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.