Memorial Day - Dickinson, ND

We got a great night's sleep last night. I give credit to the increase in oxygen at 3,500 feet instead of at 8,000 feet. So after our good nights sleep - and being that we finally found a Cracker Barrel out here in the Northwest - we decided to take the Vue over to CB for a nice breakfast before heading further East. Peggy enjoyed her French Toast and I had my usual Double Meat Breakfast with 3 eggs, sausage, and bacon. Low in Carbs but higher in fat than I should have had - but really good!!

After breakfast we finished our preps and got underway - all the way to the local Flying J for a fill up on gas and propane. In spite of all our "goofing off" this morning we still managed to be heading east along I-94 at around 9:30 AM.

Today we drove about 250 miles more through Montana on I-94 following the Yellowstone River and then another 60 miles or so into North Dakota before stopping for the evening in Dickinson.

The countryside was absolutely beautiful along the way with rolling hills, green valleys, and a mixture of cattle ranches and wheat fields. Shortly after entering North Dakota we entered Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The park contains a 36 mile loop road that we decided to take some other day as we wanted to get to Dickinson before it got too late. We did stop at the Painted Canyon Visitor Center and take in the fantastic views of the North Dakota Badlands before moving on to Dickinson.

Montana and North Dakota are both "new" states for us while traveling in the Winne so tomorrow I may have to update our "States Visited" Map on the Blog as well as the map on the Winne.

While we were in the Visitor Center at the TR National Park - I was asked by the Ranger manning the center if I was a Veteran. I responded that I was and he immediately thanked me for my service. It felt good to be remembered for my service on this Memorial Day but I couldn't help thinking that today is really to memorialize those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Men and women have died fighting for the values of our country for centuries now and unfortunately - more will have to die in the future to keep those values in place and flourishing. It isn't easy being an American - we have to keep fighting for our unique rights and freedoms every generation. Thanks to all who have fallen - we still have that opportunity. 

We're Baack - Billings, MT

When we last left you on Thursday - we were about to enter Yellowstone National Park at the West entrance at West Yellowstone, Montana. After about a 13 mile drive to West Yellowstone we paid our $25 entrance fee and drove into the park for what would turn out to be a very interesting three days. Only two more years and I can get my “Old Geezers Pass” so we can get into the parks for free – but for now I’ll gladly pay the $25 to support maintaining these national treasures. One added attraction that Yellowstone offers is almost non-existent cell phone and wireless broadband coverage. So stand-by for one long blog entry as I try and catch up!

Since we had reservations at the Fishing Bridge Campground we had about a 60 mile drive through the park to reach the campground. The speed limit on the roads within the park is generally 45 MPH and since there was some road construction delay expected on our route - I expected about a 2 hour drive. The drive actually took about 3.5 hours due to all the animal-jams. As you might expect, an animal-jam is caused when some resident wildlife ventures nearby the road causing all us tourists to stop, gawk, and take lots of pictures. It’s all part of the Yellowstone experience (or any other park with interesting and unique wildlife). During our drive to the campground we experienced one massive animal-jam that caused about a one hour delay. When we finally got to the spot where the jam cleared - all we saw were a few massive buffalo (bison or tetonka – whatever you want to call them) near the road. I suspect one or more of these 2000 lb specimens decided to lay down on the road for awhile causing the animal-jam.

We really didn’t mind the slow drive as we were enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery as we made our way to Fishing Bridge. During our entry trip we saw several hundred buffalo (including many new calves), a couple of elk, and a few pronghorn deer.

Yellowstone has several campgrounds within the park but the campground at Fishing Bridge is the only one with full RV hookups. Well – I should say that “normally” they have full hookups – but this year they have no electricity as they are undergoing a planned upgrade. So we had water and sewer hookups and had to rely on our batteries and generator for running our electrical stuff. As ya’ll know – Peggy and I don’t normally “camp” without being plugged into “shore power” but with the installed dual deep cycle batteries, the 5500 Watt generator, and our DC to AC inverter – we should have all the backup power we need for situations like this. Clearly - we enjoy the luxuries that essentially unlimited electrical supply can bring. But “camping” in this manner does have its potential bad side. Since we don’t use these backup sources very often – we can be susceptible to finding things that don’t work at the worst possible time – when you need them! Like finding out that one of our batteries is pretty well shot and therefore we will need to get by on one -- and finding out that the fuel filter on the generator had developed a leak! So Mr. Fixit was busy isolating the bad battery and fixing the generator fuel leak. But look at the bright side – I now know that we can watch TV for a couple of hours and run the heater overnight in relatively cold weather with one fully charged battery. Barely – but it is do-able.


On Friday we took off to explore the northern loop drive. We started by experiencing some breathtaking views of Upper and Lower Falls in the “Grand Canyon of Yellowstone” area. Upper Falls offers a 109 foot drop

and Lower Falls is over 300 feet. These pictures don’t really do justice to the beauty of it all.

Then we drove over Dunraven Pass at right around 8,900 feet where I found enough snow to make a snowman for Darrell

– then we continued on to Tower Fall (132 foot waterfall) and on to Mammoth Hot Springs.

Just after Tower Fall we saw our first Yellowstone Black Bear grazing in a small meadow right next to the road. Lots of folks were pulled off the road watching the bear here so we didn’t get a chance for a picture.


After stopping at the Mammoth Hot Springs Area for some lunch we continued our loop and soon came across another Black Bear grazing away. This guy really didn’t give a hoot that 20 or 30 of us human tourists were busy taking his picture. But as with the previous spot where we saw a bear – a park ranger was right there making sure us tourists didn’t do anything stupid.

Continuing down the loop road we came across another spot where lots of folks were parked alongside the road staring into a nearby hillside – a sure sign of bear activity! Sure enough – but this time we were treated to seeing a momma Grizzly and her two cubs! Wow – this was really cool to see! This picture we got wasn’t that great – I guess I need one of those really big lenses I saw several folks using!

Our last stop before arriving back at the campground was at Sulphur Cauldron. I thought you might like to know that the boiling liquid down there has an acidic value (pH) right next to sulphuric acid.

Well Friday was a pretty full day! Lots of waterfalls and wildlife – including 5 bears – what more could you ask? How about a snowstorm that dropped about an inch or so of snow! Ah – life at 8,000 feet in the Rockies can be interesting in late May!

So we woke up Saturday morning to temps in the low 30s and fresh snow in the treetops and on the RV. What a great way to start a new day!


We took off around 11 AM and drove around part of the southern loop - around Yellowstone Lake to the Old Faithful area. We have seen this area before – but not with the lake still mostly frozen!

Of course what trip to Yellowstone National Park would be complete without a visit to Old Faithful Geyser. We arrived soon after an eruption so we had about 90 minutes to kill before the next predicted geological show at 2 PM. We had a bite of lunch at the Old Faithful Lodge and poked around the gift shops before heading over to watch the show – along with a few thousand other folks. Although there was snow in this area last night and more predicted for later in the day – it sure didn’t keep many people from coming to see the spectacle of Old Faithful! The eruption was right on time and as spectacular as ever! I’ve seen it several times before and it never ceases to amaze me when people applaud when it happens. Do you think God appreciates the recognition for such an amazing natural phenomena?

After finishing our geyser viewing at Old Faithful – we headed back towards Fishing Bridge stopping at a couple of sightseeing spots along the way. While we were at the West Thumb thermal area near Yellowstone Lake we noticed some really nasty looking clouds heading our way and before we finished our walk through the area we found ourselves in the midst of a real no-kiddin snowstorm. Well - that was just about all the outdoor viewing we needed for the day so we scurried back to the Vue and finished our drive back to the campground in a mini-blizzard.

So after another inch or so of snow last night we got in gear pretty early this morning, completed our normal morning routines, hitched up the Vue, and made our departure from Yellowstone. Although I could have done with a bit warmer temperatures – all-in-all I would say we had a fun visit. We got to see lots of wildlife and some absolutely beautiful country during a season I wouldn’t normally have planned.


We left our campsite around 9:30 AM and made it through the park exiting at the North Entrance near Mammoth Hot Springs at around 11:00 AM.

Upon leaving the park we immediately starting descending from about 7,700 feet to near 5,000 feet in only a few miles as we traveled north into Montana and then east along I-90 to Billings, MT where we are spending the night at close to 3,500 feet and not a hint of snow in the forecast. This is our first trip through Montana and so far the views along the drive have been AWESOME. Beautiful mountain valleys surrounded by majestic snow capped mountains – just like the Chamber of Commerce ordered!

Tomorrow – more heading east and our first travels in North Dakota!

Resupplied and Raining - Island Park, ID

Well the rain had to catch us sooner or later. Our travel day started out pretty decent - although overcast - as we traveled from Twin Falls to Idaho Falls where we found a Wal Mart and resupplied the Winne before continuing on up here to Island Park, ID near Yellowstone National Park. But soon after we got set up for the evening a light but steady rain started to fall.

No worries - I'll just watch my Celtics win the NBA Eastern Conference Championship by beating the Orlando Magic. Nope - not gonna happen tonite anyway. After losing all their big players to fouls and concussions - my Celtics got whupped. So I guess I'll have to wait until Friday night. Boy - it's a good thing I got that inverter working!

Tomorrow we will head into the Park, get set up at the Fishing Bridge Campground, and then see what touristy things we can manage to do. Yellowstone is truly a beautiful place so I hope the weather cooperates a little while we're here.

That's about it for today - see ya tomorrow from Fishing Bridge.

Inverters and Idaho - Twin Falls, ID

We had a peaceful drive up to Twin Falls, Idaho yesterday from Winnemucca. The drive was peaceful, and even picturesque in spots - although we took very few pictures along the way. I will post a couple shots here and you can imagine the scenery looking pretty much the same for 300 miles.

My RVing buddy Darrell will appreciate the remainder of my day. Our Winne has an inverter (device that converts battery power (12 volts DC) to regular house type power (120 volts AC)). This inverter will allow us to watch our TVs and run the associated accessories (DVD player, satellite receiver, digital TV converter) while not hooked up to "shore power" or running our generator. We seldom need or use the inverter since we are typically hooked up to shore power when we want to watch TV. Well - it seems the inverter quit working sometime awhile back and since we plan on staying in Yellowstone NP in a couple of days - without AC power - and since I may want/need to watch some TV (the Celtics are still playing in the NBA playoffs after all!) - this situation needed to be fixed! So after we got set up here in Twin Falls - we unhooked the Vue and went inverter shopping. We soon found a Harbor Freight retail store and I settled on a relatively inexpensive ($50) 750 Watt inverter to replace the existing inverter - at least temporarily. I still would like to repair the original inverter since it allowed an easy swap over from shore power to inverter power - but it may take some time to troubleshoot and repair. So after we returned from our shopping trip (and side trip to the Smokin' Cowboy BBQ joint) -- out came the old inverter - made a few modifications to the existing wiring to accept the new inverter and  - voila - it worked just like it was supposed to! I still need a couple of connectors to make the DC voltage connections more secure - but it's functional.

Today we continue heading north - through Idaho Falls, ID and towards the West Gate of Yellowstone National Park. I'm not real sure where we will spend the night. We want to pick up groceries somewhere along the way before we enter the park - probably in Idaho Falls - so we may stop there for the evening. We''ll see how the day goes along. Don't want our plans to be too rigid ya know!

As most of you know - but some may not - Peggy and I lived in Idaho Falls from early1971 to early 1974 - when I was a young sailor. Yup - you heard it right - a sailor in Idaho! I received my nuclear propulsion prototype training at the Naval Prototype Training Unit at the National Reactor Testing Station - just west of Idaho Falls - and then stayed there as a staff instructor for about 3 years. We liked living in Idaho. But then again - we were in our early 20s - what the heck did we know!!

Regardless - it will be fun to see the ol' stomping grounds again.

Climbing The Sierra Nevada - Winnemucca, NV

After spending the weekend in Sacramento visiting with Peggy's sisters and families we were back on the road today - destination east.

The first hundred or so miles east out of Sacramento are always interesting. We start off at about 50 feet above sea-level and then relatively quickly climb the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Donner Summit at about 7200 feet. As always - the Winne did a great job making the climb. If ya'll have followed my blog for awhile you may recall our drive west over this stretch last fall when we had to traverse a 4 mile length with concrete barriers on each side and only inches to spare at 50 or so miles per hour. Well guess what - we got to do it again! Whew -- one more time and no new scratches. I really dislike having to travel through that gauntlet but if ya wanna go over I-80 through the Sierra's - you really have no choice. Except for that few mile stretch - the rest of the drive was pretty nice. Even the snow we found near the summit at Donner Lake was kinda pretty.

While we were taking a break near the summit Peggy found this pinecone that she just couldn't live without. So now we have another traveling companion. Anybody got suggestions for a name?

So after clearing the Sierras we continued east about another 180 or so miles through the high desert of Nevada. No more pine trees or high mountain lakes - just lots of sage brush and a few dust devils as we made our way here to the High Desert RV Park in Winnemucca, NV.

The High Desert RV Park is a "Passport America" discount park and offers a pretty nice overnight stay if you happen to find yourself in the middle of Nevada on I-80 looking for a place to park-it for the night.

When I made our reservations at Yellowstone National Park last week I kinda forgot that this area of the country has had a pretty snowy spring. So I guess we will be seeing Yellowstone with a bit of snow on the ground. We discussed skipping this part of our planned trip east - but we decided that it would be interesting seeing the park with some snow ... so tomorrow we will be heading north to Idaho on our way to YNP.

What the heck! We survived a snowy northeast in January and a frigid southeast in February/March so what's a little more cold/snow?

Good News - Bad News - Redding, CA

Well - we made it back to Redding in time for one more post.

Yesterday Nan received her quart of new red blood cells which did wonders to perk her up! So we finished up her treatments for the week early this morning - had some really good breakfast at a local eatery here in Redding - and made the drive up to Yreka. We spent a few hours visiting - but then had to tear (use either meaning) ourselves away and head back to Redding and get ready for our trip to Sacramento tomorrow.

We received some bad news today informing us that Peggy's Aunt Jean passed away today in Sacramento. We were aware that she was in tough shape in a hospital down there and had hoped to see her this weekend ... but it was not to be. Just another reminder that life is short, precious, and fragile. Don't forget to tell everybody you love - that you love 'em - and do it often!

In spite of the bad news - we are heading for Sacramento tomorrow and look forward to some visits with Peggy's sisters and families over this weekend before starting our trip east on Monday.

While we were in Yreka I picked up the T-Shirts for the RV event of the year - "The Maine Event" to be held the last weekend in July in Freeport, Maine. I know these will be popular items for the RVing crowd to show off in the warm climes of Alabama next winter.

And then there is our "other" news. Besides spending the next few weeks driving across the US - and then trying to get ready for Stacy's wedding in July - and then actually trying to enjoy the blessed event ... I have decided to accept a recent job offer and go back to work for a few months. It seems that the DOE is actually spending some stimulus dollars in an effective manner and is moving forward with the decontamination and restoration of a site near Schenectady, NY that was used in the 50s to demonstrate the feasibility of reprocessing used nuclear fuel. Although the demonstration was successful - some of the radioactive waste that was created has never been dealt with - until now. So it looks like I will be spending most of my summer in/near the capital region of New York. I will be taking time off for the wedding and hope to also get some time off to play with my RV friends at the Maine Event. I know what ya'll are thinking - "I thought he was retired." Well I am - sorta - but it's time to replenish the RV travel and fun fund.

Besides - I think I need to work a little now and again to remind myself why I like being retired so much!

Time Is Getting Short - Redding, CA

This may be our last post from Redding since we have lots to do in the next few days before we leave so I thought I would take this opportunity to bring you all up to date.

First off - Happy Birthday Jamie!!! We here in Redding hope you had a great day!

Although Nan has been doing relatively well with her treatments  - these last few days she has been getting easily tired so when we met with one of Nan's doctors today we had her blood tested and found that she is relatively anemic. So we start tomorrow with a trip to the hospital for a couple of units of red blood cells. That ought to perk her up - it's hard to put up with all the stuff she has had to go through when you're a quart low!

Then we need to start getting some things ready to roll around here including finishing the Winne's wax job (maybe), stowing the stuff that has managed to find its way out of travel position, re-attaching the tire pressure monitors, and getting the tow bar ready.

We also need to load up some of Nans stuff to take back to Yreka. Our plan is to drive Nan back to Yreka after her treatment on Friday, spend some more time visiting with Jamie and Ernie - and then travel back here to Redding and spend Friday night here before heading to Sacramento on Saturday.

So as you can see - we've got a lot to keep us busy in the next couple of days.

We'll try for another update in Sacramento this weekend - maybe we'll get a couple minutes to breathe there - but then again ...

Walk N Roll 2010 - Redding, CA

Yesterday was another Fun-Busy day.

My Grand Nephew Derek has been undergoing physical therapy at The Rose Center here in Redding. The Rose Center is run by a fellow named Rob Rose who suffered a spinal cord injury and was left partially paralyzed. Rob has been a real inspiration to Derek in his rehabilitation. Rob and his wife Lisa also operate the Roses 4 Hope Organization that helps folks with spinal cord and other neurological conditions - offering support from people who "have been there." Yesterday the Roses 4 Hope Organization sponsored their 4th Annual "Walk N Roll" - a one mile walk/stroll/roll (in a wheelchair) event combined with a raffle of donated items to raise funds. It was a beautiful day for the event and "Team Derek" was ready for the challenge.

"Team Derek" consisted of his family, his grandparents, his nurse Lloyd, Peggy and I, and great grandma - Nan. Nan made the trip in Derek's old power wheelchair and Derek's brother Dustin made the trip in a standard wheelchair since he sprained his ankle badly at school the other day. We all had Walk N Roll T-Shirts and wore Team Derek hats created by Gma Jamie. We had a fun time and a good walk/roll with the other couple of hundred event participants.

The event also consisted of a raffle of lots of great items donated by individuals and companies sponsoring the event. Here are some quilts that were donated by my sister Marcie and her quilting friends for the event.

Each raffled item had a small bag attached where you could "bid" on an item by placing a purchased ticket into the bag - you were allowed to put in as many tickets as you wanted. After the Walk N Roll a winning ticket for each item was picked out of its bag.

Team Derek was pretty lucky yesterday. Peggy won a set of Tupperware Bowls, Derek and his dad won some time at a local shooting range, and Nan won a purse. And then there was the big prize - a power scooter donated by a local medical supply business - won by NAN! How about that ... Nan is now the proud owner of her very own sit-down power scooter. We're not sure yet what she's going to do with it - but she has one nonetheless!

I think we all had a fun day yesterday. We got some fresh air on a nice day, got entertained by a couple of gaggles of geese, helped raise some money for a great organization, and won a few goodies.

Yup - A Good Day

The "Plan" - Redding, CA

OK - Here is the basic plan.

After spending next week with Nan and helping get her to her radiation treatments - we will leave Nan in the loving and capable hands of my sisters. We plan on leaving Redding on Saturday morning the 22nd of May and head back to Sacramento where we will spend the weekend and hopefully get in some quality visits with Peggy's sisters and families. On Monday the 24th we head over the Sierra Nevada Range and into Nevada - then north into Idaho and then into Wyoming at Yellowstone National Park. I made reservations at the Fishing Bridge Campground in Yellowstone today for three nights starting the 27th of May. I was really surprised that we could get reservations there on short notice right before Memorial Day - but we did. Fishing Bridge is about the only campground inside the park that you can park a 35 foot RV. They usually have full hook ups at Fishing Bridge but they are re-doing the electrical this year so we will be roughing it with water and sewer hookups only. Looks like the genny will be getting a workout for a few days.

After spending a few days in Yellowstone we plan on heading east through Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota and then Wisconsin before heading up into the Upper Peninsula and then down into the mit of Michigan. While in Michigan we hope to visit Harrisville on the shores of Lake Huron to do some genealogical research on the Evringhams that passed through there in the late 1800s.

Then we plan on finishing our trek east by scooting across the short stretch of Canada into Western New York at Niagara Falls - and then back across I-90 into MA and finally up into Maine around the 12th of June or so. 

Not only will this route allow us to see Yellowstone National Park again - we will be able to see some states we haven't seen before in the motorhome (Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan) and will also allow us to be first time international travelers! I knew those Passports would come in handy!

So - subject to change at a moments notice - that's the plan.

Busy-Fun Day - Redding, CA

We had a busy-fun day yesterday. We started off by sleeping in a bit - took our time starting the day - and then we got busy. I was off to get a haircut and run a few chores while Peggy took care of some laundry and picked up the rig a bit. After we finished our chores and had some lunch we decided not to waste a beautiful northern California day and we drove over to the Sundial Bridge.

The Sundial Bridge is a relatively recent addition to Redding - built in 2004 it is advertised as the worlds tallest sundial as it does actually tell time. If you follow the shadow around the circular walkway on the north side of the bridge - the time of day is marked by medallions in a short circular concrete wall. We failed to get some pictures of the timepiece - maybe next time.

The area around the bridge is actually a huge park complex consisting of "Turtle Bay" (a nature preserve/park/museum), a convention center, and hundreds of acres of natural areas with walking paths throughout. Since it was a really nice day we set out for a "short" walk. Along the way we were treated to lots of wildflowers including the California State Flower - The California Golden Poppy,

some wild roses,

and lots of others that I would need Judi Curp to help me identify.

We were also treated to these two mule deer bucks also out enjoying the day.

Speaking of our "through hiking" friends the Curps - I thought of them frequently during our walk as I started to feel my muscles tighten up. I really need to do this more often or less often - one or the other! I also thought of them as we walked along the trail and wondered how long was this trail? and I wonder if it loops back to the bridge where we started? I think rule #1 for knowledgeable trail walkers is "have a clue where the trail goes!" So after we broke rule #1 and walked for several miles we (I) decided that we better head back along the path we came. As you would expect - once we returned to the bridge and found a map of the trail system we found that we were 3/4 way around a loop that would have brought us back to the bridge - but by backtracking I had made the trip significantly longer. Oh well - I needed the exercise and it was a beautiful day.

After our "walkabout" we headed over to the Hospitality House to visit with Nan and Marcie. Nan was just finishing a nap after her treatments for the day and was feeling pretty good. Considering she just finished her third day of chemotherapy this week - she looked great! So we finished our day visiting with them and having some dinner we picked up at the local deli - topped off by some more crab from Buzs Crab Shack. Buzs is quickly becoming my favorite spot here in Redding!

After dinner we got another treat when Mindy - sister Marcie's youngest daughter - showed up - having driven up again from Monterrey. Mindy will be staying for a couple of days to visit - great to see her again also.

See - I told you ... a busy-fun day!