Lake Wylie, Sc to St. Augustine, FL then HOME

Leaving Lauren in Lake Wylie Mon. am was a wrench as we won't see her again until Thanksgiving! But it was time to move on. Driving I-77 from Lake Wylie to Columbia, then I-26 to I-95 and south into Florida was challenging due to very heavy traffic-especially on I-95 (and I should expect something else? It is always busy. Got to Jacksonville just about at rush hour, but other than having to stop just a couple of minutes while police hauled a vehicle with a crumpled fender out of our lane, we got through the city with no problems. When we arrived in St. Augustine we decided to splurge on a really nice KOA Kampground that we had stayed in a few years ago. We eventually found it-our GPS had us turning left when we should have been turning right-and got set up in no time. We had passed through numerous brief showers on the way south, but the sun was bright when it was time to park the camper for our last night out. After checking the refrigerator and cupboard we decided to use an Outback gift card that we had hoarded the entire trip. Dinner was REALLY good and the Happy Hour Two-for's were not half bad. The dessert sampler that we shared was so decadent and scrumptious and we enjoyed every morsel. Having been in St. Augustine numerous times before, and being very tired we elected not to do any sight seeing after dinner-just crashed! The previous week from Thurs. thru Sun. noon we had been accomplishing Lauren's "daddy-do" list. Hank repaired a pressure washer that wouldn't work; put together a tool storage cabinet for Tom; installed a ceiling light and fan in their guest room; installed a can light in the Master shower; installed TV cable in both of the spare rooms, laid new flooring in both upstairs bathrooms, and took out a single sink vanity and installed two new vanities with all the attending plumbing-with shelving between-which he had to build; and rehung the mirror over the vanities. Lauren had Fri. as a vacation day so she worked along with us. I painted her front door which involved two primer coats and two finish coats-anyone need a door painted? Am getting rather good at painting doors...

Sunday afternoon, Hank and Lauren went Whitewater Rafting on the US National Whitewater Training Facility in Charlotte, NC. I elected not to participate as I was a bit chicken once I saw the rapids that they were going to traverse, but someone had to be the photographer-I appointed me! It was a gorgeous, but hot, day so when they got soaked I guess it must have felt good. Watching their boat maneuver through the rapids made me glad I'd made the choice I had! Neither Hank no Lauren were ejected from the raft, but Hank said he caught Lauren by the foot to hold her in the raft during one lively exchange in a rapid. After an hour of pounding they emerged looking a bit worse for wear. See photo!

We left S. Augustine yesterday morning and braved I-95 once more until we got to FL rte 40 and drove through the Ocala National Forest until we got to I-75. Due to a tropical depression out in the Gulf we experienced some strong winds on the highway especially south of Tampa.

Hank had to work hard at steering to keep the camper in his own lane, but we arrived home safely mid-afternoon. (Seeing the piles of mail on the dining room table made us want to leave again!) More than three hours later we had the camper emptied off our stuff-now we just have to do some serious cleaning before we put it in storage until the next adventure. And we've had such a good time these past eight weeks that when time and budget allow there will be more Tin Tent Travels...

Reflecting on the past weeks experience - it has all been good! Seeing the whitest beaches ever along the Emerald Coast of FL, touring the USS Alabama, volunteering for Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, seeing the Alamo site, walking along the Riverwalk, seeing W. Texas, exploring the Carlsbad Caverns, Hank being able to make a left turn in Albuquerque, (old family humor) riding along a piece of Rte 66, experiencing Oak Creek Canyon (even though it scared me senseless) and Sedona, The Grand Canyon, Williams, AZ, driving through Las Vegas at 110 degrees, changing time zones 3 times in less than an hour in Nevada, Arizona and Utah (?) traveling via the Great Basin, observing snow on the peaks around Salt Lake City in early July, seeing and experiencing the Great Salt Lake and even wading in it, exploring Antelope Island and Temple Square, being able to attend a rehearsal of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, spending 3 days exploring Yellowstone and seeing all the wildlife running free even on the roads, the Grand Tetons, walking the wooden boardwalk sidewalks in Jackson Hole, WY, Cody, WY and having dinner in the Irma Hotel and exploring in the Buffalo Bill Museum, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, The Needles Highway, Custer State Park and the Black Hills area, Mitchell, SD and the Corn Palace, even the cornfields of Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, then visiting my sister, Lucille, and her family in Holland, MI, friends in Ohio, then moving on to Niagara Falls, then into VT to visit Mother and sister, Marje and family, accomplishing some good things there, moving on the NH to see Karen and the grandsons and attending Andrew's soccer game, visiting with and catching up with good friends, enjoying an evening with Hank's brothers and their wives, touring Gettysburg once again, working on Lauren's "daddy-do" list, Hank's and Lauren's rafting experience, and getting home safely after eight fun weeks on the road! It was all good!!! We're still speaking and now we're thinking about the next Tin Tent Travels...

Gettysburg, PA to Hillsville, VA then Lake Wylie, SC

Just a bit of nonsense while camped in Gettysburg!

Photo below taken at a fruit stand in MD where we've frequently stopped!

Leaving Gettysburg always makes me sad, but we were heading toward SC where we'd get to see Lauren, Tom & Charley (their dog!) Since Lauren was working anyhow during the day we'd make it a two day journey from Gettysburg to Lake Wylie. Driving down I-81 from Winchester, VA to I-77 just South of Pulaski, VA was a bit of a challenge due to extremely heavy traffic and lots of construction, but we did it safely and eventually ended up in a Passport America Camping Resort in Hillsville, VA. We had a campsite in the trees and it was delightful-once we found the bug spray. There were some over-zealous mosquitoes who were intent on having me for dinner. but I was just as intent that they weren't going to dine on me! We had had a shower during the night and our folding chairs had to be stowed soaking wet-part of the charm of camping.

We left Hillsville, VA to once again hit the road-this time it was I-77 up and over a beautiful stretch of highway near Fancy Gap, NC with huge vistas across the numerous valleys once we headed back down the other side. Unfortunately, it was impossible to see those vistas due to thick fog. As we headed South closer to Charlotte we drove out of the fog and drizzly weather into sunshine and extreme heat and humidity. Lauren had found us a possible campsite in a SC county park on Lake Wylie-first come first served. When we got there they had room for us and it's a great place with full hook-ups-even WI-FI-for $10/night for senior citizens-sometimes it pays to be over a "certain" age. At any rate we'll remain here until next Mon. when will head towards home. While here we'll spend lots of time with Lauren and Hank accomplishing his "daddy-do" list. Might even do some white water rafting and its so hot it will be very enjoyable.

Am pleased to report that the bumper problem on the camper apparently has been solved as the bikes and spare tire seem to be riding comfortably. Thanks to our son-in-law, Tim & his brother Chris, the bumper has been welded back and appears to be much stronger than it was originally. The bikes suffered no permanent damage, but we did have to replace a couple of tires.

Gettysburg Battlefield

Am not sure what it is about Gettysburg that so intrigues me, but there is something. Discovered that since we had been here the last time that the old visitors center is gone and there is a new one in an entirely new location. We decided to purchase the self-guided CD to tour the Battlefield and go at our own pace. It was rainy and dreary-how fitting for a place that prompts thoughts about all that went on during those 3 days in July of 1863-but as the day wore on the rain ceased and we had occasional peeks from the sun. In order to read all the plaques and monuments placed around the battlefield it would take a week or more-there appear to be thousands of monuments alone! By 1:30 PM we were only half-way through the tour and hunger dictated that we return to the camper (in the Artillery Ridge Campground not far from Little Round Top) and get ourselves some lunch. Later in the afternoon we returned to our tour and drove slowly through the rest of the battlefield without stopping to read every monument along the way. We did have to stop at Devil's Den and explore the strange outcropping of boulders and take in the view of Little Round Top across the small valley.

Upon completing our tour we walked along the streets lined with souvenir shops-all pretty much the same-but did manage to find a couple of absolutely perfect Christmas gifts for those who will remain nameless!

Newport, NH to Gettysburg, PA

After making some successful attempts to see family and friends that matter in NH & VT we packed up this morning and headed south. We left Crows Nest Campground at 8:15 am and arrived here in Gettysburg at about 6:30 PM having only made brief stops for gas, lunch and at Cabella's in Hamburg, PA which has become a tradition if we are on I-78! And, of course we had to drive right by the exit for Cabella's and we both needed to stretch a bit. Went through numerous showers and one thunderstorm getting here today. After our near disasters with the bikes, we had Tim, our son-in-law, weld some steel plates to the bumper and the bikes and spare tire are riding confidently on the back of the camper once again. We plan to tour the Gettysburg Battlefield tomorrow, and when we get tired of touring we'll get back on the road. Am planning to take lots of Gettysburg photos...

Sun. 7/18-Mon 7/26 -Niagara NY to Vt & NH

More than a week has gone by and there's been no blogging from this source.. 1. Had no Internet connection. 2. We were visiting my mother, sister, Marj and hubby, Jim. Then it was decided that we'd get Mother's house cleaned out-sort through saleable items and get ready for a yard sale for Sat. 7/24 . Karen and the grandsons assisted -the guys cleaned out the attic and the cellar while I cleaned out 6 closets, the entire kitchen and 2 bedrooms, and Karen assisted with pricing all the stuff we figured might go in a yard sale. In the middle of the week we drove to NH for a break and stayed a couple of nights in the Crow's Nest CG in Newport. Drove back to VT (55 miles) on Fri. where we stayed in our camper in Mother's driveway. The sale went on Sat. with no advertising except signs out beside the road and we were relatively busy. At the end of the day a customer gave us her card and told us that if we had things which we wanted to dispose of that she'd come with a truck and haul away whatever we couldn't sell. She would then include our items in a large yard sale next month which would benefit a children's organization. So we packed the remains in boxes and my sister will call this lady to come collect the boxes. I spent yesterday cleaning Mother's house so it could be shown for sale as soon as practicable. Hank spent the day dealing with leftovers in the garage and repairing two garage door openers at my sister's-two totally different problems. We spent evenings with family of one sort of another for the past week. Tonight it is just the two of us back at the Crow's Nest Campground in Newport, NH where we'll camp until we leave NH for parts south. (Though we started this journey more than 6 weeks ago with no real plan, we've agreed on a plan for the remainder of the travels...More on that to come...) We'll be visiting Karen and family and old friends this week-having dinner with some of them at favorite haunts, etc. Apologies that this has been rather hum-drum, but can't make everything exciting! Not even any photos to demonstrate our week's work. Will try to do better with the next post...

Photos from Niagra Falls

Here are just a sampling of the photos we got at Niagra Falls! Crowds were such that it wasn't easy to get the shots we wanted, but such is life! It was a gorgeous evening when we were there-it was Sat. 7/17/10-and we enjoyed walking along the paths on the American side of the falls1

New Carlisle, OH to Niagra Falls, NY

After receiving routing recommendations from the Leonards we began the daylong journey from southwest Ohio to northwest NY travelling through more cornfields, and eventually into wine country in northwest PA and NY. Arrived in Buffalo late in the afternoon and when we got to the tollbooth to cross the Niagra River to Grande Island where we had reservations we found ourselves in a 6 lane traffic jam and at nearly a standstill-a good thing as the people in their vehicles on either side of us wanted to tell us about our bicycles and spare tire which were apparently about ready to come off the back bumper of the camper! Traffic was such that we just had to trust that these items would remain attached until we could get across that bridge and find a place to stop and make whatever repairs might be indicated. Once onto the bridge the 1st sign we see is: "Rough Road" -exactly what we weren't hoping for! But we edged our way off the bridge and onto the shoulder of the road. When Hank went to examine our latest "issue" he found he needed my assistance. Along our whole journey that day we had experienced some rather rough patches of road and the bumper took all that it could then started to split away from the frame of the camper-just enough to make the bikes bounce! So....we took the bikes off the bumper and put them inside the camper-hoping that we could get to our campground without destroying the inside of the camper. The spare tire went in the back of the car and we were on our short way to the campground! (We'll deal with the tired bumper on the camper when we get to NH. The bikes will have to ride in the car with us and the spare tire-after the front wheels are removed. ) We set up and got some dinner, then drove into Niagra Falls. Many years ago I had seen the Falls from the Canadian side, but I don't remember ever seeing them from the American side-it was about time I did! It was a delightful evening and we wandered along the paths with 40 kabillion other tourists-most of them from foreign lands was my assumption after hearing many languages! Took lots of photos of various aspects of the falls while we waited for darkness so we could see the lighting effects. Since we had been there an observation deck was constructed near the Maid of the Mist docks and fighting with those 40 kabillion visitors for a place by the railing was a challenge that neither of us felt up to-so we gave it up as a lost cause! Our photos taken when the lights were on the falls are a dissapointment, but at least we saw them!

At Bob & Betty's in New Carlisle, OH

Left: Lunch break (& swim) during

canoe trip down the Mad River in Ohio.

Center: Betty & Bob's Gardens Right: Busy Hummingbirds at B&B's deck

Leaving Michigan was a bit of a challenge as we had some difficulty finding a road that was well-marked on my map, but the road signs were somewhat lacking. After going nearly all the way to Grand Rapids (which is North) and we wanted to go Southeast I found an alternate route which took us through some very lovely scenic Michigan countryside! Eventually we came to our Interstate 75 which would take us to Troy, OH and our exit to get us to Bob & Betty's. Arriving at their home in New Carlisle (after missing the sign for their road and having to do a bit of back-tracking) late in the afternoon , it was great to sit on their deck and enjoy the shade. They had been experiencing heat and humidity the likes of what we see in FL. Long story: Bob's son-in-law had given him a Fishing trip on Lake Erie for Father's Day and between them the caught a boatload of Walleye. Betty frys a mean fish and dinner was that fried fish which was really really good! Their daughter and son-in-law live next door and joined us for the meal. We had met them when they visit in FL and enjoy their company! Bob had prepared a place to set up our camper in their side yard and we continued to enjoy our own "space" in our tin tent. The next day the six of us spent a delightful day canoeing on the Mad River not far from their home. The water was moving swiftly enough to make the paddle interesting without having to work very hard, and there was enough shade so we didn't get fried! We had taken a non-picnic lunch with us (Hank doesn't like picnics!) but we enjoyed eating in the great outdoors! That evening after dinner we enjoyed some games of Cribbage and Quiddler. The next morning after a blueberry pancake breakfast at Bob & Betty's daughter's we were on the road once again.

Photos from Holland, MI

Left photo: Pier and lighthouse at Grand Haven, MI

Middle: Holland Tunnel Park exit onto Lake Michigan

Right: Martha and sister Lucille enjoying the gorgeous summer day at Tunnel Park

Holland, Michigan (3 days there...)

We spent three days with Lucille and Stewart in Holland, MI while spending the three nights in our lil' tin tent. We didn't want to make work so we slept and had breakfast in our traveling home before joining family. Had a good time catching up with them and their children and grandchildren. We met my niece, Piper's husband, Ray and had a great time getting to know him. Piper and Ray have three cats and two dogs -( And Ray has two nearly grown children from a previous marriage.) The three cats and two dogs are an interesting mix-remind me to tell you all about them at some point! We drove to Grand Haven where Piper works and explored the channel from Lake Michigan into GH. After a great lunch in an outdoor patio restaurant along the channel we explored the pier and light house at Grand Haven Point. When we got back to Holland we were invited to have dinner at Piper and Ray's-so we got to play with the animals and we also shared some of the photos taken on this journey And Ray showed us photos of a mission trip to Guatamala that he took with a church group and his son and daughter. Lucille took me to her therapy pool to soak in very warm water, and then to the Holland Farmer's market which is great. Stewart took Hank to see the Corvair he's restoring, then we all went to Tunnel Park and hiked up the dune after experiencing the tunnel. Hank and Stewart went to Beer Church with Ray and some of his cronies. All in all a good time was had by all. But guests get tiresome after awhile, so we figured it was time to move along. Next stop is at Bob and Betty Leonards in New Carlisle, OH.

Sawyer, MI to Holland, MI

Having slept many hours and rested well we were ready to resume our journey to Holland, MI where we'll see Lucille (my sister). Didn't see anyhing photo-worthy along the 75 miles to Holland and accomplished the trip quickly. Now we're in a very nice campground which will be our base for the next couple of days while we visit family. There probably won't be any blogs until we resume travelling....

The Corn Palace, etc.

We had elected to stay in Mitchell, SD so that we could see the Corn Palace that we had heard so much about. It certainly is like nothing we'd ever seen before. We watched the video explaining how it came to be and saw photos through the years as it has evolved. What a clever way to entice folks into visiting your community! Then it was back "on the road again" heading from there into Iowa-lots more cornfields-and more cornfields in various stages of maturity. We crossed the muddy Mississippi at Rock Island and then headed toward Chicago-figuring that on a Sunday the traffic wouldn't be too awful. Except for a few macho (or at least they thought they were) young men on motorcycles doing wheelies down the highway at over 70 miles an hour and NO helmets-guess they think they are invincible! Didn't see any crashes, but maybe that's because my eyes were closed. Then it was on into Indiana for just a few minutes before we hit the Michigan state line where we stopped to locate a campground as we were exhausted!
The only thing unusual that we saw along the way today was another huge wind farm with hundreds of gigantic windmills-not quite sure what they were gathering energy for, but they were all turning so obviously there was something...

Mt. Rushmore, The Badlands, & Mitchell, SD

Hurrah! Have a connection, so will try to get caught up!
I think it was day before yesterday when we left the Mt. Rushmore area and drove toward the Badlands. (Have been on the road a month and still enjoying sunny weather.) As we left I-90 and headed down Rte. 44 the landscape began to change and we were into the Grasslands-lots of cattle-and horses. And gradually the landscape began to change to some pretty foreign (to our eyes) land and rock formations. Eventually we passed through the official entrance to Badlands Nat'l Park (once again thanks for our Senior Pass) and the landscape really got bizarre. We stopped to explore the strange looking scenery. ( Hope I will be able to attach photos! ) We walked across the pathway of packed limestone-was hard as pavement, then climbed up onto some of the protrusions and the view through a break in the rocks was beyond description. I don't have the words to describe it. Hank says it sort of looks like a giant had been building sand castles! A bit farther on we stopped again to walk on a wooden boardwalk out into the formations a bit. It was a bit disconcerting to see a sign along that boardwalk that read " Beware of Snakes" showing a curled up rattler...Fortunately for both me and the snakes they didn't show themselves and any self-respecting snake would have been far away from all the spectators that day! Knowing we still had some mileage to put on we headed for Mitchell, SD where we'd spend the night in a gravel parking lot with an electric and water hook-up which euphemistically called itself a campground.
Have not been successful with photos, sorry!

Mt. Rushmore, The Needles Hwy & Crazy Horse

From the moment in school that I learned about Mt. Rushmore I have wanted to see it in person and today I experienced it first-hand. The ride up to Mt. Rushmore is quite impressive with all those black hills and unique rock formations. (Hank was incensed that we had to pay to park the car-thought our Sr. Pass for National Parks should have covered it. ) In any case as we were walking up to the Visitors, Center, etc. there were those huge granite sculptures with the morning sun on the president's faces. It's so impressive! If I gush too much so be it! We rented those audio wands which explain much about Mt. Rushmore as we made our way around the Park. We even got to see a mtn. goat along the trail, but if the truth be known, I suspect that goat is either well trained or somehow tethered to the rocks. We spent probably two hours at the site and enjoyed every minute of it. I had hoped that we'd make it back to see the lighting ceremony in the evening, but we just ran out of time.

After leaving Mt. Rushmore we drove to the nearby town of Keystone where we found some lunch and then began the slow but scenic drive through numerous tunnels carved out of the rock on the sides of the mtns-some of which are one way only-into Custer State Park. Only had to give the right-of-way to one buffalo-see his photo! Then we drove onto the Needles Hwy-incredible scenery and rock formations. We stopped numerous times to get photos of the Cathedral Spires and others. With our new camera Hank made a few stops to get photos of thistles, clover, etc. Also made a stop at Sylvan Lake as the scene was just so idyllic. When we got back out to the main highway it was into the evening, but because of where it is in the time zone it doesn't get dark until after 9 Pm in the summer so we decided to go see Crazy Horse! What an undertaking by basically one family-very impressive. We sure won't live to see that project done, and it's hard to imagine that our children will! We saw the film about the sculptor and his dream and the dream of his Indian friend for a statue to honor the red men. There was some Lakota Indian dancing going on on the viewing patio and was watched for awhile, but as the sun got lower it began to get chilly, so we called it a day. We were told that there would be a laser light show at 9:30 PM, but we'd had a full day and decided not to stick around for it.

Buffalo, WY to Custer & Mt.Rushmore

Here is Sat. 7/10/10 and I haven't had internet capability since Buffalo, WY and I hope I can remember all that we've seen in those 4 days! Now, let me see...

Leaving our pleasant stay at the Indian Campground in Buffalo we got on I-90 and quickly made our way to Newcastle where we got off "the beaten path" and took US 16 SE to Newcastle driving through ranching and mining country. Went past a very large coal mining operation and a very long rain filled with cars of coal. And we also saw a few oil drilling rigs. We saw cowboys on horses rounding up some cattle including lots of little calves. We saw some small groups of antelope . At one point Hank made a gasp and when I asked what was the matter he pointed to the side of the road and a beautiful deer was right beside the road. From that point on we saw many deer beside the road-tried to get photos, but the car was moving too fast-fortunately the deer weren't! By mid-afternoon we were heading into high country once again past Jewel Cave Nat'l Monument and on into the town of Custer. At the campground the night before the attendant had recommended that if we were going to Mt. Rushmore area that we'd enjoy the Rafter J Bar Campground near Hill City, so we pressed on to find it and it was great-except their Internet was down-didn't know when it would be fixed! After getting settled in and set up we drove the 11 miles back into Custer to explore and to replenish the refrigerator which was becoming bare. Custer is very much a tourist town-T-shirts beyond description and every kind of western nick-knack imaginable-all of which we left in the shops. Bought some ground buffalo for burgers and some other necessities and it was back to the Tin Tent for the evening.

Photos at the top are of the painted buffalos on the streets of Custer and evidence of a large forest fire on the hills to the west of Custer.

Cody to Buffalo, WY

Awoke this morning to clouds, drizzle and a chilly wind. We had planned to spend an hour or so in the Buffalo Bill Historical Center-which is actually 5 museums in one, but once we got in we realized that we'd need a bit more time to see even a portion of it! We first went through the Buffalo Bill and American West exhibit-you could spend a whole day in there! Then we went into the Plains Indian Peoples exhibit-well done as well. Then Hank had to go into the Firearms museum-huge display of weaponry. There is even a Sturm-Ruger exhibit and a picture of Bill Ruger, Sr. Then we explored the Nature of Yellowstone-a wonderful place for children-and adults. By now it was after noon and we needed to get on the road if we were to go anywhere today. Our next "planned" attraction is Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse and we knew it was more mileage that we wanted to attempt in one day and as we had already spent the morning in the museum so the afternoon would be spent making our way to Buffalo, WY. Once out of Cody there were miles and miles of nothing but open rolling hills covered with sagebrush, a few horses here and there, a few buttes and mesas reminding us of western Texas. At one point a deer with a nice rack almost ran in front of the car, but changed its mind just before jumping into the road-he was so beautiful. We had to descend into the Tensleep Canyon-no idea how far we descended, but it was a long,long way then we had to climb out of that canyon and make our way up to Powder Pass at 9666" in elevation. Going into the canyon we were in sunshine, but as we rose up to the pass the clouds thickened and we experienced drizzle and the temp. dropped to 40 degrees at the top. Going down the other side it was incredibly foggy in places. Saw 5 or 6 more deer on the side of the road and fortunately none of them wanted to get to the other side of the road. We made our way down to Buffalo, WY which is at 4500' and found a campground where we are settled in for the evening. There is a heated pool and kids were having a great time, but with temperatures in the low 60's it wasn't very tempting to us. Tomorrow we will push on to Mt. Rushmore, but as it's only about 200 miles it will be another easy day distance wise!

Idaho-Yellowstone to Cody, WY

Waking up again to temperatures in the low 40's we knew tha it was time to leave for someplace warmer! And Hank says that the girls around here wear too many clothes. In order to get to

Cody, WY where our next reservation awaited us we had to go through Yellowstone one more time. Driving along the Madison River I searched for the trumpeter swan that I had seen on the

two previous days to no avail-guess it was too chilly. But just a bit farther along the road we saw 5 elk grazing not far from the road. Shortly thereafter we saw many Canadian Geese and the most exciting of all, we saw a bald eagle in a tree across the river and too far to get a photo, but we knew that we had seen that majestic creature! Because we had been caught in the traffic tie up in a large construction area on the Norris loop the day before, we decided to take the route past Old Faithful and the southern loop to the East Entrance of the Park and our route to Cody. We drove past all the geo-thermal features that we'd seen two days ago, but Old Faithful was too much to drive past. By the time we got into the parking lot an eruption was just finishing up, but at least we were able to stretch our legs a bit. We then traveled up through Craig's Pass-8200' in elevation then down to Yellowstone Lake (man is that HUGE?) and on to the Fishing Bridge (which one cannot fish from any longer) and then headed for the East Entrance. That required us to travel up to the Sylvan Pass more than 9000' in elevation. There was snow all along the road once we got nearly to the top. I've included a photo of the snow on 7/6! On the way down the other side we came upon a motorcycle accident and that beautiful touring bike was bashed up against a stone retaining wall-all beat up. There were Park Rangers dealing with the accident and we just kept driving. I've also attached a photo of Hank leaving the Park!

The drive from Yellowstone to Cody was very scenic along the Buffalo Bill Cody Byway-there's a photo from that at the top. As we approached Cody we came upon a huge hydro-electric dam-once was an engineering marvel, but has now been surpassed by higher dams. When we got into Cody we found that our KOA Kampground was out to the East of the town, but located it with little problem. Got settled then went back into town to explore and get our bearings. After getting some groceries, and purchasing a new camera (mine had finally died!) we checked out some of what Cody has to offer. Hank had been hankering (no pun intended) for a western steak and if Cody couldn't provide it no place could. We decided to have dinner in the Irma Hotel Restaurant built by Buffalo Bill Cody in 1902. Restaurant looked very busy, but we were soon seated! Service was good-food was excellent and so was the service. Lots of individuals in western dress-some obviously "wanna-Bee's" some locals. After dinner we had to walk off the huge meal and shops and souvenir vendors were active. There was a gunfight skit being played out in the street to the entertainment of many! Cody is famous as a rodeo town and one takes place every Mon. throughout the summer. However, it was very chilly and damp and the old folks decided we just wanted to go back to the Tin Tent and crash. Tomorrow before we leave Cody, we'll check out the Buffalo Bill Museum.

Independance Day in Yellowstone

Very chilly beginning to the holiday, but sunny and bright! Driving along the Madison River our swan was floating majestically along beside us. There were probably that same small herd of elk farther along where we had seen them the day before. Today we were going to do most of the northern and eastern sections of the Grand Loop. At Madison Jct. we turned north so we could view the Norris geyser basin. We spent more than an hour walking along the boardwalk seeing Steamboat Springs and many of the thermal features around that area-very impressive. One feature was about a 6 ft hole with bubbling and gurgling acid mud which looked like hot chocolate! At some of the features the odor of sulfur was very strong....Moving on we drove north to Mammoth Hot Springs-HUGE-beautiful formations and Hank was excited to learn that the process going on in this spring is how travertine tile is actually made. Had to explore the village of Mammoth, but it was incredibly crowded-did we expect otherwise? Finally found a parking place after much sputtering and annoyance from my intrepid driver and we walked around the village. There was a placid (acting at least) bison right in the middle of the village grazing away on the lush green grass across from the Country store. He didn't seem at all bothered by the crowds of gawkers! Moving on we drove across the top section of roadway in the Park-some breathtaking scenery-hills, valleys, canyons, hairpin turns along the narrow and winding road to Mt. Washburn. As we climbed to Dunraven Pass-8600+there was much snow still on the sides of the road-on the 4th of July! We stopped at one of the lookout spots nearly at the top of the pass and it was windy and chilly, but the scenery was awesome! Driving on we came to Canyon Village-crowded but not crazy like Mammoth-stopped for a cup of coffee. By this time we were getting a mite saturated with the whole experience and we did not take the time to walk to see the Canyon of Yellowstone-I bought a Yellowstone DVD which shows the falls in all their beauty. Being late in the day, we decided to head back toward Norris which would then take us back to Madison and eventually the Western entrance so we could crash in the tin tent. Along the way in the middle of a huge construction site some overanxious driver ran into a bridge abutment and tied up both north and south lanes of traffic for more than an hour! It was an opportunity to meet some of our fellow travelers as they walked by the line of cars to find out why the holdup. A wrecker finally arrived, dispatched the somewhat bent vehicle, and slowly -due to the hundreds of backed up vehicles we were able to make our way back to our " home on the road". A very different July 4th for us - but one we'll long remember.

Having problems including photos-you'll have to wait to see others in person!

Yellowstone & the Grand Tetons

Woke up Saturday, 7/3 to a very chilly camper-temperatures outside were in the mid-40's and we had not set the heat to come on. We should have remembered that we were at an elevation of 6500+ and that it would get cold-much colder than we'd expected! Eventually we were headed for the West entrance of Yellowstone. For those of you who aren't aware of this fact-if you are over 62 you can purchase a Senior Pass for $10.00-which will give us lifetime access to any National Park-there are advantages to getting old. We had purchased our Pass while at Carlsbad Caverns and when we got in line at the West Entrance we were waved right by-that we found to be quite nice. Our first sighting in the Park was of a Trumpeter Swan on the Madison River. A bit farther along cars were stopping to view the Elk grazing by the river. Heading toward Old Faithful, we stopped at most of the geo-thermal viewpoints-the mud pots, the fumaroles, the geysers, etc. Arriving at Old Faithful, it was lunchtime and we had taken sandwiches, etc. as these places gouge for food, and it is not very good. Just as we were finishing our non-picnic, we saw over a rise in the hill the end of Old Faithful's almost hourly erruption. So we headed out the boardwalk to view some of the other examples of the subterranean activity. Just as we got in front of it, the Bee Hive Geyser went off - a fairly un-
predictable geyser and we were just lucky to be there at the right time. After that Hank decided that we needed to view the next erruption of OF from the hillside observation spot- a 1/2 mile up the mountain-we got up there and had to wait for 15-20 min. for it to blow-was worth the walk and the wait!! After that we headed toward the South Entrance of the Park taking us over Craig's Pass-some 8200 in elevation-then down very quickly. Before us was the huge Yellowstone Lake-quite a site. Leaving that Park we headed down John D. Rockefella Parkway which took us down into the Grand Tetons-the mtns. to our west-most over 10,000 ft, high and still most of the peaks covered in snow! Jackson Lake also beautiful-saw elk and bison in various places along the road. Arriving in Jackson we decided it was time for a break and we explore the very touristy/ski village. Lots of fun places to explore...Time was getting on and we still had nearly 100 miles to get back home to our tin tent in Idaho! We left Jackson heading West and up and over Teton Pass-10k high-and I just love heights-NOT! Safely down the other side we drove back north and got to the tin tent just about sunset! It had been chilly most all day with temps not getting above the low 60's-. Photos will have to wait until tomorrow!

Salt Lake City to Island Park Idaho

On the road again heading north from Salt Lake via I-15 to Idaho Falls, ID where we stopped for a bit of grocery shopping and lunch in the camper. Fri. before a long holiday weekend brings out the worst in some drivers and we encountered many of them while trying to get out of the parking lot of a Wal Mart! Nearly 10 minutes went by with Hank getting more and more livid that there was not a courteous driver in the lot! Eventually we got on our road-US rte 20 which would take us NE to just outside Island Park, ID where we had reservations for three nights. Arrived there, checked in, set up, and immediately got frustrated because once more I had no Internet capability-even though I had paid $1.00 per day for each day we'd camped there! The folks in the office said we could bring our computer into the laundry and work there-RIGHT! Instead, we drove into the town of West Yellowstone, MT which is just a few hundred feet from Yellowstone National Park. W. Yellowstone is quite the tourist town-lots of fun places to explore. We walked past restaurants which seemed to specialize in Pizza and it smelled so good we just had to go in and have some! It was excellent pizza-and I didn't have to cook or clean up! Since we were going to have a long day on Sat. we crashed early.
As I'm playing catch up on 7/5 for what happened on 7/1 this becomes a bit of a challenge when I don't make notes. Apparently I didn't take photos that day, 'cause I can't find any!

In and around Salt Lake City

Thursday 6/30 dawned sunny, windy and hot-high 90's. Hank decided that it was time to have our trusty vehicle serviced and checked over and the staff at the KOA there were very helpful and suggested a reputable GMC dealer and arrangements were made quickly to take the car there (with good directions!) While he did that, I took care of a laundry for a week! Before I had finished, Hank was back-dealer had brought him back to the campground and we were told we would receive a phone call when it was ready. We still hadn't received the call in a couple of hours so we took the free shuttle (provided by LDS) to Temple Square. Our driver seemed to be very knowledgeable-gave us a great deal of info. on SL and Temple Square. Then we were met by two delightful young ladies (doing their 18 month mission duty) one from the South of France and one from Mexico. They gave us a tour of the Tabernacle, grounds, the North Visitor Ctr. and the South Visitor Ctr. all the while politely trying to convert us. All the while we were being toured I kept thinking "this is BIG business". They also showed us the Center devoted to families-didn't have time to see the museum or the genealogy building because Hank got the call that the car was ready and they'd send a courtesy car for us. The girls told us that the Morman Tabernacle Choir would be rehersing at 8PM that evening and the public is invited. So off we went to the GMC dealer to pick up the car. There was nothing wrong the car, but it did need an oil change and items checked over. Once that bill was settled we found our way back to the KOA got some dinner and headed back to Temple Square - this time on our own steam. The Utah capitol bldg. was right on our route so we drove there 1st and at least got a couple of photos. Then we headed to the LDS Conference Ctr. where we were told we could watch the orchestra reherse before the choir came in. Someone misunderstood and the public is not invited to the orchestra rehersal and we had an hour to kill. We wandered around Temple Sq. then wandered some of the surrounding streets. For a large bustling city, there was surprisingly little to do or see at 7PM. We finally found a souvenir shop where we killed a few minutes chatting with the proprietors who were helpful in giving us suggestions of how to use up more time before we could get in to hear the choir. We went into the Joseph Smith building and took the elevator to the top floor where there are observation windows on the east and west sides of the building-quite a view from there. Eventually it was time to head back to the Conf. Ctr. and there were already a great number of people waiting to get in. At last the doors opened and we were ushered into a huge performance hall which seats 21,000 people and it is constructed in such a manner that microphones aren't needed-except when they are recording. The orchestra was accompanying the choir in America the Beautiful as we sat down. Eventually, the conductor turned to the people in attendance and explained that they were preparing for their patriotic program which would be broadcast Sun. 7/4 . I had goose bumps just being in the presence of the Morman Tabernacle Choir, and even though it was a rehersal and the conductor kept stopping and starting, it was still quite wonderful! They sang 76 Trombones, I Pledge Allegiance, and God Bless America which made the tears fall! It was an incredible 1.5 hours and we were both so glad we'd gone in to listen. When we came out onto the street the sun had just set and the sky was gorgeous! Got a little misplaced on our way back to the KOA, but only a couple of streets out of our way. Now to see if we can share some photos of the day...

Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake

We were told that the best place to experience the Great Salt Lake was to drive north to a 7.5 mile causeway which would take us to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. Antelope Island is a Utah State Park. Driving across the Causeway our 1st observation was that the air coming into the car didn't smell very good. Not sure if that's how a "dead" inland sea should smell or if the aroma was caused by the great number of sea birds living along the causeway. Once on the island we drove to the Visitors Center to learn what we could about the place. ( The island is about 15 miles long and there are a couple of mountains on the island over 5,ooo feet high. The Great Salt Lake is fed by 4 rivers and there is no outlet so evaporation leaves large concentrations of minerals-especially salt-5X that in our oceans! The island is NOT developed at all-there is a defunct ranch at the SE end of the island which represented 135 years of western ranching history. On the island are mule deer, big horn sheep, pronghorn antelope, coyotes, and over 500 bison.) As we were walking to the visitors center we were bombarded with "no see-ems" which were awfully pesky-they were even annoying Hank! On the way back to the car the wind kept some at bay, but not all. We drove along Bridger Bay to the Buffalo Grill where we enjoyed buffalo burgers for lunch. Then we walked down along Bridger Bay and waded in the lake-water was chilly so wading was all we did! Cleaned our feet and got back in the car to explore the rest of the island. Drove up to Buffalo Point Outlook and on the way back down spied a bison beside the road-of course we stopped for a photo. Then we drove along the eastern shore of the island to the old defunct sheep ranch. We walked through a small museum of farm implements, a sheep sheering barn, past a coral with about 20 horses, then toured the oldest Anglo built house in Utah-the ranch house on this ranch. Along the road back to the causeway we saw more bison, but none of the other animals purported to live on the island. We were there during mid-day when it was hot, but it was cloudy and showery off and on so we thought we might see some at least-only a few bison.

Now back in the camper the wind is so strong that the camper is shaking! Hank is napping-err I mean watching the evening news. We heard that the oil has hit Biloxi-they don't need that while they are still trying to recover from Katrina! Now to see if I can attach some photos of today's adventure... The photos of Hank and I are wading in Bridger Bay, and the other photo (trust me on this one!) is the south end of a northbound bison. This was pretty exciting as this is the 1st bison we'd ever seen in "the wild" and that bison couldn't have care less that we wanted a good view so we could get a photo! He ignored us and other cars also stopping for photos. I thought that these creatures traveled in herds, but the 4 or 5 that we saw were by themselves with no other bison is sight. The island is covered with low grasses, lots of sagebrush and other low growing weeds, but few trees. The mountains look rocky with no evidence of trees.

Cedar City, UT to Salt Lake City

We are so confused as to what time it is! AZ doesn't use Daylight Savings Time, so while they are on Mtn. Time it is 1 hour earlier in AZ. Then when you go into NV you're on Pacific Time, then back into AZ then into UT where they are on Mtn. Daylight Saving Time and we've change our clocks and watches so many time we're afraid of wearing them out!

But I digress...Today we drove North on I-15 through the Great Basin from south western Utah to Salt Lake City. Saw so many changes in topography-mtns. changed color as the miles progressed. In the 1st hour on the road we saw a tumbleweed blow across the road in front of us, we saw prairie dogs beside the highway, and snow on the peaks to the East-incredible! Am not sure what I expected to see along the way into Salt Lake City, but it sure isn't as I had imagined it! Huge mountians just to the east, flat as far as the eye could see to the west, and snow on the peaks to the North! Amazing! Presently we're getting ready to endure a thunder storm and the camper is shaking in the wind! We're in a huge KOA Resort just north of downton SLC -expect to stay here for a couple of days to explore the area. Am going to try to include photos I took from the car today...

Photos AZ to Utah

Williams, AZ to Cedar City, Utah

We re just south of Cedar City,UT and it is HOT-HOT-HOT-drove much of the day with temps. ranging from 83 (lowest) to 110 degrees while we drove through Los Vegas. We left Williams, AZ and drove west on I-40 into Nevada. Had wanted to see Hoover Dam, but construction near the dam prevented any vehicles hauling trailers from taking that route so we had to go farther west, then north in Nevada on US 95 into Vegas. We had climbed many steep grades, and the vehicle, while working ok, was complaining-so we found a shopping plaza(what else?) in Henderson and had our lunch in the camper then went into a Wal Mart for a few necessary items while we gave the car a rest. An hour later on the road again heading NE on I-15-the most fantastic scenery-then into the NW corner of AZ again before heading into Utah! We came upon a sign that indicated there were 7% grades ahead and we weren't sure if it was up or down but we were hoping for down. However, ahead of us were some pretty imposing mountains, but when we got there it was down for 11 miles-the most incredible scenery-will include some photos if I can. Today we've seen mountains of almost every color you can imagine-red, gray, green, brown, sand colored and where we are now is Red Ledge Campground.

Apologies-wi-fi problems

We spent the last 3 days in Sedona, AZ-absolutely breathtaking scenery! The campground where we were staying-only one in Sedona-was having wi-fi problems-and they told us daily that a repair person was going to attempt to fix it-never got fixed before we left this morning. We are now in the Canyon Campground 50 miles south of the Grand Canyon and plan to spend tomorrow exploring the South Rim. Am not going to try to get caught up until we have a better wi-fi connection. We couldn't get on the net inside the camper so came down near the office. We're sitting in the shade and it is actually chilly-and it's difficult to see. So I wouldn't forget everything, I wrote up some notes in Word and will try to copy and paste, but we'll see how successful I am at that. Yesterday, Hank did a great video with his camera, and in the process of importing it into the PC I lost it-felt terrible. I may locate it, but doubt it.

Carlsbad to Albuquerque

Left our campsite South of Carlsbad and drove about 10 miles North of the city and visited the Living Desert which is for beginners like us a great education about desert wildlife and vegetation. Went through a zoo of desert birds including the owls you see in one of the photos I'll attach, a Javelina (wild pig), a bear, wolves, elk, bison, deer, prairie dogs, snakes, and others along with nature walks with the vegetation-mostly cacti-labeled-then there was a whole building devoted to succulents of the world-some beautiful cacti,etc. We have a multitude of photos to show those who might have an interest. In all we spent about 2 hours seeing all the exhibits-mostly outdoors and by 11 am it was getting hot so we decided to get on the road in the air conditioned car and headed North for Roswell, NM. The only aliens we saw were inflatable ones on used car lots-we passed up a variety of UFO museums. Had a slight mishap with a low canopy over a gas bar and it broke the cover over the camper refrigerator-but the gas attendant told us about an RV repair shop a couple of miles away and we got a new cover and Hank installed it in just a few minutes. From there we headed West up into the high desert-past and through some incredibly high mountains-I always pictured NM as being very flat. Beautiful, but barren lands-not many towns-and eventually we came upon the Valley of Fire-5 miles or so of black rock outcroppings in every direction as far as we could see which we stopped to examine. The rocks beside the road looked very porous-have to Google that and see what I can learn! Eventually we made our way to I-25 about 80 mi. South of Albuquerque-made it to the city just in time for rush hour, but made our turn onto I-40 West with no trouble. We had found The Enchanted Trails Campground in our Passport America directory and had no trouble locating the campground itself. It turns out that this campground was originally Hill Top Trading Post on Route 66! Hank has always wanted to drive on what's left of rte 66-tonight he got his wish. We drove the 15 miles to the Route 66 Casino so we could have dinner in their buffet. Casino didn't interest us at all-too smokey and too noisy-but the buffet was inexpensive and very good!

Now settling in for the night we've enjoyed a beautiful desert sunset. Heading West into Arizona tomorrow. Apologies-for whatever reason am unable to attach photos tonight.

Carlsbad Caverns, NM

We spent the majority of the day driving to and enjoying Carlsbad Caverns which is about 30 mi. SW of the city of Carlsbad-then up a narrow winding 7 mile road up into the Guadalupe Mtns. Much to Hank's frustration they were paving that road and we had to wait about 15 min. in a line of cars, buses and large RV's to go up the mountain. The entrance to the caverns is in a small valley in the midst of the mountains. The top left photo shows the huge dark gaping entrance and to get down into the caverns-nearly 1,000 ft deep we walked down paved walkways which were incredibly steep. The right photo shows some of the rock just as we entered that huge gaping hole in the ground. We were warned that it was a very strenuous walk and that there is an elevator which would take us down into the caverns in a minute and that anyone with heart problems, leg problems, etc. should do that. Every evening at dusk millions of bats fly out of the mouth of the cave and I guess it must be quite a spectacle. (There is seating just above the opening where we could have gone to watch the exodus, but we were just too tired to make the trip back up there tonight.) I have a serious problem with heights and was a bit nervous at the beginning of the descent. However, once we got past the light from the opening, the lighting was kept "cave-like" and if I couldn't see a huge drop off the side of the walkway it was fine with me. Prior to our entering the cave we had rented audio gadgets which gave us commentary at various points-50 of them-along the way-so our tour was self-guided. We met a lady going about our speed who was by herself and asked if she could walk with us-she is from Port St Lucie, FL and her husband was meeting her at the bottom of the descent. Had a good time sharing experiences along the way. We saw all kinds of stalagmites and tites, and flowstone, and drapery, and soda straw formations-and water pools so clear it was unbelievable. Most of the formations were made 200 million years ago, but in some areas some of the formations are being added to as water seeps through rock and down through the layers of whatever is in its path mixes with minerals which give the formations some color. Eventually we made it down to what is called the "Big Room"-takes and hour and a half to walk all the way around it-incredible sights. There is even a snack bar, restrooms and gift shop outside the big room-750' below the surface of the ground! We had some nourishment then did the walk around the perimeter of the room-more incredible formations. And this room is 100' high in places! Very hard to be able to describe it! The temperature in the caverns remains at 56 degrees year 'round and we had been warned to bring sweater or jacket and glad we did. When we finally came up -via the elevator-out of the caverns the outside temperature was nearly 100 with a hot wind blowing. Of course we had to explore to bookstore and gift shop and purchased a DVD so any of our readers will be able to get an idea of what we experienced!

Eventually made our way back to our campground just south of Carlsbad City-fixed some supper then did a week's worth of wash. We live such an exciting life, right? Not quite sure from where the next piece of the blog will be sent from as we're not sure exactly where we're headed tomorrow!

San Antonio, TX to Carlsbad, NM

Left photo shows nothing-that's what we saw nearly all day.

Center " shows part of a wind mill farm-take my word for it!

Right shows an operating drilling oil well along the highway

Leaving San Antonio at 8:15am on a Sunday was a good decision as we encountered little traffic as we made our way West on I-10. Am at a loss for words to describe the vastness, emptiness, and strange land formations we saw along the 473 miles we traveled today. And no towns for more than 50 miles at times. We were trying to gage when to purchase gasoline-at one point we got off the highway-drove a mile into a town which advertised gas (on the highway) but when we got to the town, it was almost a ghost town-there was no gas. And it was about 30 miles from the next town-which we hoped had gas! Got back on the highway-made it to Sonora-on fumes only-where everyone within 50 miles was waiting to fill up at $2.99 per gallon! As we had seen many what we believed to be oil drilling operations we wondered why we were paying more in Texas for gas than anywhere else? (Also saw many wind farms with hundreds of wind turbines.) Back on the highway with a full tank was a very good feeling and at Ft. Stockton, TX we left the Interstate to take US rte 285 through more desolate countryside and very sad towns-like Pecos-on into New Mexico to Carlsbad where we had to change to Mountain time-now we're 2 hours behind you! ( Have to keep that in mind if I make any phone calls to any of you! ) Found a campground from our Passport Directory and 2 minutes after we got the camper set up with electricity, water, etc. we got hit with a thunderstorm which gave us small hail beating on the roof, but the worst part of that was that it took out the electricity-no A/C-and the temp. had been 101 degrees before the storm and the camper was HOT! Hank talked with the maint. person at the campground and we were told the power would not be restored for 2-3 hours! So when the storm abated a bit we got back in the car and decided to see what the city of Carlsbad had to offer. On first look not much as it looks pretty dreary in the rain-the streets were flooded in some intersections and there doesn't seem to be any mechanism to deal with the water-no culverts or whatever. Thought we might find a place to have some dinner, but the only thing open was Chilli's and the line was long. So we rode around for a while and finally came back to the camper where Hank made us Western Omeletes (sp?) which were great! And to our great delight the power was on and we have A/C! Hank said I should explain that tho we are camping we are not sitting around a campfire toasting marshmallows! We have cable TV, a supply of beer and wine and evenings are pleasant-indoors!

El Mercado & Natural Bridge Caverns

We began our adventures today by finding our way to El Mercado-otherwise known as Market Square. We had envisioned a lot of outdoor stalls, but the majority of it was in two huge old warehouse buildings on the westside of SA. There was supposed to be a Farmer's Market, but that must be other than on Saturday, 'cause we sure didn't find anything that you might find at a Faarmer's Market! What we did find were shop after shop selling Mexican souvenirs (much of it made in China!) lots of it nothing we either wanted or needed, but just to help the local economy we did pick up a couple of gifts for some folks who will remain un-named! My favorite item was a Mexican Santa for my collection-complete with beard and sombrero. Crossing the street there were outdoor stalls selling fajitas, etc. and musicians playing pan flutes, etc. After listening to a pan flutist for awhile we decided to move on to our next adventure. No photos of El Mercado because the photographer was too busy looking at all the colorful stuff that we didn't need!

The next adventure involved driving north of San Antonio for about 30 miles in order to visit the Natural Bridge Caverns which we had seen billboards and other ads for and decided we'd give it a try-having no real idea of what we might be seeing. When we got there and purchased the tickets we were told that our tour would begin in an hour and 10 minutes and we could pass the time in their convenient gift shop which was also full of a lot of stuff we neither wanted or needed. After what seemed an interminable wait our tour-along with at least 35 other folks-was called. Our guide, Trevor, (probably a college student majoring in geology) took us down 180' into the caverns. The temperature outside was in the high 90's-the temperature in the caverns was 70 degrees with 99 % humidity-so the passageways and stairs and ramps were wet and slippery, but after a while we were relatively comfortable in the dim lighting and damp surroundings. Also had to get used to frequent wet droplets on our head, etc. and I wondered if the minerals in the water would give me streaky hair, but no-didn't happen. The caverns with their incredible formations were beautiful and strange while Trevor explained how the cavern formations were "actively" growing about an inch every hundred years. In Texas there is a statute prohibiting any guests in the caverns touching any of the formations due to oils on our hands, etc. This particular set of caverns was only made accessible to the public in the mid-60's-however it's existence was known about since the early 1900's. The caverns showed evidence of having had bat residents at one time, but for whatever reason, bats don't live there any longer. In all we were down in the caverns about 75 minutes and were sorry when the tour ended. The photos are of various parts of the tour.

Exploring San Antionio

Day 9 got a late start as we had projects around the Tin Tent, and the campground staff asked us to move to another site as they were going to be paving the street we were on. That means disconnecting water, sewer, electricity and cable-hitching the Envoy to the Tin Tent-moving it about 40 feet onto another street and hooking everything up again! We left the awning up and did it ever look strange! Then when we finally headed into San Antonio we had to find a Walmart and we had good directions from the campground staff. When we got off the highway we were trapped in a road const. project-30 min. later we were freed up and found the store for provisions and a light bulb for a a tail light on the camper. Then we had to find a bike shop as we had had a crisis of sorts on our way into Mississippi last week. We were on a very-very-very bumpy bridge and the rubber strap holding the bikes on the bike rack on the back of the camper broke-the bikes were pushed back and down onto the highway-a passing motorist indicated we had a problem and that was what we found when we got stopped. It ruined a tire on each bike, tore the cover on my bike seat and we thought one of the wheels was damaged-thus the search for the bike shop! After much frustration we found one-thanks to our GPS! The proprietor said he thought the wheel was not beyond salvaging and he thinks he fixed it-won't know until Hank replaces the tubes and tires and tries to blow up the tire. Once that was dealt with, we found our parking garage and proceeded to do the tourist thing. The Alamo is certainly worth a visit-we enjoyed touring it and listening to one of the volunteers explain the siege of the Alamo! Learned so much more than from history books-'course I was raised in VT-what do they care about Texas? By then the temp. was hovering around 95 degrees in the bright sun so we headed down onto the Riverwalk-much cooler. We walked the whole circuit of the 2.5 mi. walkway, stopped for some late lunch, explored La Villita-an artsy/craftsy area with lots of shops-much Mexican influence. The middle photo shows me enjoying my pecan pie with ice cream! The top photo is of the 750' Tower of the Americas at the Hemisfair Park-apparently in 1968 a World's Fair took place here and this park is what remains. For a less than nominal fee we could take a ride up an exterior elevator to the observation deck which was enclosed-thank goodness! I almost didn't go up, but I probably won't get here again so I had to do it. I was at the back of the elevator and didn't look down while it was going up! It was an incredible view of San Antonio and once up there was glad I did it! We went back down into Riverwalk and made our way back to the parking garage, drove back to our home on the road, and dinner in the Tin Tent awaits-perhaps after a cooling swim in the pool!

Beaumont to San Antonio

Today we traveled I-10 west from Beaumont to San Antonio about 310 miles through bayou country, then through some incredibly flat land as far as the eye coulld see in any direction, then into the rolling hills of central southern Texas. Had to go through the middle of Houston-huge and spread out for miles. This photo was taken-again through the vehicle window) of the skyline of the city as we drove through. As we headed out of Houston we started to see signs (as intriguing as South of the Border signs!) for Buc-ees with a picture of a beaver-telling us we had to stop and try Buc-ee Nuggets, and Buc-ee Jerky, etc. When we finally came to Buc-ees it was a large truck stop /tourist trap with every kind of Texas souvenir you could imagine-as well as fast food, snacks, clothing and some unusual (??) gift ideas. And yes, of course, we went in to check it out. Hank found some Texas beer he felt was calling his name so we had to have a 6-pack.

Arrived at Braunig Lake RV Resort about 10 miles SE of San Antonio around 3 PM and when we got set up decided that we'd take a trip into the city to get the lay of the land. We easily found the Alamo, but were unable to fully explore as the doors were being locked just as we walked up. So we went down on the Riverwalk-ever so much larger and more to explore than I had envisioned. Bev, you would love this place!!! After walking around for an hour or so we decided to go into one of the Mexican cafes along the river and have a light supper. Lauren, you would have liked the Mariachi Band-they were actually good! When we came out of the cafe, the Riverwalk was mobbed with folks out to enjoy the evening and as we were tired decided to return to the Tin Tent, get a good night's sleep and tackle this tourist thing again tomorrow. Hank wants to take a boatride along the Riverwalk, and I want to take a Trolley ride around the city, and we have to explore the Alamo. The photo at the top is the Alamo-much smaller than we had pictured.