Autust 9 - Days 56 and 57 - Many Glacier and off to Missoula

Before dinner Saturday night, we went into "town", so to speak, and stopped in at the local pub - well sort of - for a draft or two. Kip's Beer Garden is owned and operated by one of the local Blackfeet Indians and has a "bit of a flair" about it. For those familiar with the Colonial in Mansfield, Kip's is not quite as classy! But the prices were right and the folks were nice to talk to - after they sized us up and decided we were OK.

Sunday was our day to visit Many Glacier, which is North of the Going to the Sun road, and leads to a beautiful lodge at the end of the road. The day was a bit disappointing in that it was cold, quite cloudy, and with periods of intermittent rain. But, what choice is there when it is your last day in the area? We were able to get a few reasonable photos that give you an idea of the beauty of the area, and had a nice lunch in the dining room of the lodge.

Many Glacier Hotel is located along the shores of Swiftcurrent Lake inside Glacier National Park. The Great Northern railroad built this historic hotel in 1914-15 to accommodate the many tourists passing through Glacier National Park. Many Glacier Hotel has 208 rooms and is built in the Swiss Chalet style and the Swiss theme is carried through the interior of the hotel as well.

Returning to the coach, we prepared for our departure, then went down to the St. Mary Lodge and Resort for Happy Hour. Later, we cooked a couple of steaks and watched the Yankees beat the Red Sox (sorry Rock!).

Wouldn't you know it? Monday arrived with a beautiful, cloudless sky - a perfect day for visiting and photography. But, we had to be on our way. We left the KOA at 9:15 and took a shot from the access road. We then headed South on Highway 89 to Browning and Suz took a few more shots from the coach as we traveled, but the motion didn't help. From Browning it was onto Highway 2 around the South end of the park to East Glacier and then West Glacier. From there we headed South and skirted Flathead Lake. The lake provides a micro climate that is perfect for growing cherries. We stopped along the road and picked up two different varieties - delicious!

Then it was on to Missoula and to Jim & Mary's RV Park. The park has 71 sites and is very nice (and highly rated in Trailer Life). I got set up and visited with an engineer from Virginia who has been "full timing" with his Fleetwood Revolution since 2001. He also has an Overbuilt motorcycle lift like ours and carries his 2006 Gold Wing.

He has the exact same problem with the lift sagging as do I, and told me why. Apparently the 8 large bolts that hold the frame extension supporting the lift are slightly smaller than the bolt holes provided by Freightliner, allowing the end of the lift to sag a couple of inches at the motorcycle tray after a few hundred miles of bumps. so, while the sag looks odd, it is apparently no problem so long as the bolts are tight - which they are - what a relief!

Tonight we are going to the Montana Club in Missoula for dinner (it was good). It is a large rustic structure and is highly recommended by Mary (of Jim & Mary's). Tomorrow, we head for Pendleton, OR for a couple of nights, via the scenic Highway 12, before traveling to Harrisburg, OR for the Freightliner Chassis Owners Club rally. Until then, Cheers!

John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog

August 7 - Day 55 - Glacier National Park

The day began with a beautiful, albeit hazy, sunrise rising directly in front of the coach. Unfortunately, the haze would last all day into late evening. Nonetheless, I got a couple of good shots of the surrounding mountains.

Suz arose when I promised breakfast around 8:45. I put some ham and eggs on the grill - overcooked the ham and burned the eggs (she should have told me to put Pam on the griddle plate on the grill!). The re-do using a skillet was much more successful - for the eggs. The ham was - well .... After giving the interior of the coach a good cleaning, we departed for the Park. Upon entry onto the "Going to the Sun" road, you see St. Mary's Lake and the pass through the peaks. The further you go, the more spectacular the scenery. The road is "under repair" and is in rough shape in some places, but it was worth the slow-going.

I got a reasonable photo of Johnson Glacier, one of the last remaining glaciers in the park and one of the few you can see reasonably close up from the road. In 1850, at the peak of the "mini-ice age", there were many glaciers, today there are only a few remaining and the park service forecasts that all the glaciers will be gone by 2030 at the latest - more likely 2020.

We reached Logan Pass (6,686 feet above sea level) after 45 or so minutes. The parking lot for the visitor center was filled to overflowing so we headed a short ways down the West side of the pass, then made a U-turn and started back East and down to St. Mary's - after snapping a few shots of the upper West side of the pass. At the bottom, we stopped for lunch at the "Two Dog Flats" restaurant. As you can see, Suz is anxious for food after my breakfast! I also took a shot of one of the tour buses that run back and forth to the upper visitor's center. There are 33 such buses, all built between 1937 and 1939. They were recently upgraded to propane power with the help of Ford Motor Company. Both the Going to the Sun road and Highway 49 to East Glacier are closed to all vehicles over 21 feet in length - no motorhomes!

Tonight, we will enjoy Happy Hour, put a steak on the barbie and enjoy the mild weather. Tomorrow, we may try for better photos if the weather improves. If not, we will loaf! Until then, Cheers!

John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog

August 6 - Days 53 and 54 - Sturgis to Glacier

Thursday arrived and we departed from Rush-no-More campground at 8:00. I was sorry to leave, I was really getting into the riding and understanding the techniques that Jim Ford of "The Rider's Workshop" taught me a couple of years ago.

We started out on I90, but soon veered off onto US 212, a two lane highway that cuts off a lot of the distance from Sturgis to Billings, Montana. The road is very good and you can make good time. As we headed into Wyoming and then Montana, the landscape changed, and we noticed a great deal more hay farming and cattle ranching. We arrived in Billings, at the Travelers Village RV park at around 3:00 and got set up. The park is very nice, if a bit tight, and the people are friendly. I would recommend it to fellow travelers.

We then headed for the nearest Walmart Super Center for necessary provisions. Later we went to the local Outback Steak House for dinner. Returning to the coach, I had to do the standard "bug removal" from the front end. I am getting pretty good at it now and don't use anything but water and a microfiber mitt and towel. It usually takes about 30 minutes.

Friday morning we were off at 8:00 again. We headed out of Billings on Montana highway 3 North on our way to St. Mary's and Glacier National Park. We then merged onto Montana 200. The landscape changed again with ranching, grain growing and LOTS of hay! The terrain also took on a rougher character as we climbed higher into the foothills of the Rockies.

We stopped for a break after 200 miles at a pleasant rest stop. Passing through Great Falls, we continued on MT200 and then onto US89 for a 100 mile stretch. We took a diversion onto Montana 464 for the last leg of the trip to avoid some issues with US89.

All the roads were very good, with a minor exception in one section of MT200, and a detour route through Great Falls. We arrived in St. Mary's at 3:30 after 389 miles and finally got set up. the first site the KOA assigned us was only 30 amps when we had reserved a 50 amp site. Luckily they had another site nearby with 50 amps. All the sites are on the side of a gently sloping hill making leveling the coach a bit of a challenge, but we got it done. As you can see, the scenery is quite spectacular.

The next challenge was getting the satellite dish and DirecTV to work. Finally, after recalibrating the dish and having a lengthy conversation with DirecTV, we got the TV working as it is supposed to. Then it was back to the "bug removal" detail - this time the mess was extensive! All settled in, we reviewed our next few legs of the journey, made some adjustments, had a couple of "Bubba Burgers" and called it a night. Tomorrow we will tour Glacier National Park. We also decided to stay here for an extra night on Sunday. One day without driving is not enough after nearly 400 miles! Until the next posting, Cheers!

John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog

August 4 - Days 51 and 52 Rapid City and Devils Tower

Tuesday was my day to take Suzanne for a motorcycle ride. What a choice. I left in the early morning and rode into Sturgis to visit the famous Buffalo Chip site where they have all a the rock events during the rally. It is a huge acreage with space for thousands of campers plus a huge bandstand for the rock events. They are hosting Bob Dylan, Ozzy Osborne, Guns and Roses, Kid Rock, the Doobie Brothers and many more events during the 10 days of the rally. But overall, it is nothing more than a huge farm field with electrical plugs and water spigots - and a whole lot of "port-a-pottys"! It will be a real drunk fest during the rally - glad we are not going to be here!

I then traveled to Rapid City (26 miles) to the Harley dealership where Kuryakyn has its vendor tent. Remember this because it plays a role later in the day. I had them replace a defective left hand grip (not really defective, the bike fell over and it bent) which they replaced at no charge. I then returned to the Rush-No-More campground to pick up Suz for our lunch date to deadwood. As we left the campground, we noticed that the sky to the West and North (where Deadwood is) was very black, so we decided to lunch in Rapid City (to the South and East)and visit the Harley store for "souvenirs". Good choice.

We had lunch, then off to the Harley store. While we were there, the storm that we had seen over Deadwood had moved South and East. It hit Rapid City around 1:00. I was lucky that I was able to get the bike into the Kuryakyn vendor tent just as the rain hit. They let me in because I had done business with them in the morning - I didn't tell them it was a "freeby." The storm was so intense that you couldn't see 50 feet, and the winds whipped to 60 or 70 mph. It felt like the tent was coming down around us. Suz, of course was in the Harley building shopping!

After nearly an hour, the storm subsided and I was able to depart the tent, but the storm was still over Sturgis and Deadwood to our North and West. We waited another 45 minutes before donning the rain gear and heading to Sturgis. As it turns out, Deadwood had a huge hail storm (ping-pong ball size) such that they had to break out the snow removal equipment to clear the roads. There was much roof and vehicle damage.

Luckily, the hail did not come as far East as Sturgis - and our campground! - The coach would have been seriously damaged and Dixie, who was in the coach - would have been badly traumatized - she hates thunder and lightning anyway. While our campground got heavy rain, and the roads were damaged from washouts, there were no serious issues. The campground owner was quick to get truck loads of gravel and a front end loader in to repair the roads and get the situation back to normal. Unfortunately, the storm blew out our King Dome, and we now have no satellite TV.

Wednesday arrived as a beautiful sunny day, albeit a bit cool (in the 50s). This was my last day to ride the Sturgis area before our departure and I took full advantage. I left around 8:30 after a breakfast of biscuits, gravy and sausage at the campground and headed for Devils Tower (in Wyoming). You will recall that Devils Tower was featured in the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" as the site where the aliens landed to make contact with us humans (I love science fiction!). The tower is a volcanic plug which has been exposed over hundreds of thousands of years by erosion. it is very impressive! The National Parks Service now runs the site. And there is a large field filled with prairie dogs!

From Devils Tower, I rode back to Spearfish, South Dakota. On the way I stopped at the McNenny Fish Hatchery, where they have a display pond full of trophy size rainbow and brown trout. The ones you see in the picture are at 24 to 30 inches in length and weigh from 4 to 8 pounds! What beauties!

From Spearfish, I followed highway 14a to Lead, where I had lunch at Lewie's, then on to Deadwood, Sturgis and the campground. I arrived back around 2:30 after 178 miles, put the bike on the lift and prepared the coach for our departure tomorrow. I will be sorry to leave. The riding is so good in this area. But I know that it will be much less enjoyable once the "hordes" arrive this weekend.

We leave tomorrow for Billings, Montana and then on to Glacier Notional Park. Until then, Cheers!

John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog.

August 2 - Day 50 - Sturgis and surrounds

We received our mail from St. Brendan's Isle yesterday and I spent the early morning paying bills and taking care of financial matters. I have to say that St. Brendan's Isle is proving to be most reliable and efficient mail forwarding service.

After the mail was disposed of, and while Suz and Dixie slept, I headed to Rapid City on the bike for a day of riding. The first stop was to fuel up and then to Rapid City Harley Davidson for a look around. There are some new bikes that look very tempting - but no, I am happy with what I have - for the time being. From the Harley shop, I headed down Highway 16 to Mt. Rushmore, but didn't go to the shrine. I have seen it before, and it is very "touristy." Rather, I headed onto highway 16a and the Iron Mountain Road - probably one of my favorite roads. It is very twisty, has numerous cork-screw turns where you pass over the road you have just traveled, numerous one-lane tunnels and goes through some very beautiful country. In the tunnel picture, if you look carefully, you can see Mt. Rushmore. Sorry for the lack of definition in the photo.

Following 16a through Custer State Park, the next leg took me over Needles Highway. The name says it all. The road goes through some of the most interesting topography I have ever seen. Again, there are one-lane tunnels and lots of beautiful terrain. If you get to this part of South Dakota, you must tour Iron Mountain Road and Needles Highway!

From there I took 385 South to the Crazy Horse Memorial. This is a project started by a Polish immigrant, Korczak Ziolkowski, who worked on Mt. Rushmore, to make a statement about the plight of the American Indian. It is a truly awesome project with no defined completion date. The sculpture depicts Chief Crazy Horse's response to a white man's query "where is your land now?' The chief responded "My lands are where my dead lie buried." While I am a loyal American, I cannot deny that the European settlers' treatment of the American Indians was anything by honorable, and the native American story needs to be told and memorialized.

From The Crazy Horse Memorial, I headed north to Deadwood, the site of Wild Bill Hickock's demise. The town is "touristy" to say the least, but there is some interesting history there and Suz and I will return there tomorrow.

Retunring to the coach, I picked up Suz - in the car - and headed back into Sturgis for Happy Hour. We went to One Eyed Jacks, where we had been three years ago, and found that they had already gone to "Rally" pricing - $5 for a beer and $6.50 for a very small Vodka Tonic. Needless to say, we didn't stay.

Back at the coach, I barbecued a couple of steaks and Suz prepared potatoes and veggies and we had our own feast. Tomorrow, I will head into Sturgis to see some sights I have missed then to Rapid City to the Harley store for a part I need. After that, Suz has agreed to ride with me (on the bike!) to Deadwood for lunch and some exploration. Until then, Cheers!

John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog

August 1 - Day 49 - The road to Sturgis

We left Mitchell at 7:50 on our way to Sturgis. The weather has been perfect and we are still having a ball! Highway I90 is uninteresting in the Eastern part of South Dakota in the most part, but it has its highlights. For example, the terrain is so flat that you can almost see the curvature of the earth! And more towards Sturgis, you cross the badlands, which lives up to its name.

We also crossed into another time zone today making my work schedule that much more difficult. Now 4:30 become 2:30! Oh well, I can always try to go back to bed. And besides, when we get to the West coast, it will be 1:30! Hopefully, I will adjust.

We arrived at the Rush-No-More RV Park just outside of Sturgis at 12:00 pm local time. Our site is great, and I would recommend the park to anyone. It is quiet and isolated in the upper part of the park, and it is full service with no problem accessing the DirecTV satellite.

By the time we got the car and bike off, the coach settled in, the bugs washed off the front, and the motorcycle washed, it was 3:00 pm - time to head into Sturgis for Happy Hour. As you can imagine, Suz wouldn't go on the bike, so we took the car. Frankly, I was so tired I didn't want to be on the bike.

We went to the Best Western, where we had stayed three years ago and headed for the bar. As it happens, Guy, the owner whom we had befriended, had sold the bar last November and the service was nowhere near what it had been. We will be looking for another watering hole!

Returning to the coach, we (well I, note the Princess on the phone!) broke out the Bubba Burgers and fired up the grill . The best burgers anywhere! Tomorrow Suz has instructed me to ride while she rests and "irons and does the laundry." Can you imagine turning down a great bike ride? Reluctantly, I will oblige her wishes.

There is a lot of good riding in the Sturgis area, and I intend to cover most of it. Until tomorrow, Cheers!

John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog

July 31 - Day 48 - Mitchell, South Dakota

We left Austin, Minnesota at 8:00 am and headed West on I90. The view was as it has been - corn, beans, beans, corn. Once we left Minnesota, the view changed a bit. There was still corn and beans, but there was also hay and cattle. As we got further into South Dakota, the cattle took on greater prominence. One thing that caught our eye was the "red" highway in South Dakota. The surface is covered with gravel embedded in asphalt. Very unique.

After 286 miles, we arrived at Mitchell, South Dakota, the home of the "Corn Palace" and the birthplace and current residence of former Senator and presidential candidate, George McGovern.

We booked in to the R & R Campground (which I would recommend to anyone traveling in this area) and did the standard cleaning of the front of the coach. Bugs are everywhere! We then went to the local Cabela's and purchased our recliners. What a deal! Normally $79.95, but usually on special at $49.95, but this week on special at $39.95! They are just what we had been looking for and at an unbelievable price!

From there, we went back into Mitchell to see the "world famous" Corn Palace. The first Mitchell Corn Palace was built in 1892, just three years after South Dakota became a state. The building is famous for the huge and colorful murals (made of corn) on its sides.

In early June, the border trim of rye and sourdock is removed from the building and new rye and sourdock is tied and stapled to the building - typically by the end of July. Then the new murals are laid out and specially selected corn is used to create new murals, usually by the end of August. The murals are changed each year. But in 2007, the last time we were here (going East from Sturgis) there had been a drought and the special corn was not available to create new murals. As it happens, 2007 was the only year the murals were not changed.

After touring the Corn Palace (which is a high school basketball arena in the winter), we headed back to the renovated train station at the foot of Main Street. We had visited The Depot the last time we were in Mitchell and enjoyed the atmosphere and food - nothing has changed. We had the best Nachos we had had in a long time - along with drinks of course!

Now back at the coach, we are getting all set up to head for Sturgis in the morning. Until then, Cheers!

John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog