Rodeo in Cody, Wyoming

Monday was a low-key day for us. Ed wouldn't admit he was tired from the harrowing drive from Sheridan to Cody, but he slept late, took both a morning nap and an afternoon nap, then went to bed as soon as we got home from the rodeo. He's not looking forward to the even steeper climbs on our way into Yellowstone on Thursday, but the report is that there's no construction along our route.

Ed didn't care about going to the rodeo because he'd already been to one. Several friends mentioned Cody's rodeo, so I wasn't about to miss it. I appreciate Ed's indulging me. We sat in the part of the grandstand where we could see the contestants getting ready in the chutes.

When the master of ceremonies asked us to rise, I thought we were going to hear the national anthem. Instead, there was a prayer asking God to bless the the riders and livestock and to be with those who serve in the military and their families. Then several very young girls rode around the arena with American flags while a patriotic song was played.

Each rodeo contestant pays an entry fee and our tickets were $18 each. Entry fees and ticket sales must generate enough funds to pay for the prizes and to keep the rodeo going. It runs every night in June, July, and August.

Behind the scenes.

I'm sure the RVs are handy, though it might be a bit smelly.

I always thought that the broncos bucked because they were wild. I soon figured out that a strap is secured around the animal's body right behind the rider. At the very last minute, that strap is pulled tight -- which causes a lot of pressure and pain in a very sensitive area on the bronco. No wonder they buck!

Those cowboys really take a beating -- they're going to feel it in their bones when they get old! Each contestant is rated on how long he stays on and he gets more points if the animal's bucking is very dramatic. Getting the cowboy off the bronco isn't easy. One of the riders in the arena goes beside the cowboy and somehow pulls him off onto the back of his (the rider's) horse. I took lots of pictures of all the different events (riding the horses and longhorns, lassoing calves, riding for speed, and more). There were also some events with women and other events with children. It all happened so fast that the pictures just didn't capture it at all, not to mention the fact that they were blurry. In the photo above the poor rider is on the right. Notice all the Stetson hats on the guys helping at the chutes.Getting ready to rock and roll! Pull that Stetson down tight because those babies cost a pretty penny!

Using the Map

Hopefully this will help you to use the Google map. This is my first attempt at making a trip map, so please excuse my bloopers.

Rocky Mountain "Hi" = A Harrowing Highway

We are sooooo glad we stopped in Sheridan, WY last evening. The 148 mile ride today coming to Cody, WY was a hair-raising, horrific, harrowing trip. Our first climb up a Rocky Mountain was quite an introduction to what lies ahead. The road was only a 2 lane highway and there was no room to spare.

I was on the outer lane most of the way up and there was no guard rail........Mona May, you told me to buy C-bands for motion sickness -- I want to know if they make anti-fear-bands for situations like this. I don't have pictures of that because I was too busy leaning inward to help us keep from going over the side.

I was sort of calming down when we came upon a sign that said, "Pavement ends here" and it DID! That's what the
highway department must have done to make sure I was harrowed as much as possible. At the highest area the elevation was 8,300 feet above sea level. (Our home in Virginia is 1,150 feet.)

We stopped at a small Visitors' Center where we started to descend. There was a small, yet raging waterfall. We both got a bit winded coming back up the steps from the trail. Even the elevation of 6,000 feet was enough to affect our breathing (or maybe that's an excuse for being out of shape).


Pepper watched the scenery for a while from her bed on the dash.




Then she decided, "Ho, Hum, that's enough of that. It's naptime."


We're now all set in Absaroka Bay RV Park for four nights. That gives us time to explore this area, chill out some, and proceed to our reserved site in Fishing Bridge RV Park on August 20th.

Mt. Rushmore and More Tour

We arrived at the Happy Holidays RV Resort near Rapid City, South Dakota, about 6:00 p.m. on Thursday and were beat from the 98 degree weather. We were happy (Is that why it's the Happy Holidays RV Resort?) for a 50 amp hook-up so we could run both air conditioners.

I found a one day tour, which we took on Friday and it was well worth the $69 each. This was our tour bus.

The tour included breakfast (at the ungodly hour of 8:00 a.m.!), a chuck wagon dinner, a musical show and a 9 hour bus tour. Ed totally enjoyed being able to sit back and just enjoy the scenery.

Mt. Rushmore as we drew nigh.

Did you know that Teddy Roosevelt's glasses were a part of the sculpture? Look carefully.
That scaffolding on top of his head is part of the Primal Quest that is going on now. That appears to be a person coming down the ropes.

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I'd heard of Crazy Horse but had no idea what it was. Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski (who had assisted Gutzon Borglum on the Mt. Rushmore) was invited by a Lakota Indian chief to carve Crazy Horse, one their important leaders.

As we watched the documentary film about the sculpture, I found myself moved for two reasons. First, the vision and dedication that Korczak had to undertake this seemingly impossible project ("Follow your dreams.") was amazing. Secondly, the carving is a memorial to the spirit of Native Americans, who were so badly mistreated.

This project was started in 1948 and even though the sculptor died in 1982, his wife and seven of his 10 children are committed to carrying on with his work.

The face of the statute will be 87 feet high and the memorial will be 563 feet when it is finished. The focus of the work now is the horse's head, which will be 22 stories high. The finished project will be larger than Mt. Rushmore.

Why did Korczak depict Crazy Horse pointing over his horse's head?
Korczak depicted Crazy Horse with his left hand pointing in answer to the derisive question asked by a white man, "Where are your lands now?" Crazy Horse replied, "My lands are where my dead lie buried."

This is a model of the carving in the foreground.

It was a 12 hour day and I was dead tired by the time they brought us back to our campground.

Badlands and Wall Drug in SD

On Thursday, we turned off I-90 and made a 35 mile loop through the Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

Click on each photo for a larger version.The earlier settlers came upon this area and named it the Badlands because of the rock mountains. I would think many of them would have felt like turning around and going home at that point! It's hard to describe or show in pictures the vastness of these rock mountains - there are over 244,000 acres of it.

This was one hike we decided not to take! Talk about the "long and winding road"......

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We kept seeing billboards for Wall Drug and remembered it was on 60 Minutes so decided we'd make a stop there. Wall Drug was heaven for souvenir hunters -- a giant 4-block-long gift shop. It was divided into "shoplets" (small quaint shops) with leather goods, books, knives, jewelry, food, and yes, there was even a drug store section.

This machine played these instruments IF you put in a quarter.

Ed was pleased to find a money clip that is also a small knife to replace one he had lost recently. We looked at the various food places and besides being expensive, the food was very ordinary. The egg salad I had made that morning made delicious sandwiches and it was nice to get out of the 97 degree heat.

Hail......Yes!

When we entered South Dakota on Wednesday, we felt like our trip "Out West" had begun. I've never been to SD and Ed hadn't been through that part before. We stayed at our first KOA campground near Belvidere, about halfway across the state on I-90.

We could see a huge storm ahead of us and finally ran into some rain - or it ran into us. The wind blew so hard from the South that it blew water under all the windows on the driver's side of the coach. I ran and got towels to stuff in the window channels. Just as we arrived at the campground, hail the size of chickpeas started. That cooled the temperature from 98 to the 60's in a hurry.

These clouds appeared after the storm was over.

From Iowa into South Dakota

As of 8-12-09, "we've" -- meaning Ed's driven 1,532 miles. I plan to drive when the roads get straighter , flatter, and smoother. Ed's leery about me driving so we'll play it by ear. We've been warned that the roads are rough and there is lots of wind ahead of us in the great West.

We left Kansas City, Kansas (Did I mention that part of Kansas City is in Missouri?) Tuesday morning and had an uneventful trip to Onawa, Iowa. The fields are as flat and huge as I remember from our family vacation eons ago. They grow corn and soy beans. We're puzzled by the fields of soy beans -- some fields have only soy beans while others have lots of weeds and quite a few stalks of corn sticking up all over the field.

Our campground was called On-Ur-Wa RV park, which was very close to I-29. It had been there a while, judging by the large trees that were laid out in rows. The lady who checked us in is also the mayor of Onowa. We walked across the street to eat at McDonald's and had great fun reading the local paper. It made the Daily News Record back home look sophisticated!

At 11 a.m. we entered Sioux City, South Dakota. 70 miles later, we got to Sioux Falls, SD, where we got off I-29 and picked up I-90. By the way, Ed would skip Mt. Rushmore. He was there years ago and said it was no big deal. Sorry, Ed, this stop is NOT negociable! It appears that the campgrounds aren't full now so we can follow our pattern of driving until Ed gets tired. Signing off from South Dakota!

In Pursuit of HD TV

Our RV already had a Winegard satellite mounted on the roof when we bought it in February of 2008. Ed is determined to get High Definition service for his new TV (bought last winter when we had the TV box taken out so he wouldn't bump his head constantly). In Florida back in January, he had the Direct TV installers at the RV with their ladders, ready to install. After much effort, they discovered that they don't provide HD service.

At home in Singers Glen, he got DISH TV all set up in our house with HD and loved it. He was reassured by DISH that it would be a simple matter to transfer the box and service to the RV ---- RIGHT!!! After many hours and a couple of trips by a technician, it just wouldn't work.

In Kansas City, the place where we had the braking system installed on the car Monday turned out to be an authorized Winegard facility. After a call to Winegard, the guy started out with great confidence. The final check couldn't be done because there were too many trees. We went to Cabella's (like an Outdoor World store) and stayed in their parking lot. The check completed but Ed was back to square one......the satellite he needs isn't showing.

Interesting how the guy didn't return Ed's call this morning. I wonder why?

To be continued................ with a happy ending, I hope, because Ed's going to be an unhappy camper if he doesn't soon get his HD TV!

Glad to Get Some Repairs

We left Sunday afternoon and arrived at Loveall RV's place in Columbia, Missouri. They are smart to have 4 sites with hookups right outside their gate. We got set up and went to a Chinese buffet. During the night, it stormed and poured rain, which cooled the place down considerably. They fixed the water heater and fridge to run on LP, the broken catch on the closet door, added a latch to the drawer under the oven that kept flying open, hung the paper towel holder, and installed a new LP gas alarm.

We left about noon and headed for Kansas City. We ended up at an RV place in the country and they installed the system so that when Ed pushes the brakes on the RV, the brakes on the tow car are also depressed -- a . Ed asked the guys what there was to do here and they just looked at each other. The only thing they could come up with was to eat barbecue, which is what we did.

Ed has been through so many hassles to get the dome satellite going. Later today, they hope to get an answer from Winegard satellite people and get Ed's Dish network going so he can get his dearly beloved high-definition TV.

St. Louis, Missouri

We left Dayton, Ohio Friday and headed for St. Louis, Missouri. We stayed at the St. Louis RV Campground, which was right downtown. It was basically a paved parking lot but we enjoyed a good Wi-Fi connection, clean showers, and the location was great. (If the showers in a campground are "iffy", I shower in the coach but washing my hair is easier in a big shower.) Friday night we ate at Pappy's Place and had some excellent pulled pork.

On Saturday we went to the Gateway Arch. I heard Ed on the phone with Steve, his son, later saying he'd seen pictures for years and had thought it was JUST an arch......until he got there. He was awed and amazed by the immensity of it -- it's 63 stories tall -- taller than the the Statue of Liberty and the Washington Momument!

Seeing the documentary movie before we went up in the tram made it scarier. Just watching the film made me dizzy to see the men working on top of this huge structure even in the snow. They managed to get it built without any workers getting killed.



It is designed to sway up to 18 inches and withstand a hurricane but there was no wind when we were up there.

It takes about 4 minutes to get to the top and 3 to come down.

The arch cost $13 million, was started in 1963 and completed in 1965.

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Sunday we went to the botanical gardens. It was really hot -- 97 -- so we were glad to see there was a little train with a guide. This is a clock made with flowers but I think you'd need to view it from above to really see it as a clock.We did get off to view the Climatron, which had tropical plants in it. There was an orchid auction being set up in the main building and we thought of Clarence Geier.
This scupture, (maybe glass?) was hanging in the main lobby.

My best shot of the day was this ginger plant.

Our "Trip Out West" Approach

Traveling in a motorhome is a joy and a luxury, even though it does take a lot of effort at times. Some people plan out every step of the way and have reservations for each stop. We had planned to leave July 1st but postponed it a month to give time for all the little kiddies to get back to school and give us more latitude in our travels.

The only reservation we have is August 20th to stay at Fishing Bridge RV Park, which is right in Yellowstone. Besides that, we're making it up as we go. We look on the internet at campgrounds in the direction we're heading, Woodall's directory, Passport America, Big Rigs, Streets and Trips, and our Garmin GPS.

We leave when we "get around to it", drive till Ed starts getting tired, then look at options. If the closest, easiest option is a Wal-Mart parking lot, that's where we head. (Ed always asks a manager for permission. We do love Wal-Mart!) We're enjoying the freedom of an open time schedule.

Dayton, OH -- 5 nights instead of 1

We took the Krulls (my sister and family) out to eat on Monday. We stayed an extra day to meet their friends, Barry and Mona May, who are on their way back from a trip out West. They shared lots of information about things to see.

Ellen (27), Ed, Paul, Anita, April (22) and camera-resistant Duane (5) is under the table. April is attending college classes in preparation for nursing school. Ellen graduated from college and is presently working at a Tim Horton's restaurant.

Ed and Mary Angelil, Anita and Paul Krull

Barry and Mona May, Anita and Paul Krull

Wednesday morning Ed took me to Anita's house for a last visit and the plan was to leave late morning. He decided at the last minute that he'd like to find a Chevy dealer to reset our door locks.....which were locking at odd, annoying times.

He came back about noon to report that they hooked up a diagnostic machine only to discover that the locks were only one of numerous problems with the electrical panel/gauges on the dash. They had to order a part that wouldn't come in till Thursday. When Ed left the Chevy service department, his dash was in pieces all over the place. They were nice enough to give him a loaner car.

I had spent the morning with Anita and Duane, who's 5. He is quite a handful and we're all thankful that the school system recognizes that he has problems. They will be providing extra support to help him in kindergarten this fall. I have a renewed respect for my ANGELIC sister and for her dedication to keep him 3 days a week this summer. Her Master's in Early Childhood and her years of teaching kindergarten do give her some skills to try to help him.

Ed and I ate supper at the MCL restaurant where Anita works and she took her break to eat with us. She's working 4-9 this summer so she can keep Duane when April has classes.

This delay for the car repairs turned out to be a blessing because Anita and I were able to spend more time together. Today we actually had several hours by ourselves and we went out to lunch at our favorite place -- Taco Bell. (Mother, if you're reading this, please note that Ed and I didn't stay just one night -- we stayed 5 nights!)

It's now Thursday evening and we picked up the car about 5 p.m. Another blessing is that all the car repairs were covered under the warranty. Ed considered leaving this evening but decided to wait till tomorrow morning.

We'll be heading out to St. Louis, Missouri and staying in a campground right downtown. I'll wave to you from the arch!

Warning

Warning: The post for August 2nd is full of silly details......not recommended for the serious-minded reader.

Please scroll down to the August 2, 2009 post.

We're at My Sister's in Dayton, OH

We're in Dayton, Ohio visiting my sister, Anita Krull, for a few days. Her church is letting us stay in their nice, flat parking lot. We're taking Anita, her husband, Paul, her daughters, Ellen and April, and her grandson, Duane, out for supper tonight.

Tomorrow we're going to meet their long-time friends, Barry and Mona May (not kin). They are heading back from a trip out West and we're looking forward to hearing all about their trip and travel tips.

More later when I have better access to a computer.

Departure Day of Disasters

We did manage to take off on Saturday, August 1^st--barely.

On Friday, we took most everything up to the RV (the shelter is up at Mother’s, which is about an eighth of a mile away). I wanted to load the refrigerator but, due to battery problems, it hadn’t cooled down enough. So we got busy and transferred all the fridge items Saturday morning. That took considerable energy and time!

We headed back home for the rest of the computer paraphernalia and Pepper (our Cornish Rex kitty) and to make a final walk-through.

Aha! Ready to go at last . . . but as we pulled away, one of the arms of the tow bar wouldn’t lock. Ed unhooked the car and rehooked it--which is no 30-second job! In order to get the tow bars to lock, Ed had me put the car in reverse and press the gas. Hooking up on level ground is advisable--IF there is level ground available, which there wasn't!

Aha! Ready to go at last: Take 2! We were about a mile and a half away when Ed realized he’d forgotten his watches. He didn’t want to go all the way home over narrow roads for such small items and thought he’d just do without. I pointed out that my watch didn’t glow in the dark like his and that he’d be frustrated. Unhooking the car also seemed undesirable. So we stopped near McMullen’s Funeral Home and called our dear cousin, Jim Bowman, who saved the day. Ed felt silly, but we surely were glad Jim was at home. I was never so happy to see him as when he drove up with Ed's watches.

Aha! Ready to go at last: Take 3! We stopped at Southern States for diesel and as Ed got out of the RV, he realized he had no credit cards, driver’s license, or wallet. They were in the pocket of the pants he’d worn Friday evening when we’d taken Jim out to dinner (glad we did that!). Ed's pride wouldn't allow him to call Jim again, so we used my credit cards (the diesel pumps only allow $75 on each card) to refuel and prepared to unhitch the Malibu.

Ed came back into the coach as I was looking for Pepper. I walked back to the bedroom to find a BIG surprise. There, smack dab in the middle of our brand-spanking new white mattress--which was delivered on Friday--was a huge, fresh, greenish-brown you-know-what!! Ed yelled for something to get it off. I came with a spatula and rags. He paused long enough to say, “Is this the spatula we use to make omelets?” I reassured him, “It used to be!”

We managed to get the “deposit” cleaned off and it appeared there would be no stain--whew! We wanted to spray odor killer, but that was at home. Ed went home to get his wallet and the odor killer. (By the way, it wasn’t Pepper’s fault because the door under the bathroom sink where her litter box is had gotten closed…….but of ALL the possible places in the coach…..!!)

Meanwhile, I swept the carpeted areas (will vacuum later when we have full power in a campground) and had a chance to wash the tiled floors in the kitchen and bathroom. The RV had been in the shop last month and we’d made tons of trips loading it, so the floor had become despicable. When I wash tile, I wipe an area with a damp rag, then dry it with another rag. I was sweating so much that as soon as I’d wipe an area dry, sweat drops would fall and rewet the tiles. Therefore, the floor literally was cleaned by my own sweat!

When Ed reached the house, he called Jim and said, “Guess what I forgot now?” Jim said, “Oh, dear God in heaven, what?” Ed told Jim that he didn’t have the guts to ask him to make another trip for a forgotten item. Jim said he would have done it. What a guy!

Ed returned to the RV and we were ready to go at last: Take 4! We actually got on the road by 3:00 p.m. About 5 p.m., guess who got the disagreeable task of putting a nose onto the spot to see if the odor really was gone! Yep, yours truly! Luckily, the odor killer had done its job and the area just needed a bit more drying time.

Thankfully, the rest of the day went more smoothly and we ended up at a Wal-Mart in Washington, PA, after having driven exactly 300 miles. Nite, nite . . . zzzzz.

p.s. For whatever reason, I’m still laughing about, “Is this the spatula we use for omelets?”