The Trip Page One
The Middle part of the trip can be found on Page Two
The planning:
We are planning to meet Deb's mother at Tim and Marcia's old house in North Georgia about the first week in July. She will drive Jim's vehicle there and we will leave our's there at Marcia's. From there we will go to Wyoming to meet Jim for 2 weeks of siteseeing.
I have no idea where all he wants to take us, but, I'm pretty sure we will see Old Faithful.
Then we'll head for home by way of cousins along the way, if they are available.
Hopefully Kansas City for a visit with Barbara, and Roland.
Then we will pay a visit to Claudia in Oklahoma. We will go from there to Jon's in Texarkana.
We'll know more as time goes by.
May 28, 2010.
We bought Deb a new camera for the trip. it's a Canon Power shot SX 120. It's a very nice camera. It is hard to open the battery door.
July 1, 2010
We have traveled to Linda's (Deb's sisters) in Oldsmar, Fl. to drop off our Pomeranian. She will not be going with us. It's sad to have to leave her. She went all the way to New York and back with us last year. Linda has 2 dogs and Gracie will have a good time there. Tomorrow we will head home and then on Saturday on the road to North Georgia
July 2, 2010
Safe at home again for the night, then on the road again in the morning. 500 miles to N. Ga.
July 3, 2010
Middleburg to Chickamauga
We left home at 7:18. It was a good trip. Traffic was light except for going around Atlanta. For the first time in many years we took the west bypass. It was a very good choice. We got here in Chickamauga, Ga. about 3:00. It was a pretty good drive. We haven't delivered the car yet, but, as soon as Deb's mom (Bobbie) gets here we will swap stuff around and head over to Marcia's.
7:15 Pm. The car has been delivered and it's time for R&R. We ate supper at a place called "Wanda's restaurant" on Rte 27. It's a very good place to eat.
Chickamauga is a neat little town just south of Chattanooga, Tn. There is a Civil war battlefield near here, Fort Oglethorpe and a lot of history took place around here.
The Vehicle
Jim's vehicle is a Jeep Liberty diesel. We're told that it gets very good mileage for a 4 wheel drive. We'll see. It sits a lot higher than our Malibu, and a whole lot higher than the Mustang. Tomorrow I'll get a picture.
July 4, 2010
Chickamauga, Georgia to Columbia, Mo.
Well, here we are on the road again after breakfast with Tim at Huddle House.
The Jeep sure has a load with 3 people and all our stuff. The vehicle has a roof rack, but, I'm reluctant to put anything up there as it would cut down our fuel mileage.
We'd forgot about the time changes, so today we gained an hour. Traffic has been very light on Rte. 25 in Ky. About the heaviest we saw was going through St. Louis. I have seen pictures of the Arches before, but I had no idea they are so large.
The Jeep appears to be getting around 25 MPG. We made it as far as we wanted today. We had supper at the "Cracker Barrel" in Columbia, Mo. I've posted some pictures on the Misc. Page
July 5, 2010
Columbia, Mo. to Sioux City, Iowa.
We left about 8:10 Am. and drove in rain most of the morning. The rain let up so we took a little side trip to a town called Blackwater, Mo. It's a little town right out of an old western movie. It's about 3 miles off I-70 west of Columbia, Mo. I have posted pictures on Blackwater, Mo.
We also spent a couple hours at Harrison County, Iowa Welcome station and Historic Museum just outside Missouri Valley, Iowa . Wow! It was time well spent. It is part of a scenic highway system that goes through the Loess Hills. We saw all kinds of things, and got many pictures. I'll soon have them posted on here.
July 6, 2010
Sioux City, Iowa. to Wall, SD
Today we drove through the Badlands of South Dakota. Awesome!! to say the least. I put some pictures on Badlands page. I'm very tired tonight, so will do more tomorrow.
July 7, 2010
Wall, SD to Gillette, Wy.
Well, we did a lot today. We left the motel and went out to Mount Rushmore. That is a really neat place. I'll post pictures on Mount Rushmore page later tonight. Then we took a scenic drive through the Black Hills, and saw the "Crazy Horse" indian monument. It's not finished yet, (they just have the head done) and they wanted $27 to drive in, so we got a picture as we were turning around to go out. LOL! Then we took Rte 243 north through Deadwood, ND. That's where Wild Bill Hickok is buried. It's fun to see all these places, but everything is so commercialized.
Gillette, Wy. is a modern day boom town. There is coal mining, and oil wells all around there. Our motel cost twice as much as we've paid anywhere else. Everything, including our supper was very expensive. If that wasn't bad enough, there were things broken in our room. The microwave would only come on when the door was open! The furniture was broken or loose, and to top things off, there was no stopper in the bathroom sink. I was thinking highly of Super8 motels, but, that has changed.
We are very tired. We meet up with Jim tomorrow at Ranchester, Wy. and will follow him back to the campground on the other side of the BigHorn Mountains. Another 150 miles, and we get to relax for a day or so.
Don't know if we will have internet access there.
I'm very impressed with the little Jeep Liberty. We do in fact get 25-27 mpg.
July 8, 2010
Gillette, Wy. to Big Horn Valley, Wy.
We got an early start and made good time, so we met Jim west of Ranchester on Route 14. He took us some scenic places on the way to the campsite. We drove up to a place called "The Medicine Wheel". It is located between Sheridan and Lovell, Wy. on Wyoming Highway 14A. It is at an elevation of almost 10,000 ft. Rocky cliffs and fissures surround the Medicine Wheel. It is piles of rocks shaped in the design of a large 80 ft. diameter wheel, with spokes. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970. It was probably constructed between 1200 and 1700 A.D. An exact date hasn't been determined. It is about 245 ft. in circumference with a central cairn, a small donut shaped structure. From the center, 28 spokes radiate to the outer rim. Placed at varying intervals around the rim are 6 smaller cairn, five of which touch the outer rim. The 6th is located about ten feet outside the circle.
There are many legends and traditions which may explain the wheels origin. The place is a sacred place to many indian tribes. There are many sacred gifts left there by the indians, rangeing from shells, rocks, cloth, feathers to a turkeys foot. It has been visited by many people over the last few hundred years because of the well-traveled trail that parallels the current access road. It's a very inspiring place. A Google search would certainly bring up more info.
The place Jim and Brenda are camped (Big Horn Valley)is almost in a desert-like place. No trees and no grass. Lots of red rocks and sand.
Tomorrow we will move the trailer over towards Yellowstone.
July 9, 2010
Big Horn Valley to Three Mile Campground
Happy Birthday Deb. Jim and I took the trailer to Three Mile Campground about 18 miles inside the East gate. Deb, Brenda and Bobbie went on a side trip with the Jeep. Then Jim and I went inside Yellowstone to get a campsite for a few days while we see the sights. We were to meet the ladies at or around Fishing Bridge, where we got the campsight for the 3 days.
We waited and waited for them, but they never showed up. There is sporatic cellphone coverage in the park and only a few places where we have coverage. Finally we got a text message from Deb and then a phone call from Brenda. Something had gone wrong with the Jeep, but they were running now and would see us in about an hour. There was an air booster hose for the diesel that had ruptured. We got it down to the campground and put ducktape on the split. It's sitting at a Jeep dealership in Cody, Wy.
The camper is nice, and economical. The campsite at Three Mile cost $15 a night, but Jim has a Sr. pass that knocks it down to $7.50. The pass also let's us into the Park for free.
Deb went out this morning to go to the toilets and there was a big buck deer standing not a picnic tables length away from her when she went by.
July 10, 2010
Three Mile to Fishing Bridge
Today we moved the trailer into Yellowstone. Fishing Bridge (elevation 8742) is nice. It has showers ($3.50) and laundry. There is an information center/Museum, Gift Shop, Auto repair, gas station. The prices are very high. Diesel $3.29 a gallon, where we give about $2.78 anywhere else.
Jim parked the trailer and then took us for a sight seeing tour. We are seeing lots of Buffalos and an Elk. We went up to a waterfall, "Lower Canyon Falls". Then we went to the upper falls (El. 7918). It was threatening rain and we ran through some hail. It was about 1/4 in. diameter and soft mushy stuff. We've noticed that in this area probably 4 out of 5 trees have the bark rubbed off them from Deer and elk rubbing their antlers on them. The temp tonight is supposed to be 49 deg. Tomorrow we go to Old Faithful.
Please go to Page Two