It is done

5,846 miles. 16 states. Untold numbers of cows. And we don't want it to end. Maybe if I don't answer the phone? I'll be "stuck in Bakersfield" or something. Nope, won't work, my boss reads the blog. Besides, the smoke column on the mountain behind the house is making me itch. Gotta get to work.

The geek squad was upset with me for not providing enough technical tidbits, so here goes:

5,846 total miles
29 days
16 states
Average MPG for entire trip: 16.2
Best tankful: 18.2 Eastbound across Wyoming
Worst tankful: 13.2 Westbound across Kansas
Most we paid for diesel: $3.64 gal in Logan, Utah
Least we paid for diesel: #2.33 gal some truckstop in Missouri
On average, we filled up every 253 miles.
The most we ever put in was 24.0 gallons. The warning light came on just as we pulled in to the station.
Total fuel costs were $1,111.72
Total campsite costs were $832.33
Most we paid for a campsite: $40 (a mistake on our part as to picking a park)
Least we paid for a campsite: $16 (not counting free nights)
Interestingly enough, the $40 night was the first night of the trip, $16 the last night. Both campgrounds were within 10 miles of each other. See what you learn over the trip?

The positives are too numerous to mention. Memories have been generated that will last a lifetime. Sara can confidently whip that beast around the country. She even did the sleet driving. Tom has confidence that this motorhome won't leak. The parts that broke are fixable.

We have trip plans for the next 3 years.

The final cap? That which sums it up the best? Just now, as I'm typing this, Miles is in the living room playing with toys he hasn't seen in a month. He just looked up at me and said, "Daddy, can we sleep in the motorhome tonight?"

Well, we took the "safe" route. Still saw some sleet on the drive. Went from 32 degrees at lunch to 80 degrees at the end of day.

The trip is almost over, and we don't want it to end. Life is already intruding, the Day fire just won't go out. Tom knows where he'll be Monday.

This picture was supposed to be in the other day, but since I was borrowing a wifi connection, I left it out.

Unfortunately, as is so often the case, the natural beauty has

been marred by graffiti.

When the hiking was done, we were all a bit tired.

Now we are at another decision point. Do we race back down to the

lowlands and freeway, or try another 10,000 foot steep twisty

mountain road with no guardrails that would take us to Bryce and

Zion NPs. It rained here in the valley last night, probably snow

up high. And high winds. If you don't hear from us, we might just

have dropped off the edge of the world. (Just kidding, Dad!)

So we went to Capitol Reef National Park in Utah, instead. This

is another absolutely beautiful park with stunning scenery. Trust

me, Sara shot over a gig of pics on the trip in alone!

e left Thursday morning after the last stop on our whirlwind

friends-N-family tour (did you get a t-shirt?) and headed West.

Our original plan was to go South, through Durango and Silverton

to the 4 corners area. But the weather was threatening snow, and

we don't have chains.

Now we are in Rifle, Colorado, visiting Sara's best friend Stephanie and family. Miles has been running, jumping, screaming, and generally having a blast. He even played dress-up with Sarah (not Sara) and I now have wonderful blackmail pictures of him as a fairy princess, complete with high heels. Just WAIT untill his first date! Time to try to put him to sleep...

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Nobturbo problems today. The little engine chugged right over and through the mountains. Just in time to see the colors starting to change.

We stopped in Denver at the Glauser Mercedes-Benz dealership. Unfortunately, a) the are not related and b) they don't work on Sprinters.

Denver

I'm blogging while trying to convince a super-tired Miles to go to sleep, so these will be short entries.

Last night we stayed just east of Denver, and visited with Sara's sister Cathy and her Levon. Today Miles saw bunnies in the campground, then we were off.

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Okay, blogger is having problems right now. Stand by for better posts later.

Ah Kansas. Good old flat Kansas. (The locals prefer "level") The funny thing is, most of Colorado is worse than Kansas. Colorado just doesn't show 2/3 of their state in their ads. The great excitement of the drive this afternoon was when they put a curve in the road...exactly at the same spot as an overpass! Wow! Usually they space them out a couple miles apart.

We recorded our worst fuel mileage of the trip yesterday, we got 13.4 mpg. We had a constant headwind the whole day, and kept the cruise set at 70. Totalled up all our gas receipts for the trip so far. We're still averaging 16.4 mpg for the trip. Since this is almost exactly double my old motorhomes mileage, we feel lucky.

This was the last day of boring travel for a bit. Tonight we drop in unexpectedly on more family members(we're getting good at that), tomorrow an old friend of Sara's.

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The firefighter memorial in Missouri was very nice, an unexpected find.

Homeward bound

Today we left Missouri and headed for Kansas. Last night we stayed @ a cute campsite in Missouri. The owners had done something really cool with one of the walls of the registration office, they painted it white and they-have their guests sign it. This was done after 9-11. Pictures to follow tomorrow.

Stopped at the firefighters memorial in Mo. It was pretty cool to see what other states do to honor their fallen firefighters. Pictures to follow tomorrow.

Went to another Cabela's for lunch today. This store had a bigger catfish than the Cabela's in Wisconsin. Miles thought this was cool.

Arrived in Kansas with no weather problems today. Of course, Tom said the only thing we haven't hit yet this trip is a traffic accident where we are first on scene. Still waiting....

Tomorrow we head for Denver Colorado and then onto Rifle for a quick visit With Sara's friend Stephanie. We will try to hookup with Sara's sister Cathy in Denver for Dinner tomorrow night.

Tom's off tonight so this is boring I know. More tomorrow.

Well, what an eventful day. We are reminded of the old proverb, "Be careful what you wish for."


We left Lexington, Kentucky this morning, determined to put some return miles under our belts.

Our target was the west side of Saint Louis, Missouri, so as to avoid any Monday traffic there tomorrow. Tom drove the first part, to get clear of big city Lexington. Sara took over at lunchtime, and uttered the horrible words, "You know, we really have had wonderful driving weather the whole trip.

Sure enough, not 50 miles later the sky ahead turned black and threatening. The wind started pushing us around. We ducked into a rest stop and hid between to 18-wheelers. A B-class motorhome on a Sprinter chassis pulled in behind us and we shared notes while the gust front of the storm passed. Thinking the worst was past (I of course checked NEXRAD and weather while stopped), we elected to press on. We were still on the wrong side of St. Louis.

Well, it wasn't done, as you can see from the picture. The View handles quite well in the rain. The outsides of the side windows kept fogging up!

Saint Louis

We made it through St. Louis, and thought we were going to miss the Arch. But it turns out that they actually made two of them, and painted them bright yellow!

We scooted out the other side, with Sara promising me a double martini for the extra driving. Met our class-B friend again. We took the downtown route and had slow construction traffic. He opted for the beltway and had fast kamakazi drivers. Slid his rig once, so we are happy with our choice.

They say that every cloud has a silver lining. In our case, the heavy downpour must have washed 20 pounds of bugs off of the rig!

Kentucky weed

Yup, Ohio has cows, also. And the country's slowest drivers. Kentucky, on the other hand, has drivers that rival Californians for speed and stupidity.

Saw more family this morning for breakfast, then went down to Lexington, Kentucky for a visit with Sara's side of the family. Hopefully, Miles can keep his various Aunt's straight, now.

Okay, so the pictures include Ione, Joan, Sandi, and Barbara. Did everybody get them right?

Friendship, Indiana. Home of the NMLRA and the National Championships of Muzeleloading. Also, the place Tom camped every fall with his Dad. Sara had never heard of it, so it was time to go.

It also has no cell service at all, nowhere, something we didn't plan on. This tends to panic Fathers-in-law, but it was actually kind of nice not being in contact. Sara still had satellite radio so she could keep up with the Angels.

Tom completely broke the Keyboard, so it will be short, handwritten entries until we get another one.

In true Friendship fashion, it was muggy as hell for 2 days, then it rained. And rained, and rained. The creek rose 4 feet in a matter of hours. Miles drew a crowd with his puddle-splashing antics. And we did a little bit of shooting, and a lot of shopping. Sara got to meet Homer Dangler, the gunsmith who crafted her rifle, and a friend of Tom's Dad. So now Sara has competed in the National Championships.

Now we are back in signal range in Toledo, Ohio. Nothing like dropping in on relatives without warning. Its time to seriously load up the motor home with family memorabilia, then turn aroundand head West. Yes, the return trip begins tomorrow.

ALIVE

We are still alive! Spent 6 days with no cell access. Now driving down the road, will post more later.

Spam, spam spam spam...

Sing along with me...Spam spam spam Lovely spam,...

The first spam comment has shown up. That's 3 comments, and 1 spammer. I'll be nice and not count Dave's comments as spam.

We'll ceep watching. (Lost the cay on my _eyboard yesterday) If it gets too heavy, I'll start moderating comments.

By the way, the beard is gone. Votes didn't do it, but 98% humidity has done it. Damn thing had to go. They ITCH!

Corn!

Ah Illinois! The land of rolling corn fields, flat corn fields, and ... well, more corn fields. Started out pretty dreary today, but cleared up nicely in the afternoon. The promise rain for tomorrow, we'll see.

We're sitting in central/southern Illinois, ready for the final dash tomorrow to Friendship. Bet we'll see more cornfields. And yes, we found more cows today.

Sara spotted a Denny's today, bringing the world series of Denny's spotting closer. It's now 8 to 5 in favor of Tom. This is after a 3 state drought when we wondered if they just didn't have Denny's close to the Mississippi.

We have lots of pictures of corn fields, but thought they might bore you...

And we saw a fellow California traveler. Later, Miles got to hold a real live squirmy earthworm in his hand. Right next to the campground is a farm, so he got to watch the tractor wor_ing, also. And Cicadas! I forgot all about those! Man, those suc_ers are loud!

Made an early stop today in southern Wisconsin, at the Rustic Barn Campground. Here's the rustic barn.

There was the mighty Mississippi, not loo_ing too impressive, yet.

welcome to Wisconsin

Sometime around noon, Miles began as_ing, "Daddy, can you find us a state without cows?" Just then we passed in to Wisconsin, and cows too_ on a whole new significance.

We bid farewell to Mecca today and travelled east. A horrible tragedy struc_. The _eyboard bro_e! Can you guess which letter bit the dust? Yup. The _ is gone. And the J and H next to it are misbehaving, also. So much for the fancy wireless bluetooth _eyboard. Do you have any idea how many words have that fuc_ing letter in them?

The Hajj

Wondering where we went? What Mecca is to Muslims, Forest City Iowa is to Winnebago owners. We made it in last night, and Tom had an 0700 service appointment this morning. Precisely at 0700 legions of Winnebago service technicians march out to meet the faithful, waiting with their prayers of repair.

The holy technician re-repaired several items that our local California dealer had "repaired". They also installed metal valve stems to make it easier to check tire pressures. Our California had demanded $580 dollars for the chore that Winnebago did for $108.

We did the factory tour. Pretty dang impressive. Sure, it's got corporate spin written all over it, but the manufacturing is quite impressive. Watched 3 parallel assembly lines cranking along. Actually saw several View/Navions under construction, it gave us a good feeling. We're leaving town rested and rejuvenated, and once again with a happy refridgerator. Besides, you have to love the original owner of the company. "Booze, Sex, and Weekends - you can never take them away from Americans!"

Tomorrow we changed plans. Time to duck up to Wisconsin for a night. We haven't seen enough cows yet.

TANSTAAFL!

South Dakota is a big state! We drove all day and we're still in it. We managed to retain control and went right by Wall Drug without stopping.

However, we could not pass Cabela's in Mitchell. They lure you in with free RV parking, then suck you into the store. Free RV parking it was not! But the store was incredible, Miles named off most of the animals. And an aquarium with 4-foot long catfish!

Tomorrow it is off to Iowa. We'll see where our motorhome was made, and have them work on it, too. And it's time to get back off the interstate!

Vote!

Okay, it's been a week. The more that grows in, the more I look like my brother Guy. This is not a good thing. I said I'd give it two weeks before deciding, but I'm not sure I can wait. Miles thinks it's cool, Sara thinks it's stupid.

Do you side with Miles or Sara? Keep it or shave it?

Dinosaurs!

Watched the mass exodus from the park today, felt guilty about not having to go back to work. It's just us and the retirees now.

Went into Hill City and toured a dinosaur exhibit. Miles knew several of the names better than I did. Of course we toured the gift shop, also. Had lunch at a local restaurant. The food was good but the wait staff was having major grumble wars with each other. Miles' placemat had drawings of tools on them. The conversation went something like this:

"Miles, I need to cut a board in half, which tool do I use?"
He pointed to the saw, and said, "this one".

"Miles, I need to tighten a bolt, which tool do I use?"
He pointed to the wrench.

"Miles, I'm a vodka and orange juice cocktail, which tool am I?"
Darn kid pointed right to the screwdriver. Either he is very smart or a mind reader. I don't even like screwdrivers!

Sunday, September 3rd (we think)

Wow, what a day. If South Dakota could keep every day like this, nobody would live in California. Started with a pancake breakfast at the campground. All you can eat for 2$ means nobody else cooks! We also spotted another View in the campground - only the second one of the trip. They are Mike and Betty from Minnesota, and they already knew all about the Yahoo group, turbo resonators, etc. We played show and tell with our different rigs. They tow a trailer with an incredible Goldwing in it. I am so jealous! These roads were made for motorcycle touring. David, they even beat the Santa Cruz mountains!

Today we went for a drive around the area and did some geocaching. This got us off the beaten path and away from the tourist spots. We drove the "Needles Highway" - a tight twisting road with multiple tiny tunnels. The View would have fit through all but one of the tunnels - fortunately we were in a rental car, not the motorhome.

Miles loves his "treasure hunting"

We also learned what "pigtail bridges" are - through the guardrail on the right you can see the road that we just drove on. You loop right over on top of yourself. What Tehachapi is to trains, these bridges are to cars.

Went through Custer State Park. Saw some more buffalo (bison), and some very friendly donkeys. Miles is definitely not your typical earth-loving Californian, when he saw the buffalo he said, "There's good eating on those!"

Dead guys on a hill

Today was beautiful - cool, crisp, and scattered clouds. We went and looked at some dead guys on a hill.

Okay, I'm just saying that because I couldn't even begin to describe it. It's pretty dang impressive. And then some. Even Miles stayed awake for this one.

Yellowstone is famous for "bear jams" - a sudden traffic jam caused by everybody taking pictures of a passing bear. On the way back to camp today, we got stuck in a "goat jam" - but Miles thought it was cool.

The fridge is misbehaving. Good thing a visit to the manufacturer is coming up!

National Woodcarver's Museum

Yesterday it was rain all morning. Made for some great sleeping-in weather. Since it was cold and wet, we decided to visit indoor attractions. The clouds were so low, all you could see of Crazy Horse was his nose.

We went to the National Woodcarvers Museum, and saw the work of Dr. Niblack, the original animator for Disney. he did a lot of carving. The mechanical fixtures he built to power it all was amazing, too.

When we got back, it was starting to clear. Is there anything that more embodies the word "fun" than a kid and a mud puddle? All the good parts are on Sara's video - I was laughing so hard I couldn't keep the camera still.

Fortunately, the View has an outside shower.

comments

I turned on open comments. Let's try it for awhile and see if we get spammed out or not. I have one vote so far that the background sucks and it can't be read. Any others?

midnight thunderstorms

Miles is sleeping, after staying up half the night peeking out the window at thunderstorms. These are the first he can remember.

I made a comment to Sara yesterday about the really nice driving weather we'd had. Now that we're not driving, the weather is catching up.

Here's one cool thing Wyoming does - they post signs alongside the road pointing out interesting geological features.

Up and at it early today, wanted to make it to Hill City, South Dakota before the weekend rush. This is our hole-up spot for Labor Day. Had a bit of excitement as we climbed one incredibly steep hill. The turbo decided to quit again. With hillside to the left, and K-rail to the right, there was no place to turn around. Like the little engine that could, that thing pulled and pulled even with a non-functioning turbo. Finally made it to a pullout and found the good news- the turbo resonator wasn't broken again, the hose had just come loose. A few cranks with the wrench and we were back in business.

While Tom's heartbeat was slowly getting back to normal, Sara spotted some wildlife other than the ever-present cattle. She swears she saw a moose, but wasn't able to get a shot of it. Sheep and pronghorn were everywhere.

Now we are in South Dakota, set to do some local sightseeing. Miles is happy, he got to have a buffalo burger for dinner.

Miles had a great time in the Natural History museum, and loved playing with the animals. This place is definitely worth spending several days at, not just one. The campground was in downtown Cody. Sites were right on top of each other, just inches apart. But right at dusk a doe and fawn wandered through the center of the campground. Twice I've been to Cody now, and twice I've seen deer walking through town.

Sometimes I realize just how lucky I am, having the wife that I do. She spent more time in the firearms museum than I did. Had to drag her out when Miles got too bored. Unfortunately, now she expects me to produce ivory inlay work on her next rifle!

Cody, Wyoming

Spent 2 nights in Cody Wyoming. Took time to visit the Buffalo Bill Center - 5 separate museums. Natural History, Buffalo Bill Cody, Western Art, Native American, and Firearms. Guess where we went first.

Grand Tetons

Say wow, OK?

It worked better with the original post.


Thanks brother David, one thousand thanks, for sending us this way. Well worth it.

Don't know what happened to the posts. Ruined the whole effect.

Here's the damn buffalo. Okay bison, whatever.

So THIS is what it's all about. Today we drove through Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone Park. Please apologize the typos in advnace, Tom got a double martini after driving the full distance. Please understand, Sara can drive in the mountains but Tom is more comfortable. If you want one behind the wheel and one behind the lens, Tom gets the wheel.

So THIS is what it's all about. Today we drove through Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone Park. Please apologize the typos in advnace, Tom got a double martini after driving the full distance. Please understand, Sara can drive in the mountains but Tom is more comfortable. If you want one behind the wheel and one behind the lens, Tom gets the wheel.

Yellowstone was incredible, We saw lots of wildlife, including buffalo.