Raton, New Mexico

We had a smooth ride today from Loveland, Colorado down I25 into Raton, New Mexico - about 254 miles from point A to B. Raton (pronounced Rat-tone) is Spanish for small mouse (?) and to get here in New Mexico about 10 miles into the state from Colorado we had to pass through Raton Pass - a tidge scary. Pretty steep up and then back down. Surprising is that the temperature is quite cooler from the mid 80's we have been experiencing to the low 60's. We are in the Culabra Range of the Rocky Mountains and as we drove down through Colorado Springs we saw Pike's Peak to our right. It was much more snow covered than the national park's mountains we just experienced. A funny thing happened on the way down - Chip kept screaming at us - and I kept yelling at him to lay down, shut up. It wasn't until about an hour into the trip when I realized I had not turned on the a/c for him - I guess it was getting stuffy in the back seat. As soon as I did that, he quieted down and went to sleep. He is much better than a few weeks ago but we will have to watch him closely for the rest of his life. Fortunately we found a human food that he gets daily that helps his digestion (a spoon full of Gerber's squash baby food!).

Another neat fact is that we are following the Santa Fe pioneer trail, the one and the same we learned about in Casper, WY. Tomorrow we travel on to Santa Rosa, New Mexico, about 78 miles east of Albuquerque where we will stay for a month.

RMNP and Family Visits

We traveled back to Rocky Mountain National Park for the third time on Monday. Spent the day wandering around getting the scenes and views imprinted on our brain. We were so lucky - Monday was considered the peak of the aspens changing color - this is something I have wanted to see for so many years, the aspens in their height of golds. What an amazing thing to see. I encourage any and all, if you haven't seen these trees in their gold color, you must put it on your list of things to do. Absolutely stunning. Every where you turned - golds, smell of pines, clear blue sky, animals. Another of the things we wanted to do was hike the Milner Pass trail which goes up and over the Continental Divide. We climbed from 9400 feet in altitude to over 12,500 by the time we decided that if we didn't turn around and come back down, we would not be able to function for the rest of the day. Again, breath-taking views. We were higher than the snow packs! A Stellar Jay bird was quite upset with us as we hiked along, we got too close to her nest and she came within 5 feet of us, squawking and saying to go away. We figured we hiked about 3 miles that day - but the first mile and half was almost straight up. I am surprised we did so well but we knew that drinking water, resting, eating snacks would help which it did. We didn't get mountain sickness like the other day. We stopped in Estes Park on the way back and had a fabulous dinner at a Mexican restaurant. We will never forget our time here.

Yesterday we drove into Littleton which is a suburb south of Denver, to niece and nephew's house (Caryn and Scott) - our mail had finally arrived after 16 days of being in la-la land lost. Darn Post Office - we lost all faith in them and will not use the PO for much anymore. We since opened up a FedEx account so we can ship to and from home. The time spent with Caryn went too fast. This morning we drove into Fort Collins and met up with with Emily (Caryn and Scott's daughter) and Cody and Imana for a couple of hours. Just adorable kids. Tomorrow morning we move south to New Mexico and will be staying in Santa Rosa, about one and half hours east of Albuquerque for a month. I will be going to Phoenix to help with the grand kids during this month, so blog entries will be scant. Sad to say good-bye here, we had such a lovely time.

Alberta Falls and AMS

As planned we traveled back to Rocky Mountain National Park to go to an area called Moraine Park that is located in the interior part of the NP yesterday. Terrific, awesome, beautiful, breathtaking! We stopped first at the visitor's center to get more information on what trails are 'easy' and manageable. And, where to park the car since it was a gorgeous day and thousands of people were there. We got to the ParkNRide and boarded a bus to go to Bear Lake and then travel by foot to Alberta Falls. Even though there were ALOT of people, we had our alone time and space which was amazing. We opted to go to Bear Lake first, walk the trail, then walk to Alberta Falls about a mile away. Bear Lake - beautiful! This photo shows the lake peeking out at the lower left with the jagged snow covered mountains above. Lovely place. We stopped along the path and had some snacks and water, rested for a bit before heading on the next trail to Alberta Falls. Dave brought his back pack so we had what we needed if the weather changed and carried our snacks and water. Good thing we chose the paths in the order we did - Alberta Falls was all downhill and we could have never made the 16% incline up if we were at the Falls first then hiked to Bear Lake. So much beauty and since this path was not as traveled as the others, we pretty much had the walk to ourselves. We paced ourselves, stopping to take many pictures, and continued on to the Falls. Glad we went - was a pretty place. We met up with a Volunteer Ranger who for the past 6 years has volunteered in the park and he had hiked up to the falls for the last time this summer because he was returning back to North Carolina on Monday - "I had to see the falls one more time before I could go home." All I can say - stunning. Again, we rested, ate snacks and drank water but we were in trouble by then. We had been hiking in 9475 feet above sea level and had not paid attention to our bodies - just felt tired. I was beginning to get a headache, Dave was stumbling and we both felt lassitude - very lazy tired. We hiked back down, really taking our time and got to the bus at the bottom of the falls' walk and drove back into Estes to get home. There was alot of people in town due to Oktoberfest and fall festival, but I am surprised I was able to get us through and home in about 40 minutes. We could not carry on a conversation or do anything - I made us a dinner and we were asleep by 8pm. Today I found out we had AMS - Acute Mountain Sickness - which is common in people who are not acclimated to higher elevations and do not heed their bodies when in trouble. At the first sign we should have stopped, rested for about an hour, then turned around and gone home. Dah. So - will we go back? Of course! Tomorrow - but not hike - only to drive around and take some more pictures. We are at the peak of the aspens changing color and it is spectacular to see the golds and oranges. We have delayed leaving Loveland for a few days, waiting for mail to be delivered before we move on.

One tidbit - as I was maneuvering through Estes Park on our way home, traffic was halted and Dave was trying to figure out why everyone was taking pictures of a tree. Turns out a bear was in the tree! I hope Dave was able to capture the picture of the bear - I almost captured a ticket because I would not move faster than the police officer said. Ooops.

Rocky Mountain High

Yes, John Denver captured the essence of the Rocky Mountains - we have been 'high' since we spent the day there Thursday. Incredible, beautiful, surreal, majestic.....on and on. I cannot explain the wonders that are in this park. We have been to numerous National Parks and this by far is the most spectacular we have been in. And, we are going back today to get another fix. But lets back up to where and what we have been doing since we got here in Loveland, Colorado.

Tuesday afternoon and evening we spent with our niece/nephew Caryn and Scott and their daughter Emily and Emily's two children Cody and Imana. A great visit, caught up on each other's lives and then had a nice dinner in old Fort Collins area. Wednesday Emily and kids were visited by us as we traveled to Fort Collins to see her and then we all came back here to the RV so Cody could play on the playground. I will not show pictures for security reasons, but suffice it to say - the kids are absolutely adorable, and Cody found that riding in a big truck was outstanding. Thursday? Well, Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park. For those that know this area Estes Park is a name of a city right at the entrance to RMNP. Cutsy, trendy, but has the feel that you want to live there.

Dave and I were in heaven in the RMNP. We traveled the Trail Ridge Road, stopping to gawk and take pictures. And the amazing thing - if we were here one week into the future we would not have been able to go to the end of the road to Alpine Visitor's Center - they are in the process of closing the road down for the winter. This road is only open about 4 months a year, the snow gets to 35 feet in some places. We saw new snow on the ground and were told that from now on this new snow will not melt, only get more on top and build as winter approaches. The most amazing road to travel, and the highest paved road in the US. Pristine, beautiful. We saw glacier lakes (see the two in the picture above?), all kids of wildlife, flowers, birds, amazing to see. We hiked the Tundra Community's Trail which at first glance - no big deal. As we started along this paved path we noticed many high school kids cleaning the side of the path and stopped to ask. It was community service 'give back' for these kids of the Eagle Rock School, well known in the country for kids who have chosen to go to school and work in the community for excess of 500 hours a year. Very impressive. The walk? When we got to the end and climbed up on the one outcropping (told to go there by the teacher of these kids) there was a plaque and a directional dome structure that showed the distance to national parks around the country. We saw so much and felt relatively acclimated to the 12,000 feet since we have been living at an altitude of about 5000 feet for the past two weeks. What got us worn out is we would get out of the car, take pictures or walk a bit, in about 40 degree weather with the wind blowing about 30 knots. Brrr. And we just could not stop in getting out to walk a bit. Every where you looked was truly amazing. On our way out of the park we came across a pack of female elks and a baby or two, never saw the buck. They stopped in the middle of the road and just stared, then moved on. Today we are heading back to the park for another fix. Have to put this park on your list of things to do - truly amazing!

Loveland, Colorado

We had a pleasant drive yesterday (Sunday) driving down Interstate 25 into Loveland, Colorado. We were sad when the Laramie Mountains disappeared, but then got excited when snow capped Rocky Mountains (actually the Medicine Bow Range of the Rockies) appeared and got bigger as we neared Loveland. Had a scary!!! ride about the last 20 minutes before reaching the campground - we had a bum address for this place and started up Big Thompson Canyon with hairpin turns, and quite knuckle biting until we could quickly turn around and head back down. Found the campground but almost took out the side of the RV when we turned into the place - the driveway was a 90 degree turn off the road and had to have Dave slam on the brakes at the last minute and back up and maneuver back out into the road and retry to get here. The great news is that we have a wonderful view out the back (living room) looking at the canyon and hearing a natural waterfall about 100 feet away. Beautiful! And quiet, and no worker-bees.

We have been out of cell service since we got here, we are in a canyon at the base of the Rocky Mountains and there just isn't any signal. As for email - we can tap into the campground's service but I don't want to sit outside at a picnic table at all hours trying to get on. Today we had to run into Loveland to do some shopping and we went to BestBuy and picked up a booster for internet, hoping that would solve the problem. We tried this before some months ago and it didn't work, but now! Fast and on-line without a problem. Yippee! Weird to not be in touch with people - where were we 10 years ago when internet email and cell phones were not that common? We will just live with the cell phone outage until we leave - really the first time this has happened. But we are ecstatic that we are really fast internet service.

Tomorrow we meet up with our niece Caryn, husband Scott, and their daughter Emily and her two children for the afternoon and grab dinner together. Wednesday we plan to spend the day with Emily and the kids.

National Historic Trails and Fort Caspar

We went to this strange looking building on a hill looking down on Casper called the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center, run by the Bureau of Land Management, a division of the Government of the Interior - the same branch that runs the National Park Service. When you first see this building which can be seen throughout most of Casper, there is a blue section of the building that stands out. As you walk inside you are walking along a wall of blue tile, then you discover you are walking along the representation of the North Platte River. Casper served as the convergence of the Mormon Trail, the Bozeman Trail, the Oregon Trail, and the California Trail/Gold Rush Trail for pioneers heading west from 1840s on. And on top of that, the Pony Express had a station here at Fort Caspar of which was a military post to protect the pioneers from Indians. The Center was very informative and well done. One of the coolest things we did inside this Center was sit in a covered wagon and it simulated riding across the North Platte River, it bumped, swayed from side to side, had a trail hand in front telling us to stay inside if it tips over, you really felt that you were in this wagon. Another simulator ride was sitting in a stage coach and having it move along, seeing buffalo grazing, seeing broken down wagon train, stopping at posts. We had no concept of the historical value of Casper when we came here, knowing this was a convenient town to stay while visiting Sandra and Phil but now we wish we could have spent more time. We would have driven to some of the points of interest like Independence Rock where pioneers carved their names into this huge rock outcropping as they moved forward toward the South Pass in Western Wyoming. Or gone looking for the actual ruts left behind from all the wagons. Or gone to see the South Pass which is legendary even back when Lewis and Clark almost perished in the winter of 1805 trying to find a faster route over the Bitterroot Range when all along the Crow, Shoshones and other tribes knew of a much easier gateway through the mountains some 400 miles south (South Pass). Or taken one of the auto tours which leads you through some of the historic sights of the trails and Pony Express stations. Or gone to the Hole In The Wall where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid hid out. So much to see!

Wyoming is beautiful, wild, and yet very appealing. This town of Casper is named for Lt. Caspar Collins who was from Ohio and as a young man traveled with his father's Ohio Volunteer Calvary unit to Wyoming to establish forts for protection and trading posts. A telegraph office was set up in the fort, the first one in the area. His father went on to Colorado and Caspar stayed on getting his enlistment into the Ohio Volunteer Calvary, ultimately loosing his life in an Indian ambush in 1865 while escorting an Army supply train. His father? Guess what town is named after him and we are visiting next? Fort Collins. Small world. When Casper was incorporated into a town, the spelling was changed to Casper by accident and it was never corrected. It is easy to get around in Casper, with a population of over 55,000 and elevation of over 5100 feet (mile high!) we did not need our GPS to figure out where things were. Modern history as to discovery of oil and Amoco and Standard Oil coming in with the boom then bust then stabilizing back again. The N. Platte River? They say that it was at least 5 times as wide as it is now, 5 dams were constructed upstream and today the river is quite tame, narrow, but it still has a tremendous current. Here's a picture of the river right here at our campground which is on the Fort Caspar grounds. Want to come back here someday - we really enjoyed this visit. We move tomorrow to Loveland, Colorado which is right next to Fort Collins. We will visit with relatives, hopefully go to Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park and what ever else we find.

Buffalo WY and Dude Ranch

Dave and I drove up to Buffalo, WY yesterday to meet up with Sandy and Phil, a couple we met last winter in Texas and wintered with in McAllen. First, the drive from Casper to Buffalo: The entire drive was lined with wide open raw space with free roaming cattle and sheep and the deer and antelope and pronghorns! Once in awhile you would see a huge area that was so green, different from the sage brush, that we found out was alfalfa hay. Since Texas has literally burned up, most of the ranchers and farmers in Wyoming have not only gotten two cuttings of alfalfa and sent on to Texas, they are hoping for this last crop to come in before the winter comes. Very unheard of. And this explains all the truck loads of hay going south on the interstates - to help out Texas ranchers. The dude ranch - The Ranch at UCross - was not what we were expecting at all. Sandy and Phil have various activities that they perform in exchange for their campsite and a hourly salary. They showed us around, got to pet some of the horses, toured the lodging accommodations, etc. Lovely, lovely place. And not cheap! They said their main business is tour bus coming mid-afternoon, people go for a horse back ride once settled in their rooms, dinner, campfire and singing at night, breakfast in the morning and they are gone by 10am. Then it starts all over again at mid afternoon with the next bus load. I got a chance to be up close to horses again - my childhood was spent with many days at by friend's house and riding her horses. Dave and Sandy kept their distance - I don't think they were comfortable being around an animal that big. The original homestead from early 1800's still stands on the property and the owners, when on premise, stay there. I could live here it was so peaceful! And the wildlife! Deer, antelope, pronghorn, wild turkeys, vultures, hawks, skunks, osprey - so abundant and right by the roads. Little nervous driving around. A haven for hunters this fall.

After our tour they took us into Buffalo to see some of the sights, in particular the Occidental Hotel which has been in continuing operating since 1870's. Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, Calamity Jane, President T. Roosevelt are some of the folks who have stayed here. Could have spent hours looking through the hotel, they let you browse and look in each room that is not occupied. Lots of antiques. From there we grabbed a quick dinner and headed back to their RV to exchange our goodbyes until next time. They told us they would not go to Texas this winter either and we will see if our paths will cross again soon. They want to head to Utah then down to Arizona. We still are unsure where we will end up, we do know that in the near future we will be dropping down into New Mexico to see what there is to see. On our ride home down Interstate 25, we saw ALOT of deer, antelopes and pronghorns eating right by the interstate - and didn't even lift their heads as if to say - yeah, so? Close encounters for us - thankfully no hits.

We wanted to thank you who sent out prayers for our friends in Bastrop. They are fine and back in their home. The next street - the fire destroyed everything miles and miles but thankfully missed them. Said the town is gone, the fire had jumped the highway and consumed everything in it's path. Very sad.

Casper, Wyoming

We had a lovely drive yesterday through the southern tip of the Black Hills and then dropped into Wyoming, using strictly county routes. At intersections of routes there were signs that said, "road closed when flashing" with two huge lights on either side of the sign, huge gates that drop down across both sides of the road. Cameras present to take pictures with a warning that heavy fines levied if disobeyed. Big turn around for people to turn back. Obviously for heavy snows, they close the roads down. Snow fences are abundant. There are very few ranches and one I saw many times over - 4W ranch. This ranch is Wyoming's oldest - since 1878 where it appeared as the only ranch on a map of Wyoming located on the Cheyenne River. Today the 5th generation runs the complex with a dude ranch, cattle, horses, hunting, fishing expeditions.

We stopped in Douglas to tank up and saw in front of us the Laramie Mountains. Got into Casper about 2:30pm. We are in a campground AGAIN with worker-bees who are working on the gas pipe line - same project that we encountered in North Dakota, South Dakota and now here. But - not in the news - a TransCanada pipeline that hooks into North Dakota's pipe line and moves through Montana into Wyoming - had a gas pipe break July 25th in Gillette, WY - about 30 miles from here. No wonder we are having problems finding a site - this campground is totally booked, the two campgrounds I inquired in Gillette literally laughed at me! This campground is waiting on people who have booked 8 sites - and they are from Germany. She said they are biking it here (don't know if it's bicycling or motorbiking). And they are working on the pipe line too.

Our main objective while here is to spend time with Phil and Sandy - two neat people we met last winter while in Texas. They talked us into heading down to McAllen, not that far from Brownsville - had a great time. They are now working at a dude ranch in Buffalo and Dave and I will go to the ranch tomorrow to see them and spend time. We will find out if they have changed their mind about going to Texas for the winter, with all the fires and severe draught.

Spearfish Canyon Waterfall

Yesterday (Friday) was our last hurrah in seeing the Rapid City/Black Hills area of South Dakota. We are moving tomorrow to Casper, Wyoming, for a week and we knew that the day before we break camp we clean, laundry, grocery shop, kinda lay low since the next day will be nerve wracking closing down, traveling, finding the new campground, setting up. We had not gone into Sturgis, Deadwood, or Lead (pronounced leed) and decided to see what we could in one day. Dave still feeling punky so I did the driving while he stared out the window. Sturgis - we cannot figure out where 250,000 visiting biker people stay in this little town when Bikers Week (Harley-Davidson owners converge here for rally) is on. Where are the hotels? And we were also told it is not just one week but typically most of August is awful in terms of local residents moving around and living. A lady told us that the locals leave town, rent out their homes to the bikers. Kinda like WoolyBear Festival in Vermilion - locals leave town during the one day in Vermilion! We can appreciate what the lady said.

From Sturgis we moved on to Deadwood. Cute little town. Lots of history, casinos, bars, restaurants, hotels. And there were alot of people there. From Deadwood we moved one mile further down the road to Lead. Depressed town since the gold mine/ore mine has shut. We stopped at the visitors center and while there struck up a conversation with a lady selling coffee. She suggested we go to Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway and go to Spearfish Waterfalls. She said - the view is beautiful, you won't regret it. Off we went, and canyon is exactly what she said - beautiful. The falls? Wow, I could have stayed there all day. The roar of the waterfall, the crisp clear water in the stream, the spray, canyon cliffs overhead. Gorgeous! Heaven on earth. Traveled the backroads through the Black Hills National Forest back and told each other that this whole area is very appealing, we could live here for months on end.

Small World!

We laid low yesterday giving the medicine time to start working on Dave. He is feeling punky and is dizzy and aching all over, reactions that are noted on the info sheet. We did run a few errands in early afternoon and we were gone from the campground around 3 hours. When we got back we were surprised at how fast the campground filled up. It's fun to watch RVs come in and set up. Where we are sitting in this campground we can get a good look at what pulls in. We ooh and aah and watch folks in their routines and remark to each other that sometimes there is no sanitary precautions that people make. Like not cleaning off the water spigot, or not wearing protective gear or using protective wipes when dealing with sewer/water hookups. One little incident with a cut on a hand coming in contact with sewer stuff - and big time infection could set in. As a matter of fact we go through so much hand sanitizer it's amazing.

About 6pm we watched a huge travel trailer with a Dodge truck pulling it come into the campground and WOW. Looked again and we said 'IT'S A PARK MODEL!' which means - this type of travel trailer (box like) is meant to be sitting permanently at a campground, not to be pulled around the country. We eventually want to look into a Park Model when we find the right place to sit for months at a time. This picture shows our unit - second from the left - and if you blow up the picture - the far right one with all the windows - is the Park Model. Dave struck up a conversation with the folks, found out that they are from Elyria (city near where we lived in Vermilion) and that this was their maiden voyage. And they are scared big time! Dave came back to tell me that they were from Ohio and let's go back to talk more with them - in conversation we found out that they are from Pier-Lon Campground in Medina Ohio! Talk about small world! That's where we left from July 30th. Pier-Lon owner and their worker-bee are so concerned about them that they asked every other day to call to make sure they are okay. This couple is rethinking their plans and are going to head back to Ohio instead of pushing on - it's just too big to move around. Amen.

Badlands, Et Al

After a late start in the morning we decided around noon to head to the Badlands again and do some hiking/walking. We took the southern route into the Badlands, going through a portion of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The landscape is so stark, so barren, very eerie. We drove miles and miles in the back roads, on a state route, and saw an occasional car/truck and once in awhile would see a farm way in the distance. As we got to the town of Interior, the landscape really changed dramatically, into the sandstone formations we saw a couple of days ago. Beautiful, quiet. We did manage to walk along a path being very careful for rattlesnakes - I wished we could have seen one - from a distance! This picture is Dave walking along a dry creek where a trail was. After our hike we continued on the loop road and at one point we came up against the Park Ranger with his lights on, cars pulled over and as we neared we saw pronghorn just grazing and having a nice time on the roadway. Pretty impressive. Dave was a bit unsteady and weak and had pains along his waist and leg which now we know what is going on - yesterday morning we spent at the UrgentCare where he was diagnosed with Shingles. But he wanted to go and see anyhow. We got back to the RV about 5pm and was amazed at how fast this campground filled up - we have neighbors! We get an opportunity to talk with folks and feel very secure here now - one is a retired Deputy Marshall and another is retired from police force/state trooper. If something would happen, bet they can protect us!

Have had some questions about our life 'on board' so I thought I would answer via blog. We rarely go out to eat at a restaurant, I cook. We can control our budget better and eat more sensibly and healthy. Our fridge/freezer can store about 7 days of meals without being overloaded. And I keep about 3 meals of 'canned' dinners which means spaghetti, soups, tuna/crackers, pasta in the pantry to use in a pinch. Laundry? Most campgrounds have a laundry facility and sometimes it may be too small to handle (2 washers/dryers) so I go to a local laundromat. I don't like this but I can't help it. Even if we had a washer/dryer on board, most of the campgrounds we have stayed at do not allow you to run this since it uses too much electricity and the sewers could not handle the extra water. How do we plan where we go? We generally know the direction as to what our next stop is and from there I start looking on-line for campgrounds. We belong to 3 camping clubs - GoodSam, Passport America, and Escapees. For the most part we use Passport America where the fee is 50% off the normal rate. For example, the place we are at now is $36 a night and we are getting a rate of $18. This includes free WiFi, full hookup, cable TV, use of the pool and sauna (closed now after Labor Day) and a level site. Not bad. We do not go to the 'big name' campgrounds and do not stay at Flying J's, Pilots, or other truck stops nor will we overnight at WalMart. Those are not options for us. I will search and find something much more suitable to our taste even if it is traveling another 50 miles. And one last item - what about mail? We are fortunate that we can live this life and still be in touch with family in friends. We use the internet for most correspondence and we have our own internet service (Verizon MiFi mini card) and sometimes we are lucky that a campground has internet service so we use theirs. Of the 2 years of using the MiFi we have never gone over the allotted 5 GB of service. As for snail mail - since we have rented out our condo to our dear friends, our snail mail still goes there. Every couple of weeks we ask them to bundle up the mail and send to where we will be.

Last - we are very concerned with our friends in Bastrop, Texas with the wildfires going on there. The only communications allowed into and out of the town are for federal and state authorities so we are not able to reach them. We ask that you keep Yvonne and Parker in your prayers for their safe keeping. With the wildfires this past week, we have rethought about going to Texas this winter. With the worst draught on record, we don't want to be in a place where the potential for fire is great. We are now thinking of just heading to New Mexico and see where that adventure takes us.

Custer State Park And Sylvan Lake

Yesterday was an absolute gorgeous day, low 70's, and bright sunny sky. Custer State Park is located about 12 miles west of our campground and decided to take a leisure drive and hopefully find a nice easy hiking area. Custer State Park is world renown for it's buffalo herd, the wildlife, the scenic views. And I have to say that spending 6 hours in this park yesterday, I could go to this park every day, it is that beautiful, raw, natural, stunning. 5 minutes into entering the park we were stopped by buffalo, yep - they did not want us to go by. I think the diesel engine in the truck is a bit annoying to their ears - one big bull walked right by Dave's driver door and shook and splattered him, his camera, and the windows with muck. They were wallowing/drinking in a pond and just wanted to let everyone know that this was their park, not ours! And they are ugly, smelly, noisy animals. Huge! You are warned that buffalo are not friendly - to keep your distance - and you see the people in the car in front of us, out of their cars taking pictures? Stupid people. Then we came across the begging burros, a group of wild burros that are the remnants of the pack animals brought into the park during the 1930s to help build the roads. And beg! Wow, had to keep the windows up because they would stick their nose right into the car to get food. And the flies! Open your window a crack and the flies coming zooming in. Onward down the Wildlife Loop Road and at some point we have to make a decision - continue on the road or go find a hiking trail. We opted for the hiking trail and drove to Sylvan Lake. But, the road we traveled, Needles Highway, was awesome! We had to drive through 3 tunnels and the road was so narrow to get to Sylvan Lake that each car had to creep by each other, and the scenery! Fabulous! I literally hung out the window taking picture after picture. I felt bad for Dave because he had his eyes glued on the road where I was just oohing and awing. Couldn't believe the sights I was seeing. We got to Sylvan Lake and decided to take the 'easy' hiking trail and we felt that if that was 'easy' wonder what the strenuous (they had one of those also to Haney Peak) would have been like? The mile hike around the lake was stunning also. We found a hidden waterfall inside the rocks of the mountain and tried to take pictures of it but I don't think they came out good. Lots of people out for a holiday stroll but we didn't feel rushed or harried. I would love to spend lots more time here in the park. On the way home I drove so Dave could see what he missed and he was amazed at the sights, each turn in the road was something more breath-taking than before.

Mako Sica (Badlands) National Park

Friday night we were slammed by violent wind and terrific lightning over us and then passing to the east. This eastern path took the storm directly over the Badlands. For over 9 hours we were buffeted, rolled and bumped back and forth, just a very unpleasant night with the wind hitting us full on. We felt sorry for the tent campers by us - I think they crawled into their car to avoid the brutal wind. Again, no rain. We did not sleep much, and Chip and Grace were awake laying on me all night. By 10am the wind had died, the sun came out and we decided Chip was a little better we didn't need to watch over him so we jumped into the truck and headed to the Badlands National Park (Lakota Sioux language is Mako Sica). We had to travel back eastward on Interstate 90 about 70 miles to catch the north eastern entrance. What we read was that the sun would reflect off the cliffs and rocks best if viewed with them at our right side of the truck meaning we had to go from east to west on the loop road. We entered the park and traveled about one mile to our first overlook. Wow. Dave didn't remember the Badlands from our visit 25 years ago and I reminded him that we did not come here but drove a mile or two of the park from the western edge near Rapid City. We actually got to hike on one of the trails and I was a bit nervous about rattle snakes present. Didn't venture off the path at all. This park has over 244,000 acres of wilderness and of that, 64,000 acres are still pristine prairie grasslands which is home to the continent's largest free roaming buffalo herd. Since we didn't see any tatanka we will travel to Custer State Park and do the wildlife loop.

At the visitor center we watched a video where it explained how the Badlands were formed, how they are eroding at an inch a year (they will be gone in 500,000 years) and how the violent wind and rain are common here which shapes the rocks. And boy do we know that from the previous night! As we drove the loop road and stopped here and there to see and take pictures, you could still see the water running swiftly in many of the streams caused from the previous night's rain. And to think that over one hundred twenty years ago Lakota and Oglala Sioux Indians lived and thrived in this area. One stop we looked at was where Chief Big Foot brought his band of Oglala Sioux through a pass and within a week they were all massacred at Wounded Knee in 1890. A large portion of the park lies in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the Oglala-Lakota tribe manage the southern area of the National Park. You are encouraged to visit the southern section and visit on the Indian Reservation.

At first you stop, look and wonder at the view and then you begin to see life. We saw sheep in the distance, prairie dogs, birds, didn't see tatanka (buffalo), and lots of rocks. The park wasn't that crowded for a holiday weekend. Here are a couple of pictures so you get the flavor of the colors and sights we saw. Would love to see this place at night with the moon shining over the rocks, but would not want to drive through the park - there are no guardrails along the loop road and if you slipped - yikes! There are many places where the road signs warn you of falling rocks which we did see. Too dangerous at night and I bet too dangerous when there is a storm. This is an awe-inspiring park to visit with breath taking views for you to behold.

Lightning Shows and Chip

The temperatures have been in the high 90s since last Monday and we were getting beat up by it. The a/c in the RV just ran forever, never shutting off. Every night we have been given a terrific lightning show. You cannot hear the thunder - don't know why and it doesn't rain over us - just all around. It is really pretty. Dave said that he wishes he could get some photos but how do you know where the lightning will be? I was told that lightning is common here in the summer, especially during the early evening. We were going to head to the Badlands National Park today but our older cat Chip (we call him the old man) is not doing well. We got him into an animal hospital yesterday morning to see what is going on and with the 'cat from hell' personality that he takes on in any vet's office - all the doctor could do was just a cursory look. We had the option of having Chip sedated and then have a more thorough look - but we opted to give him at least 48 hours to see if he responds to oral medicine. He's miserable - hasn't been himself for a couple of weeks and it just got impossible for him yesterday morning. It is a good thing that Dave and I can get medicine down him without a problem. Chip will let us do anything to him as long as it is not at a vet's office. We were so impressed with this vet because he said that if we need to get Chip into the office this weekend - just call and if he isn't in, his partner will be there. And another interesting trivia - we also have a younger cat, Grace, who travels with us. She found us about 3 years ago as a kitten (abandoned outside in the winter) and Chip hates her, she's taking affection I would have give him, to her. Since Chip isn't doing well, Grace will come up to him, sniff him, look at him, Chip will look meanly at her - and she walks away. She does not act that way towards him when he's feeling good. She'll torment him and pick on him, smack him, run after him. You can tell she's concerned.

Since we are just hanging out and watching Chip and making him comfortable, we are catching up on mail, I am doing some quilting, will get some grocery shopping done. Temperature today is a whopping 69 which is wonderful! And it's overcast so if we had planned to go to Badlands - would not have been good picture taking day. If Chip is doing better tomorrow we just may make the run and spend the day at the Badlands.