Day 19 – Rode into Wisconsin. Found a campsite in Wisconsin Dells, an area full of rivers and natural beauty, as well as one of the tackiest tourist areas I’ve ever seen (Ripley’s Believe it or Not, magicians, amusement parks, arcades, t-shirt stores, etc). It claims to be the Waterpark Capital of the World. I took my son, Kevin, and my niece Carly to a waterpark here about 10 years ago when my sister lived in a Wisconsin. I’ll be seeing Carly tomorrow as she still lives in the area, all grown up and working as a nurse. Today, we avoided all the tourist traps and spent the afternoon biking around, although we may have wandered into a few souvenir shops 😀
Day 18 – Woke up to an overcast gloomy day. The rain started just as we drove into Minneapolis. Only one thing to do…. drop the trailer at the campground and head to the Mall of America. The place is a mall/amusement park/eatery/hotel complex/aquarium/train station with more than you could imagine. Was also a location from a favorite family film, Jingle All the Way. Took the train to Target field to watch the Twins play the A’s (our 14th ball park together). Had to wait out a FOUR HOUR rain delay and the Twins lost, but we had a great time anyway and conquered another ball park.
Day 17 – Took a rest at another tacky tourist spot in South Dakota known as Corn Palace. I actually had a refrigerator magnet that my sister brought me years ago. Now, I can actually claim to have seen the palace. Strange as it sounds, it is a tribute to corn, and also a small/medium concert venue for country western acts. Crossed the border into Minnesota, my 49th state (Number 50, Alaska, will have to wait for a future trip). The campground for the night was one of the strangest, and worst of the trip. Our tent site was right next to a fish gutting facility and the flies were terrible. Took the kayak out in the local pond and the flies came along for the ride
🙂 I discovered that flip-flops are extremely effective fly swatters.
Day 16 – Left Rapid City. Made the obligatory visit to Wall Drugs which advertises via billboards across South Dakota. There’s something for everyone including giant Jackalope rides. Stopped to enjoy the view of the badlands of South Dakota in Badlands National Park. If you enlarge the last Badlands picture, there are two big horn sheep (or mountain goats) we spotted. We settled for the night at a campground in Chamberlain, SD on the water. Took the kayak out on the Missouri River and had fun exploring down a creek until it got too swampy to move. Startled a lot of birds, frogs, fish, and a huge heron. Passed under a bridge with hundreds of tiny birds (swallows or martins?) flying in and out of their mud nests. Love all the wildlife on this trip.
Day 15 – Spent a 2nd night in Rapid City, SD so we could spend all day at the monuments and parks. Visited Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. If you enlarge the photos of Mt. Rushmore, you can see workers hanging from Jefferson’s eye and Lincoln’s nose. It’s gotta take a special person to do that job! Encountered gangs of scooter people from Sturgis everywhere we went.
Rode the loop around Custer State Park (after a slight delay because someone got their RV lodged in one of the narrow single-lane rock tunnels). The Park has everything from impressive rock formations like the Cathedral Spires to rolling plains with bison, elk, and deer. The last picture is a view of Mt. Rushmore from an overlook in Custer Park. Several of the rock tunnels were purposely built to frame Mt. Rushmore off in the distance as you passed through.
Day 14 – Left North Dakota heading south. On the way out, passed a huge colony of prairie dogs and stopped to get a picture of the North Dakota badlands (South Dakota badlands tomorrow). Made a stop in Sturgis to buy t-shirts and have a beer. It’s not exactly the real “rally week” ….. but it is Cushman scooter rally week so there are wild gangs of scooter riders all around. 🤪 At least we made it to Sturgis on a Harley. That should count for something. Evening ended with a fabulous lightning show in the South Dakota sky. (My 48th state visited).
Day 13 – Drove over 300 miles today. Longest drive yet. Most was in Montana which is mostly farms, ranches and rolling hills. In between there are large numbers of hillsides that have eroded forming bluffs.
Stopped in Forsyth, MT for a late breakfast at the Speedway Cafe (a small hole in the wall diner that looked abandoned from the outside). Encountered Bob Watts, a delightful artist who was working on a 3-D installation of a village with moving parts, cars, and trains. Imagine a scale train exhibit, but mounted as a mural on the wall. It is completely carved from 3” sheets of styrofoam and painted. He has been working on it for 6 months and estimates another 2 months. His other claim to fame is his nickname “Crowbar Man” because he sells artwork that he paints with a crowbar. This is true Americana, folks.
Made it to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. This is significant because Mark has now been to all 50 states (only #47 for me). Did a short kayaking trip up the Little Missouri River before packing it in for the night.
A few days behind. We have been off the grid for a few days as cell service was limited and slow in Yellowstone.
Day 10 – Not all days go as planned. We only needed to drive 100 miles today, but we only made it halfway before we were driving directly into a monster storm. We took refuge in the small town of Ashton, ID. First, at a local pizza parlor where the staff went beyond expectations to help two stranded, cold, wet travellers. We used a break in the rain to run down to the local public library and spent the afternoon charging devices, using the internet, and planning for the next week. Around dinner time, the clouds cleared and we were able to finish our drive into West Yellowstone in Montana (my 46th state visited). After two days of dodging rain clouds and sleeping in a wet tent, we splurged on a camping cabin at the KOA and got a good night sleep.
Day 11 – Yellowstone was amazing. 😍 If you have not yet been there, you need to put it on your bucket list. I knew about Old Faithful and expected lots of trees….. but the park is HUGE and has everything…. mountains, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, canyons, geysers, mud pots, and steam vents. The wildlife is everywhere. We saw plenty of bison (which I learned Mark is scared of), a herd of bighorn sheep, osprey, hawks and several elk (one of which decided to visit our campsite). He came within 10-15 feet of our picnic table (which I quickly evacuated and hid behind our trusty trailer). Thankfully, there was no bear encounter as we felt pretty vulnerable without a vehicle to hide inside 😀. Of course, we waited to watch Old Faithful, and then got to see Beehive Geyser erupt right afterward (which was lucky because it only erupts twice a day). There was still quite a bit of snow at the higher elevations and we spend a frosty night in our tent (we both concluded our sleeping bag is not really rated to 20 degrees as REI claimed). I apologize in advance for the number of pictures. Still, they don’t do justice to the true beauty of the park.
Day 12 – Driving out of Yellowstone is as spectacular as the park itself. After you leave the park, you immediately enter Shoshane National Park, followed by Buffalo Bill State Park and Dam (a must-see), so the scenery continues. Drove back into Montana and settled at a campground in Billings. Took the tandem out on a local municipal bike path, 10 miles out and then back. Enjoying the evening at the pool (we are back at a lower elevation and back to warmer temperatures).
Day 9 – Made it to Idaho…. first time for me. This is the 45th state in the USA that I have officially visited. Longest drive we’ve done yet, mostly due to delays while trying to avoid bands of heavy rain and hail. You meet a lot of friendly people while trapped in a rest stop during a storm. Finally got to our destination and set up camp (supposed to rain again tonight). Did a quick 18 mile ride on the tandem on an old rail trail and stopped for ice cream at a cute old-fashioned soda fountain. Idaho looks alot like upstate NY, except for those white-capped mountains in the background.
Day 8 – Crystal Hot Springs in Honeyville Utah. They have a string of pools that fill from a natural hot spring with the highest mineral content of any hot spring in the world (so they claim). Swimming time was cut short due to the first rainstorm that we’ve encountered on the trip. Luckily, our camping equipment withstood the storm and we woke up nice and dry.
