again.  Farmers got their crops planted and the corn is ankle high. Seems like we have been gone a long time.
   Things went well for us with the new RV except for this last morning when we discovered that the battery in our car was dead.  We need to have battery power to run the machine that provides auxiliary braking for the car.  It was quite the chore to unhitch the car, turn the RV around so that we could use the engine to jump start the car and then drive the car around the back of the RV to hitch it up again.  By the time we got to our first rest stop the battery was dead again so we gave up and drove home on the flat Iowa roads without brakes on the car.  Not a real problem since the RV vastly outweighs the car.  One more thing for us to look into before we hit the road again.
   This was a short trip for us, but a good break-in for the RV.  I am happy to be heading home to see my dear family.  I also know that we will be back on the road in late July for a trip to the Black Hills with my brother.  I love to travel with friends.  We missed having any of you along this time.  I am so happy that you could join us through the blog, however.  Thanks for your comments.  Hope you will join us again soon.

Discoveries large and small

    We discovered a few things today as we left Missouri and headed home through Iowa.  First, we counted the number of things that have fallen off within the RV.  Nothing major, just a few pieces of trim, a hook that WE put up, and a couple of wood buttons that cover screws.  Overall it is very well put together.  I am impressed with Winnebago manufacturing.
    Second: We stopped for lunch just outside Iowa City.  The weather seemed to be getting windier and the sky was getting darker.  I checked the weather on my cell phone and could see a storm moving west in our path.  We drove on, but the wind was gusting stronger and moving us around on the highway.  I looked again at the weather map and saw that the front was getting stronger - lots of dark red at the center of the storm.  We decided to pull off at the upcoming rest stop and wait for the front to pass.  As we pulled off, I turned on the radio to see if I could get some information.  Well, doggoned if we don't have the NOAA weather radio as part of our satellite radio.  The radio knew where we were and gave us immediate weather information about the dangerous storm that was passing by.  A tornado was sited south of us, but did not get to our area.  We just had strong winds and rain.  Finally the storm passed and we moved on.
     We got to our intended campground and found that it is located across the street from a NASCAR raceway and today was a race.  As we left the freeway we could see hundreds of RV's in the racetrack area.  A sign told us that the campground was full.  We pulled in anyway so that we could turn around and decide where we would go.  We stopped in the office "just in case" and it was our luck that there was one site open.  It is a nice, long site with lots of green grass - about 100 yds from I80.  Pretty noisy, but its hot out and we have the air on.  While standing around getting set up Rick complained about how much the rig sways when it is so windy.  We got our third discovery when Rick got a hint from one of the other RVers about having some rear stabilizers installed.  We are going to look into it when we get home as a a sway in strong wind is one of the few things that we don't like about this new RV arrangement.
   A final personal and vastly interesting discovery:  We have traveled from Iowa, to Nashville, Tupelo, Jackson and Memphis.   These are all sites that had Civil War battles.  I wondered if my great, great grandfather, Joseph Shepperle who was in the Civil War had fought in any of these places.  I was astounded to learn when I looked up a history of Joseph's Minnesota regiment, I found that I had inadvertently been following the path of the regiment as it fought in the Civil War.  I know that Joseph was invalided out of the war before the end so he may not have been in all of these places, but it seems a unique coincidence that we have been traveling in those footsteps.
   We are happy to see that the storms have passed through this area and we don't need to worry about running to the shelter tonight.  Sad to see the pictures of the damage done to North Minneapolis.  Time to head for home.
   

A day with Mark Twain

     We woke up today to bright sunshine and a campground FULL of people.  There are many more tents here than we have seen in a commercial campground in a long time.  I was happy for them that the weather has cleared up.  The clearer weather also meant that I had access to the Internet through the campground satellite connection.  It is SOOOO slow.  It barely works at all but at least I can read my email.
    Mark Twain's boyhood home is here in Hannibal.  It is pretty much what the entire town is all about.  We started at the Mark Twain Museum.  It is full of hands-on exhibits including a raft to sit on and watch clips from Tom Sawyer films.  The best part of the museum was a collection of Norman Rockwell paintings illustrating scenes from Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.  We learned that name Mark Twain comes from Samuel Clemens' time as a young man on the Mississippi.  Boatmen used a rope with knots tied every 6 feet to mark a fathom of depth.  Two marks on the rope were called out to the helmsman as "Mark, twain" which meant that the river was 12 feet deep.  This was a safe depth for the shallow draft riverboats.  Therefore, Mark Twain meant safe passage.

     A few blocks down the street from the museum is the Interpretive Center, Samuel Clemens boyhood home and many of the buildings featured in Mark Twain's novels: the Becky Thatcher house, the white picket fence, the Huckleberry Finn house, Grant's Drug store and J. M. Clemens Justice of the Peace Office.  It was interesting to learn which members of the community became characters in the novels.
     Hannibal has a pretty downtown with lots of gardens and great old buildings.  I found a quilt store just across the street from the Mark Twain exhibit and spent some time looking around a really nice shop.  Rick enjoyed watching the world go by while sitting on the bench outside.
     The Mississippi is not at flood stage any longer in Hannibal so we went down to watch the boats go by.  A Riverboat named the Mark Twain has afternoon cruises.  It was such a beautiful day that we decided to go out on the river for an hour on the Riverboat.  It was a delightful afternoon to cruise along the river near Hannibal and hear more of the history of the area.  We spent some time cruising slowly alongside a Jackson Island across from Hannibal.   It is featured in several of Twain's novels.  It was easy to imagine that we were kids having a great adventure on the island.
    We drove away from downtown looking for a grocery store.  There were lots of empty buildings and almost no one shopping anywhere.  As I stood in line to buy groceries the major topic of discussion was food stamps, unemployment and supported housing.  I think that the little touristy section of downtown is the primary economic support to the community.  Hopefully things will improve.
    Despite predictions that this was going to be a rainy afternoon, the weather stayed sunny and warm.  We had a wonderful late afternoon sitting on our chairs out on the grass and enjoying the breeze.  I can hardly believe that our trip is almost over. Rick grilled some burgers to honor our last day of sightseeing.  We will be home in a day and a half.

Hannibal, Missouri

      Here we are in a campground near downtown Hannibal and watching it rain.  It is Friday evening.  Initially the campground was nearly empty, but folks keep driving in for a fun weekend with the kids.  This place has swings and playground equipment as well as access to Mark Twain's cave.  A good place for kids.  BUT it is pouring!  The rain stops for a little while and then starts again even harder.
    We watched a family put up a large tent while their daughter rode around on her bike.  Seemed like they were going pretty slow considering that there was only a short time between downpours.  Finally it was up and then they started trying to cook dinner without a rain fly.  I am not sure why they didn't pitch the tent next to the gigantic picnic shelter across the road.  A little further down the road a family with 3 kids have set up their tent trailer - I remember the days of being cooped up for a weekend in a tent camper with bored kids.  Actually those were really the good old days.  We had so much fun traveling with the boys.
     This campground has satellite Internet.  When it was pouring earlier there was no connection.  Now I have had one for a little bit.  I am so accustomed to being able to look things up it drives me crazy.  I forgot to get the info on the Mark Twain sites around town and I will have to rely on printed materials found in town.  So archaic.  It will have to do unless the rain stops for a bit.
     According to the news the world will end tomorrow.  Hmm.  We certainly have been having a good time  the past couple weeks.  I guess if tomorrow is the end we will go out doing something we love.  Just wish the guy who couldn't put up his tent hadn't tried to light a fire with wet wood so I will have to spend my last few hours in this world coughing.
   The news also questioned why gas prices go up fast and down slow.  I wonder the same thing.  However, we have been very grateful that we only paid over $4 once on this trip.  Mostly the prices have been just fine and the MPH on the camper continues to improve.  The manual says not to even start tracking it until after 1000 miles.  Ricky had to start at day one, of course.  
     Our new camper has an automatic awning.  We just press a button and it goes out or comes back in.  We use it so much more now that we don't have to spend 10 minutes fiddling with it.  In a rain like this it is very handy.  We can have the door and side window wide open without the rain coming it.  Since it is 75 and humid it feels good to have the fresh air.  It is also very helpful to have a little porch so that when we come in and out the door it doesn't get so wet inside.  The best part is that we will be able to close it up again before we go to bed and won't have to step a foot outside if it is still raining.  I love the new camper.

National Quilt Museum

     The National Quilt Museum is in the historic district of downtown Paducah.  It is a modern building with beautiful stained glass windows which are designed in familiar quilt patterns.  The sign on the entryway says “Honoring Today’s Quilter.”  About 150 quilts at a time are showcased in the exhibit.  Many of the quilts on display are from contest winners who agree to donate the quilt if they take contest money.  This provides the museum with an new, high quality additions to the collection each year which means that the collection continues to reflect current quilting trends.  There were some really spectacular quilts – both machine quilted and hand quilted.  Wow!

     In addition to the basic collection there were two special exhibits.  The first was a set of quilts produced by 10 leading quilt artists.  Each quilter produced two quilts which were supposed to complement each other.  I was disappointed in these quilts as they seemed to be mostly interesting fabric that was hand painted or computer created/printed and then quilted.  Very little piecing in these quilts.  They were more quilted paintings than quilts.   They did show some different aspects of quilting, however.  But not my cup of tea.

     The second special exhibit was more interesting to both Rick and I.  The theme was a quilt pattern called “orange peel.”  Each quilt used the traditional pattern in a new format.  Lots of creativity.  In addition to the new quilts there was a large selection of antique quilts – mostly from the 19^th century – which used orange fabric.  I found it so interesting to see how the quilt makers of the past used the bright orange color in their quilts.  In some cases it was clear that the quilt maker had run out of some of the fabric and substituted similar colors in the final squares – even modern quilters run into this problem.

     After leaving the museum we walked to the levee along the Ohio/Illinois rivers.  The miles of levees could have really impacted the view, but the town painted murals of scenes from the history of the town on the levee walls.  It was really attractive.  We were able to go past the levee onto the riverwalk.  One of the town’s residents told us that the water had gone down only a week earlier so that the gates in the levee wall could be opened.  We enjoyed the view of all the tugboats and barges on the confluence of the Ohio and Illinois rivers.  The commercial traffic had been shut down for several days.

      The town was founded in 1827 by William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition.  The downtown area was full of 19^th century architecture and nice tree lined streets with pretty parks and alley ways full of flowers.  We stopped for lunch in a cozy little downtown café and watched the world walk by.  Then we went back to the RV for some maintenance work and cleaning up as we get down to our last couple stops on this trip. Paducah was an out of the way stop for us, but well worth it.

Paducah, Kentucky

     We are back in Kentucky on our way home.  This town is the home of the National Quilt Museum which is why this stop is on our itinerary. We will head there tomorrow.  Today we crossed the Mississippi River, again.  I didn't know when I planned this trip a couple months ago that we would be having a record breaking flood.  I have lost count of how many times we have crossed the river, but each time I am just amazed at the power of the water and the enormous area that it covers.  All the rivers that run into the Mississippi are backed up into surrounding fields and towns as well.  In many areas we have seen both flood damage and tornado damage.  FEMA must have its hands full.
    Our campground tonight is next to a car auction lot.  We have seen some antique RV's in this area, including many in used RV lots.  I think that some of them are older than the ones we saw in the Elkhart RV history museum.  I'm sure that not having salt on the roads helps to preserve the chassis.
   We got to this campground by mid afternoon and had some time to set our chairs out on the gravel lawn and watch cars go by.  Not my favorite campground, but the folks are nice, the spots are level and the laundry room was empty.
    We decided to head out for dinner and used Google Maps to find a nearby restaurant.  For $20 we had two draft beers, a chicken barbecue dinner with rolls, beans, potato salad and coleslaw and a half rack of ribs with the same sides.  Not quite the great atmosphere as B.B. Kings, but a great meal.  Rick is off for his nightly walk to wake him up after a big meal and a beer.  Blogging wakes me up.
    Traveling is good for us.  Rick got over his pneumonia very quickly.  My knee has only required daily exercises and an occasional Aleve.  After one or two nights in our new bed we have both been sleeping very well.  I turn on the white noise machine to block out trains, planes and early RV travelers.  With a bed in the back of the RV and a little curtain between the "bedroom" and the "living room" Rick can stay up late reading and I can get up early.  We don't bother each other with our different schedules.  Many of the smaller RVs had a couch that folded into a bed.  This would not have worked for us.  We are happy with our choice.  I love my new Winnie.