Pigott Road Trip

The Maritimes

2008-09-20T16:11:00.000-07:00

Wow, we thought driving through Montana took forever, doesn’t compare to New Brunswick! And the weirdest thing was the moose fencing that ran alongside the road, especially when we saw a Moose running on the side of the highway, funny!

Prince Edward Island or PEI as the locals call it is a lovely island of rolling hills, beautiful beaches and miles after miles of biking trails. To see any of the sights on the island you must do a lot of driving as everything is few and far between. Small fishing villages line the coast so we took advantage and went on a local charter boat fishing for Mackerel and Cod. Troy caught the largest Cod of the day which was our dinner that night, so fresh and yummy!

Lobster traps, lobster shacks and lobsters boats were everywhere along with potato field after potato field. We drove to the North Cape and explored the tourist towns of Summerside and Charlottetown, quaint boutiques and restaurants made up the towns. We stumbled across a house, church and bar made all out of bottles. Here is Troy making himself comfortable at the Bottle Bar

After making our way over the Confederation Bridge the longest (8 miles) in the world crossing ice-covered waters (scary in an RV that reacts to the slightest change in the wind) we made our way into Nova Scotia. We really enjoyed our time in Nova Scotia and extended it by a few days once we were there to further explore. There are so many different areas of Nova Scotia that we didn’t even make a dent in the exploration but we sure enjoyed the areas we made it to and hope to make it back some day. Cape Breton Highlands National Park is at the tip of Nova Scotia and is famous for the Cabot Trail that runs along the coast, gorgeous! Along the Cabot Trail in Cap Le Moine we found Joe's Scarecrow Village, a display of more than 100 scarecrows dressed and masked to represent politicians, actors and other famous personalities as well as everyday life in Cape Breton. In 1946, Joe Delaney planted a garden and placed scarecrows in it - to scare away the crows. Neighbors told Joe the garden was too close to salty sea water to grow vegetables while other neighbors suggested he grow scarecrows. He placed more scarecrows in his garden and tourists stopped to see the figures so he planted even more scarecrows.

We took a hike through the park on the Skyline Trail where we were able to get a good look at the Cabot trail and met ourselves a Moose and her baby. The third picture below is Green Cove along the eastern shore of the trail with the waves crashing and the wind whipping, it was chilly to say the least!

We made it to North America's only single malt whisky producer, Glenora Distillery where we toured the distillery and tasted their whisky, not a big fan and boy was it expensive. We didn't buy any :) It was time to make it to Halifax and their Natal Days celebration. It was their birthday and they were having concerts every night on the pier. We made it to the last night of the festival and caught the band “Dirty Deeds”, an AC/DC cover band, very interesting! Alexander Keith’s Brewery is located downtown and we became a big fan! We toured their brewery the following day, best brewery tour we have ever been on. They took you back in time and everyone was in period clothes and the tasting room was in the basement from the original brewery, very cool pub, Cheers!

With Halifax as our base we toured Lunenburg and Peggy’s Cove. Lunenburg’s Fisheries Museum was a great history lesson in all matters of the sea and their waterfront is one of the most photographed views in the area.

Peggy’s Cove is a true fishing village. The tourist were everywhere in this little town to get a view of their lighthouse among the rocks and take a few pics, we joined in the fun.

We moved across Nova Scotia to Parkers Cove and the Bay of Fundy to experience high and low tide. Each day 100 billion tons of seawater flows in and out of the Bay of Fundy during one tide cycle more than the combined flow of the world’s freshwater rivers! The time between a high tide and a low tide is six hours. Every 6 hours the water went down or up 40 feet – truly a feat to see. In the pictures below you can see Troy on the ocean floor with Lisa on the pier looking down. In the next picture the water and boats are close to the pier with Lisa and no Troy, did he get swept away? Nope, just went to the pier six hours later, our campsite was next door to the marina with wonderful views of the bay and the sunset.

Our time in Canada was done (for now) and we began our trip South along the Eastern shore. When we crossed the border back into the good U. S. of A. the border patrol came into the RV and took a look around - good thing we didn't try to smuggle anything into the country :)

Canada, eh?

2008-09-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

Troy survived the annual fishing trip and we met at Straits State Park just over the Mackinaw Bridge. Great views of the bridge and passing boats – beautiful place to camp.

On the road again we began our trek across the Ontario Province, it seemed like we were never going to make it to Ottawa. Green lush landscapes and Moose Crossing signs kept us company as we made our way along Route 17. We stopped for the night at Driftwood Provincial Park, it was calling our name (we live on Driftwood Lane in Michigan) and Troy needed a break, driving takes a toll on a person. The park was located on a lake with great trails loaded with blueberries for the picking. Blueberries were also everywhere along the Route. We could not figure out why so many cars were parked on the side of the road so we asked a local, people were in the bushes searching for blueberries – very strange and so many cars!

On our way to Montreal we stopped for a very quick tour and lunch in Ottawa. Since it is not so easy to maneuver the RV in the “Big City” we parked the RV at, you guessed it, a Wal-Mart and took the Jeep into the heart of the city. We didn’t stay long though, we parked the RV in front of a sign stating “3 hour parking while shopping only” and since the puppies were in the RV we were a bit nervous that we would come back and the RV would have been towed puppies and all, not good! So we only checked out the Ottawa Market – Great places to stop for lunch, cool bars and what a wonderful farmers market!

We made it to Montreal and played the part of tourist visiting the downtown area with a bus/aqua tour – we road around town learning the history and seeing the historic sights and then the bus went into the water to see the town from the Saint Lawrence River, weird tour, looked more fun then it actually was but we did get to see the sights in a unique way. We then toured the Basilique Norte-Dame Church, gorgeous stained glass and wood work, amazing!

We also went to the Montreal Tower at the Parc Olympique where the Olympics were held years ago. Strange that they offer tours for a parc that is no longer used, the place was desolate however the tower offered great views of the city.

We arrived in Quebec to learn that the city was celebrating 400 years. There were special displays throughout the city and numerous performers in the city centre. We loved Quebec, it was a little slice of Europe in North America.

Beautiful buildings, great people and pubs everywhere! Great food too! One new favorite: Poutine, French fries with cheese curds covered with brown gravy, yummy! The next morning we headed to the Citadell, Quebec Fort, and witnessed the Changing of the Guard, what a process to go through every day!

Later in the day we headed to Montmorency Falls, the tallest falls in Quebec – we took a tram to the top and walked over the falls – very wet! We will definitely make it back to Quebec to do more exploring in the future!

Voyageurs, Apostle Islands and the UP

2008-09-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

It was time for us to make our way to the UP for Troy’s Annual Boy’s Fishing Trip in Curtis, Michigan. On the way we checked off another National Park – Voyageurs on Kabetogama Lake in Minnesota. We didn’t know that Minnesota had a National Park until we started doing research for the trip. The park is one of the few that is mainly water activities. We stayed at a quaint fishing lodge that also had a few spots for RV’s right on the Lake – wonderful views and great fishing. We rented a fishing boat from the lodge and hit the waters early! Lisa is not a morning person and to get her up early to go fishing is not the easiest task but she did it and in good spirits, we were both excited to be out on the water. We caught a mix of Walleyes and Saguers with the catch of the day going to Troy a 30” walleye, 8 fish caught in total! We brought them back to the lodge, where they cleaned them for us and that evening we had a fish fry – can’t go wrong with beer battered fish straight from the lake!

So, we have a bad habit of leaving the dog’s food containers outside the RV for the following day. In the places where we are truly “in the wild” we make an effort to remember to put them away. Well we forgot to put them away the second night at the lodge and Lisa hears the metal tins go flying and assumes that a Raccoon has gotten into the food, again! This would be the 3rd time, raccoon number 1 we scared away before he got into the food and the 2nd raccoon was munching away until Troy stared him down with the flashlight. We have had these dishes that store the dog’s food underneath for 3 years and the dogs have never “broken in” to get the food yet the raccoon’s figured out how to tip them over on their first try – interesting. Anyways back to the night in question, Lisa figures it is just another coon and makes some noise when opening the door assuming that it will run away, she peers outside and sees a BLACK BEAR eating the dog food – not good! After Lisa yells for Troy for a few minutes he finally manages to see what the fuss is all about, oh a BEAR! Yeah Troy, a BEAR! We make some noise, shine a light but the bear doesn’t want to move on – Dog food is yummy, right? Finally the bear gets the hint and moves on to rummage garbage cans located through the lodge. The next day we learn the bear comes around quite often and has become a “nuisance” according to the owners of the lodge, really, you don’t say?

We have stumbled across some very interesting picture taking opportunities along the way but the two below may be Troy's favorites taken in Minnesota Fish Country! :)

We had an appointment in Duluth/Superior to have the RV's oil changed so we headed to the “big city” and hung out there for a few days. Not much to do but Duluth does have a nice waterfront area were you can watch the boats go by and an Aerial Lift Bridge that is pretty cool. And of course you can’t forget the Lighthouses. We have seen Lighthouses everywhere on our tour and for some reason they are always a tourist attraction however we just don’t get the attraction, Sorry! Here is a picture of the Lighthouse on the Duluth pier – not bad, for a lighthouse!

Next state on the road trip, Wisconsin! We headed to Bayfield to take a tour of the Apostle Islands. We had been told the area was gorgeous and we were not disappointed. The downtown area is on the waterfront of Lake Superior with little tourist shops, pubs and of course fishing and island tours. The night we arrived we did a mini pub crawl grabbing apps along the way experiencing all the town has to offer! It was very quiet mid-week in Bayfield, this is definitely a weekend destination! We signed ourselves up for the Island Boat tour and arrived at 8:45 am the next morning to find the boat packed already, we were given middle seats on the main enclosed level of the boat, makes it a bit difficult to take pictures of the surroundings but Troy made his way to the upper deck a few times to get a few more lighthouse pictures :) The area is beautiful and exploring it on your own is probably the way to go, next time either sign up early to guarantee an upper deck seat or use your own boat!
Wow, we were now back in Michigan, such a strange feeling! We made it to Wakefield and made camp for the night. The Campground was on a lake so we let the puppies play in the water and lost 2 dog toys, guess the dogs weren’t in the “mood” to bring the toys back! Last time we buy $12 water toys, tennis balls will work just fine next time :)

The following morning we made our way to Curtis, love the UP, so much beauty! We did a 10 day camping trip in the UP 6 years ago and the drive brought back wonderful memories. This trip is not “camping”, it is “RVing”, big difference! Not that Lisa would have camped for the last 4 months but we do miss the trips when we “rough it”!

It was now time for Lisa to hit the road and let the boys be boys on their annual fishing trip, she couldn’t leave fast enough!

Touring the Dakota's

2008-09-12T16:28:00.000-07:00

Time once again for some long driving days, we want to make it from Glacier to Mount Rushmore for the 4th of July Fireworks. So, once again we find ourselves at a Wal-Mart parking lot for the evening to save a bit of cash which normally works out great, free parking and a place to grab a few supplies. However we were across the street from a refinery of some sort and they started power blasting tanks at 6:00 am – not the best noise to wake up to! And just so you don’t think we are the only people staying at a Wal-Mart we took a picture of our “site”. There were about 6 RV's the night we stayed, you can see 2 other's in the picture.

On our way through Montana (gorgeous state that never seemed to end) we stopped at The Battle of the Little Bighorn National Monument — also known as Custer's Last Stand, where we listened to the Ranger tell what they think happened on June 25 and June 26, 1876, near the Little Bighorn River in the eastern Montana Territory. Here is a bit of history for you: The battle was the most famous action of the Indian Wars, and was a remarkable victory for the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne, led by Sitting Bull. The U.S. Seventh Cavalry, including a column of 700 men led by George Armstrong Custer, was defeated. Five of the Seventh's companies were annihilated and Custer himself was killed as were two of his brothers and a brother-in-law.

We finally made it to South Dakota and headed to Deadwood, final resting place of “Wild” Bill Hickok so Troy really wanted to check it out. Legend has it that Hickok was playing poker when he was shot, was holding a pair of aces, a pair of eights, and a queen. "Aces and eights" thus is known as the "Dead Man's Hand". The town of Deadwood is trying a bit too hard to still be in the year 1876, the year “Wild Bill” was shoot. The town has turned into a tourist trap with numerous saloons, casinos and reenactments of the shooting taking place in the streets daily. If you are in the area check it out but we would not recommend going out of your way to stay or play in Deadwood.

Happy 4th of July!!! Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota is our new favorite state park. So many things to do and see! Close to Mount Rushmore and our campsite was within the park, what more could we ask for. Well we could ask for a camp host that does not look like they live in a junk yard, his refrigerator was outside of his trailer along with numerous other items, what a mess! This is the first impression people get when arriving at the campground! But as we said, perfect location, we love it when we don’t have to do a ton of driving to get to see all the sites.

We took off on a scenic drive along Needles Highway, which twists and turns its way past towering rock formations and through narrow tunnels. At the end of one tunnel stands the Needles Eye, a granite spire with a slit only 3 to 4 feet wide but reaching 30 to 40 feet in the air. Very cool rocks! At the end of the drive we came upon Sylvan Lake, a gorgeous lake surrounded by large rock formations and crystal clear waters with fishing, paddle boats and rocks for folks to sun themselves on – great place for a family vacation. On our way back to camp we saw 5 beautiful Big Horn Sheep. The size of their horns is truly amazing – take a look:

Upon arriving back at camp we took the dogs for a long nature walk. Many of the parks don’t allow you the take dogs on the trails but Custer does, streams to run through, bugs to chase, must have been a dream come true for the puppies!

That night we decided to go out for dinner at The State Game Lodge located within the park a short drive from our campsite. On the way we spotted a small herd of Big Horn Sheep (Lamb & Ewes) as they were munching on the side of the road. Wildlife is everywhere! The lodge served as the "Summer White House" for President Calvin Coolidge in 1927 and was visited by President Dwight D. Eisenhower for several days in 1953 so we figured if it was good enough for the presidents then it would be go enough for us, we were not impressed! The food was boring as well as the decor and the best part of the lodge, the outside views, were hidden upon entering the dining room so we had a quick app and hit the road again to drive the Wildlife Road.

Within moments on the Wildlife Road an Antelope and her 2 babies were right next to the Jeep. We sat and watched them roam for a bit, they are so graceful in their movements.

Funny this place is known for Bison (over 1500 of them) and we have only seen 1, Where's the Beef??? A bit further down the road we spotted Mr. Antelope, with some very cool antlers!

Before long we were surrounded by Jackasses, Donkey’s that is! Rumor has it that Donkey rides were once offer at the park and when they were no longer offer the park set them free to roam within the park. They were so used to people that they were begging for food to all the cars that passed by, they were creating a traffic jam in the middle of the wilderness. Lisa felt like she was being pulled over in the picture below while being asked for her License and registration! Note: Check out the smile on the Jackass, this is not photoshop - he was posing for the camera!

Dusk turned into night and it was time to head to the city of Custer for their annual fireworks. We stumbled across the perfect location just off the main road. With the top off the Jeep we could hear the music being played to accompany the Fireworks while we peered into the sky to see the brilliant colors explode into the night! It was a perfect ending to a perfect day! That is until we got home and Lisa went online to check out the details for the fireworks at Mount Rushmore the following day. Mount Rushmore on the 4th of July weekend was one of the very first things we put on our calendar when planning the trip. Somehow we had it down that July 5th was the firework display this year, not the 4th, boy was that not the case! Troy’s mom called us that night letting us know how cool they looked on TV and that they must have been spectacular in person, well we don’t know this year but we will make it back another year to see the fireworks above the presidents and I am sure then it will be a spectacular event!

Driving the Iron Mountain Road through Custer on our way to see Mount Rushmore we finally saw the “famous” Bison of Custer. And when we say famous some of them starred in "Dances with Wolves" so they really are “famous”. The picture below is of a Bison scratching himself on a tree, you should have seen the tree shaking as he was conducting his scratch, we though it might fall over!Driving along the windy road we came through a tunnel and had our first sighting of Rushmore, how awe inspiring! We were unaware that this was “the” tunnel to see the Memorial through so we turned around and went back to take some pics (we do this a lot, very important to get the picture just right!)We made it to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial and it was crazy with people. We know what you are thinking; of course it was, 4th of July weekend at a National memorial, duh! But we had such luck with places not being busy that we were not prepared for the summer rush, time to suck it up and stand in line!

A flag from each state greeted us as we walked towards the memorial – breathtaking! We were a bit disappointed as we made our way closer to the presidents as we noticed the crew atop the memorial cleaning up from the “spectacular” firework display from the night before (just another reminder we missed them). Troy did a great job of “hiding” the large white bags of trash coming down the face of the memorial in the photo below, nice work Troy!

Next we headed to the Crazy Horse Memorial located not far from Mount Rushmore. The Crazy Horse Memorial is a work in progress and who knows if it will ever be finished. Once the Memorial is complete Lisa is convinced it will be worth visiting but until that day don’t waste your 20 bucks! Maybe the admission price should reflect the ongoing construction and have a reduced price for work-in-progress. :)

After taking the puppies for another walk along the nature trail we got ready for a night on the town. We went to see “Urinetown” at the Black Hills Playhouse. "Penny for a Pee!" The play was put on by the University of South Dakota and was wonderful, so funny! The little playhouse in the middle of Custer State Park in the middle of the Black Hills made it all the more of a cool experience. We loved Custer State Park and wanted to spend more time there but it was time to move on, we have a schedule to keep, okay not really but we have a ton more places we want to explore!

We had been in South Dakota awhile now and it was time to head up to North Dakota, Fargo was our destination. Along the way we stopped off at Wall Drug. If you took an advertising or marketing class in College you heard about Wall Drug. Wall Drug became famous for it’s “Free Ice Water” signs on the freeway off of I-90 luring tourist in off the highway to their drug store. Wall Drug today is a huge tourist trap but one that is a welcomed stop along the road. They have also become know for the Jackalope in their backyard. Here is Lisa with the Jackalope, she had to fight off a little girl to get her turn, damn kids cutting in line!

Badlands National Park was another stop along the route however the badlands were a little too bad for us; dust, dirt devils, snake signs, we choose to explore this park in the RV – lucky for us much of the natural beauty can be seen from the safety and air conditioning of our RV and very far away from snakes! As you can see from the picture Lisa has overcome her fear of “Beware of Snakes” signs, we are still working on the actual snake part! We did miss the Minute Man Missile Silos on our way out of the Park, they were already closed, sorry Troy, maybe next time!

After spending the night in the middle of nowhere South Dakota, Kadoka we stopped at 1880 Town. Another tourist trap along the route – they seem to be everywhere and sometimes you just have to give in and stop. 30 buildings authentically furnished with thousands of relics from the era with the terrain of a sprawling homestead where you can envision life on the prairie– not a bad tourist trap if you had to pick one to stop at. They also had a museum dedicated to props used in the filming of Dances with Wolves since it was filmed in the area.

We finally made it to Fargo, North Dakota. Not a ton to do but we were happy to have a few days to chill and catch up on life outside of our National Park Tour, but of course we are not done with the tour – read more soon! (Really, we are going to post more soon, we are on a roll!)

Glacier National Park with Special Guest Brad Kopek

2008-09-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

We left the beauty of the Grand Tetons, driving through Yellowstone to make our way to Glacier National Park. We stopped off at Old Faithful since the day was sunny and free of snow we wanted to experience the geyser once again. Boy did we get to see a geyser go “off”, just not Old Faithful. The Beehive is an amazing sight to see and does not go off very often but we got to see it! The little spout next to the Beehive starts right before the larger geyser as a warning that the Beehive is about to go "off".

After a very long day of driving we found a friendly Wal-Mart to “camp” at for the night, thanks again Wal-Mart. The next day we arrived in Hungry Horse, MT where we were a few minutes from the airport and the Kennel where the puppies were going to stay when we went home for the weekend. Mom P. sold her house and we were going home to help move her and to attend Lisa’s cousin Jonathan’s Graduation Party – Congrats Jonathan! GO MSU!

We exchanged 2 guests for one and arrived in Glacier National Park just in time to pick up Brad (Lisa’s Brother) from the very small airport in Kalispell, MT. On the way to the airport Lisa got pulled over, again, for the Jeeps back lights not working, always something on this trip. Troy took the Jeep in the next morning to get everything fixed, ask Troy about the experience, he would love to tell you about the garage, very interesting! When Troy finally made it back from the garage we headed to Fish Creek Park, our new home for the next 4 days within Glacier National Park. Here is the RV “squeezed” into our spot, we were a few inches over there maximum length, oops! We loved our spot, right off the river and the sound of the rushing water was heaven to listen to while falling asleep.

After settling in to the campground we headed to Apgar Visitor Center to get the scoop on the park. Going-to-the-sun Road was going to be closed for a long time, 100 foot snow drifts were blocked the summit of the road. For those of you not familiar with the park this road is the main attraction and normally opens the first week of June, we were there the 3rd week of June and the park was still trying to plow and repair the roads. Below is a picture of the road from our Helicopter ride you will read about further into the blog.

We drove the 13 miles that were open on our end of the park and hiked to Avalanche Lake. Not such an “easy” hike as the park claimed but worth the view once we arrived at the Lake. We also explored the Trail of Cedars, massive trees and the Avalanche River was flowing strong, great nature walk.

After dinner we headed up the logging road to Polebridge, what a strange little “outpost”, Brad and Troy loved it! According to Troy, “so close to the end of the earth that we saw hippies”. Reminded us of the small towns we saw when we were in Alaska. The one and only bar in town was a trip. Lisa asked for a Coors Light (an empty one was sitting on the bar) and got the following response “If you want shit beer we have PBR & Schmidt” – wow! They did have an open mic night with locals performing, not bad and the atmosphere was the best, dogs roaming everywhere, guy with a snake around his neck (Lisa was not happy at all about the snake) and folks playing volleyball.

The following morning it was time to drive. Since the “Going-to-the-Sun” Road was closed we made the trek around the outside of the park. What a drive, it took us 2 ½ hours to get to St. Mary’s for lunch at Park Place Café. “Pie for Strength” is their motto, so yummy! We headed to Many Glaciers to hike the Swift Current Trail – at least part of it. Such a beautiful day with Mountains & Glaciers all around us! Redrock falls was “glorious”; the water was so clean and crisp. We spent a good hour lounging around the falls, well at least Lisa was lounging, Troy and Brad were busy trying to get the perfect picture.

On our way back we spotted a Moose and 2 babies across the lake, what a sight! Look at her coat, she was molting!

Course we were not happy about the people disturbing the Moose and her little ones, they forced her into the water, not smart on their part, they could have gotten seriously hurt being that close to the mom, take a look at the right side of the picture, you will see 1 of the 3 people invading the moose's space.

In total we hiked 5 miles while enjoying the beautiful Montana mountainside. On our way home a black bear ran in front of the car, hey it counts for an animal sighting! We stopped at a “nameless” waterfall along Hwy 2 to let the photographers do their thing. Brad was trying a few techniques with the water and in the meantime Troy decided we should get our picture with the fall. Next thing we know we are getting soaked by the water – talk about cold glacier waters – freezing is more like it.

We also stopped at “Goat Lick Overlook” and saw 3 Mountain Goats. They come to the side of the mountain to “lick” the minerals and salts in the mountainside, not sure how they stay on the side of the mountain but they do. (See picture below from Helicopter Ride)

It was now time for us to take a Helicopter Ride over the Park. Lisa asked Brad to recap the flight as Lisa could not put into words her thoughts on our “near death” experience:
The weather was sketchy and we were already turned away for our early morning flight. The Pilot called and asked if we wanted to take the flight around noon before the afternoon clouds and weather moved in. After missing 3 chances in Alaska last summer to take a Heli tour we decided to take the chance rather than waiting till the next day (which turned out to be clear & calm). Lift off was a breeze and the approach to the parks boundary went without incident. Moving up the Middle Fork of the Flat Head we flew southeast towards Lincoln Lake, Jackson Glacier and Sperry Chalet (still buried in snow). Our first sense of danger came when our pilot banked the Heli severely and the G-forces climbed as he tired to get us a better view of the two impossibly perched Mountain Goats.

Senses alert, hands clenched on seats, fellow passengers, thin air or anything that could give a sense of security, none worked. As we continued our way through the 7,000 foot peaks along the Continental Divide we started to understand the nature of our decision to fly on this day. Flipping between jaw dropping views, the 30 foot sudden drops, shifting high mountain winds we clicked cameras, tired to calm ourselves with deep breaths and in general, tired not to soil ourselves. Cresting the Continental Divide and reaching Bownan Lake in the northern half of the park we could see clear to Canada and Prince of Whales Hotel perched above Upper Waterton Lake. Turning south we passed more familiar places to us like Lake McDonald (our campground was near the lake) and Avalanche Creek where we had hiked the previous day. Thoroughly scared, bodies drained from the emotional and physical overload we returned to the Helipad in West Glacier. Lasting only an hour, our aerial tour of Glacier will leave an impression that will last a lifetime. Jim, our pilot, stayed calm on the surface but upon return stated that the winds were truly bad. The final sign of this was his statement that although his wife had joined him on countless trips, she would never fly in weather like this. To our relief we remembered our stock of beer in the RV and returned to camp for a few decompression suds and rest.

Although the flight made us rethink going on a Helicopter ride again we did get some amazing pictures, well Brad and Troy did, don’t think Lisa’s hands ever stopped clutching the sides of her seat. Check out the few photos below, ask us to show you the rest sometime, they are magnificent!

Upon exiting the plane our pilot, Jim said to Lisa, wow you look better than I expected, I expected you to be "Green".

Here is a rare picture of Brad, since he is always behind the lens and hardly ever shots photos of people this is one of the few photos we have of Brad with us in Glacier.

Since it was Sunday the “Going-to-the-Sun” Road was open for bike traffic and Troy was not going to miss the opportunity to make the ride. The road was a mess with tons of work needing to be done before it can be opened for vehicle traffic. A glorious 3000 foot climb to the summit gave Troy a very sore ass and the most amazing pictures of 2 Big Horn Sheep, one which started to charge him and the most awesome views for the Park. Charger after the encounter with the sheep he pedaled faster and came across many deer and spectacular views.

Here is a picture of the Weeping Wall Troy rode up to along his summit journey.

June 23rd brought to you by guest writer Brad Kopek: Leaving Lisa to her lounging Troy and I headed to Polebridge again, for hippie fest part II. After arriving via the North Fork Outside Road we grabbed a quick lunch at the Polebridge Mercantile (focaccia bread, the hippies have the best) and headed into the northern most U.S. entrance to the park. The Jeep came in most handy as we bumped and wiggled our way down to “Hidden Meadows”. This landscape burns regularly so the small tightly packed 20 years old trees gave dramatic views through the Grizzly Country. We arrived at the meadow, straight out of a picture book … low laying lake, mountain crest background and shielded trees. Without a moment to realize what was happening I yelled “WOLF!” and our cameras started clicking away … an adult black wolf with 2 young pups howling and barking at us the wolves made their escape leaving out heart rates to return to normal. We checked in with the park rangers on our way back and they confirmed our belief that we truly did see and experience something unique for we were only 20 feet from the wolves. We celebrated with several beers at Northern Lights Lounge (the hippie bar from earlier) and then returned to Fish Creek and told Lisa of our adventures.

Our last day in Glacier was a lazy day spent packing up the RV (which doesn’t take long) and heading back to Hungry Horse where the RV is going to stay while we go home. It was a funny feeling to be leaving our home-away-from-home to go home. We also took the puppies to the Kennel, we were a bit nervous leaving them when we were not that familiar with the kennel but we checked the place out before we left and of course they were fine when we returned!

The Spectacular Grand Tetons

2008-09-03T21:47:00.000-07:00

We made our way to Grand Teton National Park driving through Yellowstone, what an awesome view from the RV. We opened all the windows and were taking tons of pics of more bison; which were everywhere and the gorgeous landscape we were passing by. Here is one of the first views we had of the Teton Range.

We always try to get a picture of where we are and since Gelene and Trent were accompanying us to the Tetons we wanted a picture with all of us.

We arrived at the Colter Bay Campground, great campground within the Park where our site was a short walk from Jackson Lake. What a magnificence view of the Teton Range we had. The first night we took the puppies to play in water and see the sunset at the Lake.

The next morning we took a cruise on Jackson Lake and headed to Elk Island in the middle of the Lake where we were cooked a yummy breakfast in true camping style. It was a bit chilly but the views and food made up for it!

Driving through the park we saw a Grizzly Bear off to the side of the road with his lunch, a baby antelope, we were viewing nature at work. Rangers in the park mentioned that this Grizzly was “greedy” as he had killed a baby antelope just the week before. Here is a photo of the Bear, the antelope is hidden behind the bush.

We took a drive into Jackson Hole, strange to be in a ski town when it is not ski season but we enjoyed a great lunch and did a bit of shopping. The ladies were given a time limit so they would not spend the entire day browsing through the quaint shops. In the center of town are Elk Antler Entrances to a city park, they have a huge Elk population and the National Elk Refuge is located just outside of town where the Elk migrate to the Refuge each year from the Grand Teton National Park.

On our way back to camp we spotted a Coyote running through a meadow. Troy was determined to get a “few” great photos of the Coyote. We must have followed it for at least 30 minutes. Nice job Troy, here is one of over 100 photos Troy took of the Coyote.

Upon returning to our campground we were met by a Moose crossing the road, they are huge!!!!

That night we went to Jackson Lake Lodge for sunset, drinks and dinner. Sitting out on the patio overlooking the mountains with the sun setting in the background and searching for Moose in the Meadow in front of us was a perfect way to end the day.

Our last day in the park we stopped at the Jackson Dam and took a few amazing pics of the Mountains reflection on the Lake, just gorgeous!!!

We then headed up to Signal Mountain with 360 views of the park.

It was now time for another boat ride, this time on Jenny Lake to explore Hidden Falls. After a short but steep hike we arrived at the falls and since the snow was still melting they were “going off” as Troy likes to say.

Snake River Overlook was our next stop on the park tour. This is where Ansel Adams took his famous photo of “The Tetons ~ Snake River” which we happen to have hanging in our RV. Troy tried to recreate the photo. It is over 70 years later now and the trees have grown quite a bit since Adams took his photo so a bit of difference but still an amazing view.

We had a great time at the Tetons with Gelene and Trent, thank you so much for coming to visit us! We highly recommend a trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons to everyone. If you don’t like Camping or RVing there are numerous lodges to stay at within the park where you can watch for wildlife from the bar or the safety of your rental car :)

Yellowstone National Park with special guests Gelene and Trent

2008-08-04T00:04:00.000-07:00

We woke up bright and early to begin our journey to Yellowstone National Park. We started the drive from Idaho Falls, expecting a nice and easy drive (3 hours) to the West Entrance of the park where we would be making our home for the next 3 nights at Grizzly RV Park. Not so, as we made our way up the mountain pass the temperature began to drop dramatically and the snow began to fall. With the snow sticking and traffic creeping up the mountain we were getting a bit nervous as we saw the semi-trucks pulling off the road to put on their snow chains – not a good sign considering we didn't have snow chains. With 10 inches of snow and the "high" temp of 29 degrees (in June) we arrived safe and sound at our campground, all the while Gelene (Troy’s mom) was sleeping on the couch missing all the action of the fun-filled drive.

Even though the weather was not what we were hoping for we were not about to miss any time we had in the park. Many of the roads within the park were closed due to the snow (bummer however they all ended up open before the end of our time within the park) however Old Faithful was up to its usually tricks so we made our way to the show. We stopped at a few of the Geysers Basins along the way and were in awe of the hot springs and mud pots that speckled the terrain. The heat you felt when walking past a spring was similar to entering a steam room, a steam room that smelled like rotten eggs that is. Old Faithful erupts almost every 75 minutes, predicted within 10 minutes, good thing too, it was freezing outside and we were all bundled up waiting for the big moment. Amazing, the water shot up 150 feet in the air and did so for almost 5 minutes, mixed with the snow it was a sight to see. (Note: the photo of the Geyser below is from the second time we viewed the show, with all the snow the pics weren't the best the first day we visited the geyser) After the “show” we headed over to the Old Faithful Lodge to warm up with a hot toddy and marvel at the craftsmanship of the Lodge, beautiful.

Lions, Tigers and Bears … Oh My! Well maybe not lions and tigers but talk about wildlife sightings; Bears, Bison (Buffalo), Coyotes, Elk, Bison, Pronghorn Antelopes, Big Horn Sheep, Bison, Bald Eagles and did we mention the Bison throughout the park?

“Bear or Bison Jams” were a common occurrence while driving through the park, nature’s version of a traffic jam. Bison have a habit of clogging roadways as do tourists who are stopped on the side of the road gawking at the wildlife. Troy happened to be the first to spot the black bear in the photo below and soon enough we had created our own little “Bear Jam”.

On another occasion we thought a Bison was going to charge our Jeep after the car in front of us drove too close to him and literally “pissed it off”. The Bison stared us down from the middle of the road while we created another “jam” waiting for him to cross the road.

With the snow still falling the following day in some areas and starting to melt (hurray) in others we took the road to Artist Point and the Lower Yellowstone Falls. The scenery was breathtaking. We will let the photos do the talking for this one.

After numerous detours throughout the park due to snow we arrived at the Mud Volcanos. We were met with still mud pots as the snow had made everything so wet that they were not performing to their best ability, too bad, we heard when they are active they are very cool to witness.

We did wander upon a few really “bright” tourists, look closely at the picture below. Think they might be a bit too close to the Elk with the big horns?

We had our first Moose sighting today, course the photos didn’t turn out the greatest by the time we parked the Jeep and Trent got out to run down the road to see if he could see her we could only see the top of her head but as the rangers tell you, people at home don’t know what is in the picture, a black dot to them is a bear if that is what the person on the vacation says it is! Luckily we did a bit better than a “black dot”.

After a long day of driving and exploring the many diverse landscapes of Yellowstone you still never know what to expect after the next curve, lucky for us when we got to Lamar Valley, a remote area of the park close to the Northeast Entrance, We spotted 2 Grizzly Bears hunting a Pronghorn Antelope. It was quite the experience to watch the hunt, luckily for us the antelope was quick to run once the chase was on.

On our way back to camp we spotted what we thought was a single wolf. Once we took a closer look at the pictures and spotted others on our travels we discovered it was a Coyote, still cool to see but a wolf would have been a very rare sighting. There was also a Bald Eagle nesting just off the main roadway which we passed everyday into the park, such graceful birds.

We woke up early the next day for our Paddle Saddle Adventure in Montana just outside the North Entrance of the park. White water rafting down the Yellowstone River (Paddle) and horseback riding (Saddle) in the Gallatin National Forest.

After our water/land adventures and with our sore butts situated back in the Jeep we got into another “Bear Jam” caused by the 2 Black Bear seen here. Yes we know one is cinnamon colored but he is a Black Bear!

Calcite Springs overlook and Tower Falls was the site of numerous mama Big Horn Sheep and their young. We marveled at them as they traveled across the sides of the mountain with such finesse and ease. The mountain/river view in the picture below is where the sheep were grazing.

Thought you might want to see a picture of people instead of all the animals we saw along the way so here is a picture of Gelene and Lisa at Tower Falls.

As we made our way thru Yellowstone in the RV to Grand Teton National Park we had a great “higher” view where we “snapped” a few more shots, enjoy the pictures!

Our Idaho Experience

2008-07-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

Our first night spent in the state of Idaho was more of a stop over really. Troy had been driving all day and we were pretty much over it when we came upon Three Islands State Park. The park was the site of the Oregon Trail River Crossing. Think back to high school history and I am sure all the details of the river crossing will come rushing back to you. Well maybe not and this is not meant to be a history lesson for you the reader however the park did have a new visitors center/museum dedicated to the river crossing which gave us a glimpse into the lives of the people who took part in the trek cross country. We will stick with our RV, horse and buggy are not for us!

The next day we stumbled across Wolcott State Park, very pretty, on a lake, a great place to relax with the puppies. Not too much to do outside of Idaho Falls and we were not in a rush as we were headed into the "city" to service the RV on Monday so we enjoyed the sunshine and the views of the area.

The weather turned on us and became cold and windy, yuck. Idaho Falls did not have much for us to occupy our time with as we waited for our Oil Change and routine maintenance to be completed. Funny how real life still applies even while on our little adventure! The main reason we were in Idaho Falls was to pick up Gelene and Trent (Troy's mom and brother) from the airport as they were accompanying us to Yellowstone and Glacier National Park the following day. More guests, yippee!!!

Touring Washington State: Olympic National Park, San Juan Islands, Seattle & Wineries

2008-07-23T18:10:00.000-07:00

We were so ready to leave the coastal towns of Oregon and head into the mountains/forests of Washington. Lisa never thought she would have had enough of the ocean but the foggy coast was getting to us (Where is the sun?) so it was time to move on and meet Lisa’s cousin Scott in Washington.

We high-tailed it to Olympic National Park, well at least as fast as the RV could take us that is! The route was a tree-lined drive through the state, never have we seen so many lumbered forests and lumber trucks. And they book up those mountains, scary fast as they passed us every time! Once we made our camp at the John Wayne Marina/Campground in the town of Sequim a few miles from the border of Olympic National Park we waited for Scott to join us. Scott met up with us along with his friend Brian after taking the “long” way from Seattle (about a 4 hour detour, sucked to be them) We found the only restaurant open at 9pm in the sleepy town and celebrated that they finally made it! Scott and Brian were our first guests and we were excited to share our road trip with them.

In the AM we decided to take a “short” hike up to Hurricane Ridge within the park. The drive up the mountain was cloud covered and we were concerned that we would not even see the top of the mountain but once we got to the top we were literally above the clouds high up in the mountains. Little did we know that there would be so much snow along the roadway that we would have been better off wearing snowshoes instead of hiking shoes. To get to the start of the trail we had to walk on the roadway covered with snow. Take a look at this picture of Scott, Brian and Lisa. The snow was so deep that we are standing at the top of a sharp curve road sign, you can see a bit of the roadway peeking out in the bottom left hand corner of the pic below.

The “short” hike turned into a 6 mile hike with about 70% of hiking done on top of the melting snow. The views were amazing but the hike was a challenge for sure. We were all bet by the time we finally made it back to the Jeep. And of course the last ¼ mile was all up hill, seems to be the case every time we go hiking, as Troy says nothing is worth getting to unless you have to climb uphill.The next morning with Scott and Brian back in Seattle and us a “tad” sore from the hike the day before we decided to take it a bit easy and tour more of the park with the Jeep instead of by foot. We took the “Storm King” entrance into the park and explored Lake Crescent which was as flat as glass (see photo below) and Marymere Falls. The short 1 mile hike to the falls was truly beautiful as the area was so lush and green.

Next we headed on to Sol Duc Falls, a bit of a soggy hike but well worth it once we arrived at the falls.

To get anywhere was a long drive along the outskirts of the park but we were on a mission, Troy wanted to see the Hoh Rain Forest. As it turned out it was not worth the drive. The area had not seen rain in quite a while and the forest did not resemble much of the “rain” forest that we had been promised from the research we had done on the park, guess it wasn’t the right time of the year to visit. The area along the Strait of Juan was touted as a scenic drive so we decided to take the longer but “scenic” drive home, not very scenic as the Strait was mostly blocked by trees, wouldn’t recommend this boring long drive but at least we can say that we took the “scenic” route :)

Time for a new adventure, we took the RV on a ferry. Very cool that the RV could fit on a ferry, what a quick way to get to the city, anything to save on drive time we are a huge fan of! Once in the city we met up with Scott and headed to up to Anacortes and the San Juan Islands. We stayed at the Pioneer Trails RV Park outside of the city of Anacortes, such a cute place. The next day we took the Jeep on the Ferry to San Juan’s Orcas Island. After a 1 hour trip we arrived on the island and headed to Mount Constitution where we greeted with a 360 degree view of the islands, at least for about 5 minutes before the fog rolled in and we were lost in it. A sign off the main road indicated that a waterfall was a short hike and since Lisa wants to stop at everyone we passed, we stopped and did the "short", very up hill, hike.

We then had a quick lunch and rushed back to the ferry to make sure we were back to catch the Red Wings game at a local bar, we made it to watch the game but the wings lost that night.

Again we were on the road, this time headed to a “big” city, Seattle. (Chip, we finally made it to a "real", happy?) Since Seattle is not made for RV’s we stayed outside of the city in Issaquah, great little city with the Issaquah Brewery where Rogue Beer is served and they have the best Crab Melt, yummy! (We ate there twice while in town they were so good!) After lunch it was time for Scott to leave us so we drove him to the train station in town. Of course it was raining but we enjoyed the city of Seattle none the less.

We decided to tour the local wineries just outside of Seattle. Two of our favorites were Chateau Ste. Michelle and Januik/Novelty Hill. At Chateau Ste. Michelle we took a tour to refresh our memories on the wine making process. We loved their wine, especially their Riesling’s! That night we headed back to the Issaqauh Brewery and watched the Wings win the Stanley Cup!

Our final day in the Seattle area we explored Pike’s Peak Market and had lunch at Brooklyn. If you are in the city and like Oysters stop by for Happy Hour, they have the best specials! Of course it was raining again but we had a great time getting to know the city and hope to make it back when it isn’t raining, we heard August is a great time to visit.

Washington is a big state and we weren’t quite done with it yet. We headed to Yakima Valley Wine Region and had a great day of driving through the country and experiencing their different wines. A few of our favorites were Windy Point and Masset Winery. Good thing we were on our way out of wine countries, I don’t think the weight limit in the RV could handle us buying many more. :)

Oregon Coast

2008-07-01T01:58:00.000-07:00

Our first stop on the Oregon Coast is Bullards Beach State Park. Oregon has the best state run campgrounds that we have been at this point in the trip. Everyone is so friendly, they want you to be there unlike some of the other campgrounds that we have been to and the place is spotless. It was the start of Memorial Day Weekend and rainy but folks didn't care, it was the beginning of summer and they were going camping, the place was packed. We shouldn't admit the timeframe of our visit to the coast since it will let everyone know how truly behind we are but our excuse is a good one, we had visitors on and off for the past 3 weeks and the past 2 no internet (Can you believe that there are places that we can't get online? It's true and it sucks!!!)

Bullards is truly "on the coast" and has it's own lighthouse to prove it! We can't see the ocean from our campsite so we took the dogs down to the beach to explore and play in the surf and chase the seagulls. The neighboring towns were exactly what you would picture when you picture a harbortown. Bandon was a bit touristy with the normal souviner shops and ice cream palors & Charleston was one fishing boats after another and Oyster shells everywhere. So far we are not a huge fans of the local Oysters, more fishy and smaller than what we are used to, hopefully they will improve as we go up the coast.

"Charlie" was in the town of Charleston on the wharf and of course Lisa had to get her picture with him, wouldn't you?

The second day in the area we took a drive further up the coast hitting North Bend and the Coos Bay area, very industrial with hints of tourist attractions. We are still having crappy weather, foggy and rainy, seems to be the norm for these parts, so beautiful when you can see the coast but not sure this place is for us, we (Lisa) needs the sunshine! We saw the sun peaking through the clouds after dinner for a few moments and it was a treat! We head into Bandon (town closest to the campground with a view of the lighthouse across the inlet) for dinner at Boatworks, hung out with the locals and was informed that Bandon is the cranberry capital of Oregon, we had the best cranberry bread, so yummy! We also discovered "Wine by Joe" Pinot Noir, we know the name doesn't give confidence in the wine but it is a great $15 bottle of Pinot.

Time to pack up the RV and keep heading up the coast. (We are getting very good at setting up and dismantling camp, ready to go in 15 minutes flat! Amazing how quickly we move from place to place) We make it to Yachatas after making a quick stop in Florence along the way. Florence is such a cute little town with B&B's and great restaurants, too bad we had already eaten.

We stayed right on the ocean again but this time could see it out our front window, what a view, if only it was sunny! Again we take the dogs to play in the sand and surf , watching them ever moment as they keep trying to drink the salt water, at least there is a fresh water stream here leading into the ocean, perfect for the dogs. The beach is very rocky in this area but it is pretty secluded and we are able to let the dogs run free and chase the tennis ball into the ocean over and over again. Troy got to play in the Tide Pools with all the old men the following morning with their sticks to "poke/play" with the starfish - so many starfish hanging on for dear life, strange to see.

It is the start of the Stanley Cup Finals and we don't get the game on the Dish so we head into town to find the game, not so easy in Oregon. Hockey is not really the sport of choice to watch in these parts. After searching the town we finally wander into a mexican restaurant and what do we see, 2 Penquin fans and the game on the TV by the bar, Troy is in heaven. Wings win the first game of the series!!!!

If you are ever in the area skip the Sea Lion Caves, we had been seeing signs for this place for at least 200 miles down the coast, figured it was a tourist trap but needed to check it out, don't bother; the smell, the noise, not fun! You can see the seals and sea lions better right off the coast at any number of the pull offs and it is free!

Two more days have pasted and it is time once again to continue our trek up the coast. We made a number of stops along the way to our final destination in Oregon, Fort Stevens State Park. First stop was the Newport Aquarium in Newport. We had lunch in the Rogue Brewery restaurant inside the aquarium (yummy food) and then visited with the sea life, great place to take the kids. (Good thing we are kids ourselves). Troy got a very cool pic of the jelly fish:

Next we stopped at the Tillamook Air Museum, another waste of money. Vintage flying aircraft are housed inside the largest wooden building in the world which was a WWII blimp hangar. You would "think" they would have a blimp or two to look at but no, instead they are using half of the hangar as storage for RV's, very strange and not what you want to see at the Museum. We head up the road a bit and stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, they have the best cheese! We have been here before when Brad lived in Oregon, good thing too, the place is a zoo, we skipped the tour and the free cheese samples and headed right to the store. They have the best "squeeky cheese" and their ice cream is so creamy - you have to try it if you ever have the chance.

After a very long day of driving and just in time for the Red Wings game we arrive at Fort Stevens State Park. The place is empty, so peaceful, we love it and decide to spend 3 days instead of 2 at the park. We ask the Rangers for a place to watch the game and head to the local bar, Buoy 9. Locals don't understand why we want to watch hockey but they let us turn the TV by the bar to the game - Go Wings, up 2-0!

Since we were at Fort Stevens we thought we should go check out the fort. Not much to see as the fort never saw any action, which is good however it made the fort boring to explore. Troy thought he might trade in ours for the one below, too bad he doesn't fit:

Headed into Astoria, the main town in the area and went to the Maritime Museum. For all you fisherman out there here are the Top 10 Things to Bring you Luck:

Fish bite best before a storm.
A boat's bottom paint is better if applied by the light of a full moon.

Cans of food, or anything else, must be stored with labels right-side up, to keep the boat from capsizing. Upside down can also throw off the compass.
No suitcases on board; only farmers carry suitcases.

Never leave the hatch covers upside down.

Don't take off the hatch cover until the first fish is landed.

Never cook pea soup on board a fishing boat; it brings stormy weather.

Never whistle on board; it calls up the wind.

Rabbits or Pigs should never be mentioned; they're bad luck.

It's bad luck to leave for a fishing trip on friday. (If you watch Deadlist Catch this one should be familiar to you as many of the captains believe this to be true.)

That evening we drove on the beach, so cool! The beach just south of the State Park is public land and driving is allowed. We drove for miles along the beach, playing with the waves and exploring the area. The Shipwreck of the Peter Iredale in 1906 is along the coast, most of the iron frame can still be seen at low tide.

We brought the puppies, some wine and cheese and parked the Jeep on the beach to watch the sunset. We had a great time chillin' and letting the puppies play in the sand. Below are a few pics from the evening:

The next day Troy went to try his luck with the fish. Within seconds of his first cast he had a Steelhead on the line and 10 seconds later his luck vanished, the Steelhead broke the line, without another bite the rest of the day the fishing trip was a bust. That night we headed to Buoy 9 again to watch the Wings lose to the Penquins and after we went back to the beach to drive the shoreline one last time. We got back and had a campfire (one of the few we have had due to weather or fire restrictions) and Lisa beat Troy once again at Gin Rummy. So far Troy has only one win under his belt, better luck next time Troy!

Northern California Coast

2008-06-05T23:25:00.000-07:00

Upon leaving the wine country (sadly) we had a one night stop over in Garberville, gorgeous weather and a great RV Park, Benbow RV Park with a Golf Course, Pool, Bar, why did we leave? Garberville is Big Foot Country, no we didn't see him but we did check out the very cheesy gift shop off of 101 that is a must see if you are in the area, so many wood carvings of Big Foot, a sight to see for sure!

We took a tour of the area which included a trip through the Avenue of the Giants, wow talk about tall tress, they are everywhere! We were the cheesy tourists and even drove thru a Redwood:

Check out the size of this tree, see the "tiny" guy on the top, that is Troy!

We turned off the Avenue of the Giants and headed to the "Lost Coast" an area of the coast that is not on 101 and not so easy to get to. In the end it was not worth the drive but if you have the time to do some back country camping the coast is amazing.

Our tour of the Northern California Coast truly began in Fort Bragg, an industrial harbortown with a beautiful coast line and a beach that allowed dogs. So of course we took the puppies in the ocean for the first time and they loved it! It was not so much fun for us though as they wanted to drink the saltwater and Chase wanted to say "Hi" to everyone, not what you would call a relaxing day at the beach for us! The weather turned chilly that night, the fog rolled in and it has not warmed up or cleared up for us yet! We did take advantage of the cold weather and took in a Saturday Matinee, Ironman - two thumbs up, and went for a yummy seafood dinner overlooking the coast, it was a purely indulgent day!

The next morning Troy took a bike ride on 101 and Lisa picked him up to proceed down the coast to check out the towns just south of Fort Bragg, Mendocino was our favorite!

We then moved "home" to Patrick's Point State Park, what a beautiful location near the Redwood National Park. We stayed across the street at Azalea RV Park and took the puppies to the park for a long walk upon our arrival. We enjoyed the park the next day as we took a hike on the beach and tried to ignore all the fog/mist coming in off the ocean. Below are a few pics from the park, the last one has a few of the local seals and sea lions, they were so loud we could hear them up on the bluff.

We took a long drive to explore the area and discovered Prairie Creek Redwoods and came up close and personal with the Roosevelt Elk, well not too up close, this picture was taken from the car as we drove by :)

We took a trek over the river and through the woods and discovered "Fern Canyon", such a beautiful setting! We were making our way following the river while exploring the ferns when we met up with a school group and a very over zealous school teacher who was very excited to tell us about the canyon wall full of millipeds that was just around the corner, Lisa decided that was a good time to turn around and keep enjoying the ferns and leave the millipeds to themselves.

Check back soon for a recap of our journey up the Oregon Coast.

Wine Anyone?

2008-05-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

We decided to head to the less known wine areas of Amador and El Dorado Counties in the Sierra Nevada foothills, home to the California Goldrush and some world-class Zinfandels, one of Lisa's favorite wines. We arrived in the area on a Monday which meant that a limited number of wineries were open and even less on Tuesday and Wednesday so we made the most of the time we had on Monday!

Monday night we hit the town of Plymouth seeking food and drinks, not easy to find in this little town after 8pm, all we found was the local dive which provided us with peanuts and where we made friends with the locals who ended up buying our drinks for the evening, thanks Steve!

On Tuesday we started the day with a huge breakfast at a local diner, too much food but so good, not good before you head out wine tasting though, not sure Troy ever recovered from his egg scrambler! We hit the El Dorado County focusing on Apple Hill and the Placerville Area. Placerville is a really cute town with yummy restaurants and shops, check it out if you are ever in the area.

Here are some of our favorites for you wine lovers out there:

Sobon Estate (Amador)- 2006 Zinfandel Cougar Hill (In fact we are drinking it tonight as we write this blog) and 2006 Reserve White Port

C.G. Di Arie (Amador) - Very good blends and Port

Bella Piazza (Amador) - 2004 Rio Volpe Zinfandel (Very friendly staff and beautiful grounds)

Lava Cap (El Dorado) - 2004 Rocky Cap Zinfandel

Jodar (El Dorado) - 2005 Black Bear Port

Sierra Vista (El Dorado) - 2005 Red Rock Ridge Syrah

Renwood Winery (Amador)- Yummy Zins

Far Horizons 49er Village RV Resort was our home for the 3 nights in the area, loved it! Of course you need to like the sound of bullfrogs at night, wow are they loud! We didn't take many photos while in the area as we were distracted by the gorgeous weather and yummy wine but here are a few:

Amazing, Gorgegous, Spectacluar, Wonderful ...

2008-05-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

these words don't even begin to describe Yosemite National Park as you will see by all the pics we are posting below. We based our trip out of Groveland, CA, about 24 miles from Yosemite, seemed to take forever to get to the park, next trip we will stay inside the park. The Yosemite Pines RV Park was extremely cheesy however it did have a petting zoo which Troy took the dogs to daily to tease them with the llama and goats behind the fence, Copper really wanted to play with them, it was a funny sight to see.

Yosemite is Lisa's new favorite park, go figure with all the waterfalls - wow! (Lisa is a sucker for a good waterfall!) The first day in Yosemite we took in Bridalveil falls our first fall of the park, talking about gushing, we got soaked visiting this fall!
Look closely at the picture below, there is a Bear Cub in the woods, our first bear sighting of the the trip. Not sure where mama bear was so we kept our distance (Not like the dumb tourists who thought it would be a good idea to see how close to the baby bear they could get!)

We then explored Yosemite Valley, a mini town within Yosemite and grabbed lunch. Afterwards we drove around a bit and hiked to Mirror Lake which had great views of El Captain and Half Dome. When we got back from our hike we noticed all the signs in the parking lot indicating that Bears are in the area and to put all your food in the lock boxes provided, oops, we will make sure to do that in the future, luckily the bears in the area did not find the food in our cooler appeal ling!

Day 2 in the park we decided to hike to the top of Upper Yosemite Falls, what a hike, not sure what we were thinking but talk about gorgeous! We have stolen the following description of the hike from http://www.yosemitehikes.com/ as we could not have said it any better:

Why hike to the top of Yosemite Falls? It's the mother of all StairMaster workouts, but with one-of-a-kind payoffs you won't get in a gym: panoramic views of Yosemite Valley

Distance: 7.6 miles round trip from the Lower Yosemite Falls trailhead (Add another 1/2 mile on for us due to our parking location)

Elevation at trailhead: 3,967 feet, Elevation at top of Yosemite Falls: 6,526 feet Elevation gain: 2,600 feet

Hiking Time: 7ish hours.

Difficulty: High. It's a long, steep climb from the valley floor to the valley rim, and was rated an 8 out of 10. Consider this question: would you climb the stairs all the way to the top of the Empire State Building? Well, in the course of our hike to Upper Yosemite Falls, we climbed the equivalent of just over two Empire State Buildings.

That night we rewarded ourselves with a night out on the town in Groveland which has the oldest continuously run bar in California, The Iron Door Salon, great Buffalo Burgers however really crappy service.

Day 3, our last day, at Yosemite we hiked to Vernal Fall Vista. Lisa's question over and over again on the mile hike to the falls, why does every hike have to be straight up, seriously, after Yosemite Falls we were a bit sore but glad we made it to the Vernal Falls Vista, another wonderful view in Yosemite. Another animal sighting on the way back to the Jeep was a bobcat, much smaller than we thought they would be but we will still keep our distance, as we don't think they would make a good house cat.

We then took the drive to Tunnel View, the most photographed spot in Yosemite and from this picture you can see why, it almost looks fake but trust us, it is real and oh so beautiful!

We ended the day with a drive to Glacier Point, tons of snow was still on the ground and the temperature was about 20 degrees chillier than the valley. Amazing views of the entire park, Vernal Falls, Mirror Lake, Half dome, El Captain and Yosemite Falls. We were sad to leave this park but we know that we will make it back someday!

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

2008-05-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

It was a very gorgeous however very grueling drive for Troy through the mountains. The reward of arriving in the valley was the smell of Oranges and Lemons, such an invigorating smell, we loved our campground! We stayed in the small town of Three Rivers just outside of the parks at Sequoia RV Ranch, very secluded and peaceful, just what Troy needed after the long day of driving.

Everything is a drive through Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks which also includes the Sequoia National Forest/Giant Sequoia National Monument. (At least Lisa shares in some of the driving in the Jeep, haven't gotten her back behind the wheel of the RV yet, think she is scared of it since she "broke" it when she drove it) When you enter into the park the ranger let's you know that you won't see a Sequoia for 45 minutes, we drive a lot! Snow, everywhere is snow! Notice the snow in the background of the picture below, we can't get away from it and we were definitely not dressed for it! It was 80 degrees in the Valley when we left, guess we forgot that we were going up into the mountains, oops! It was 48 degrees in the park! Needless to say we did most of our exploring the first day in the park from the Jeep!

After learning the growth patterns, history of the forest and the road closures within the park at the Giant Forest Museum (very informative, stop if you are ever in the area) we continued on our gorgeous drive through the park. Course with snow comes road closures, we understand that however it was something we did not think about when we took off on this crazy adventure of ours, places that we really wanted to explore are not able to be explored yet due to snow, go figure, it is May, how can there still be so much snow? Next trip will have to be in the summer without the snow to get in our way! However we did have the inside scoop, Brad (Lisa's Brother) worked at Kings Canyon for a Summer and recommended many of the places we explored, thanks Brad!

Wow, these are some really big trees! We visited the General Grant Tree our first day at the Park, majestic, that is the first word that came to us when we saw these trees, especially General Grant and General Sherman. Amazing how tall, wide and old these trees can get. Our next day in the area we relaxed at camp, we needed a day of little or no driving! Back in the park we went on the short hike to check out General Sherman, the world's largest tree. If you look closely you can see Lisa next to the sign and it gives you an idea of how massive this tree really is:

Many of the villages and roads were not open yet due the snow, most planned on opening by Memorial Day Weekend, we were a few weeks too early. However there was a reward for our timing, lot's of run off from the snow in the mountains which meant the waterfalls were in full force, take a look at the picture of Grizzly Falls:

We continued our drive into Kings Canyon to check out Cedar Grove where Brad was stationed when we was an interpertive ranger, though it wasn't open yet we ate lunch by the river and enjoyed the scenery. While eating we were stalked by a local bird looking for his lunch too, sorry, no bird food here! We took a few hikes around the area and came across Roaring River Falls:

We checked out Hume Lake, gorgegous lake, too cold at the moment but that did not keep the kids out that were attending the Christian Camp on the lake, crazy kids! We were hoping to take a shortcut road in the park to get back to Sequioa and make our way to Moro Rock but it was closed. We talked to a few locals and we were told that there still was snow but we might be able to make it, we took the Road Closure, what rebels we are! There was a lot of snow on the road but usually only on one side of the road, no problems at all, we made it through! We made it to Moro Rock, what a climb, 500 steps but the reward was a breathtaking view of the surrounding mountains, valley below and all the Sequoia's in the area.

What happens in Vegas ...

2008-05-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

doesn't always stay in Vegas, at least not this trip! It was great to be in a "real" city again, the sights, smells, lights and all the glamour that comes wtih Vegas was a real treat after being in the desert for what seemed like forever. We are having the trip of a lifetime but Lisa had enough rocks to last her awhile!

We headed over to Sean's (a friend of Lisa's) who lives in Vegas when we arrived in town to drop off the RV and the puppies, Sean offered to watch them while we went home for a few days, what a guy, thanks again Sean! Looks like they had it rough while we were away, Chase lounged around outside under a shady tree and Copper tried to use his Jedi Mind tricks on Sean to get treats, we think it worked, Copper has a way with his eyes!

Before heading to Detroit we walked around Old Vegas, did a bit of shopping at the Outlet, and enjoyed the sunshine of Vegas. On our drive around town we spotted 2 girls (strippers) on swings outside of their club luring folks inside, gotta love Vegas!

After our very quick trip home we picked up the RV and puppies and headed to the Oasis RV Park in Vegas (I know what you are wondering and yes, the RV Park did have slot machines!) If you ever have the need for an RV park in Vegas, Oasis is the place! Our first night we checked out the casino right next to the RV Park, Silverton, we had a really yummy dinner to celebrate our anniversary (4 years) and gambled for a few. The next day Lisa got to lay by the pool (heaven for her) and Troy took to the streets for a bike ride around the area. That night we cruised the strip, Cheesy we know but hey, we were being tourist, went to the top of the Stratosphere to enjoy the lights of Vegas, what a view and headed to the Golden Nugget to play for a bit. (Troy loves to play at the Nugget, turns out Lisa does too as she had a very good night at the slots!) We also checked out Fremont Street in old Vegas - they have recreated many of the old neon signs that once were the icons of Vegas, very cool!

Still Troy's Favorite National Park - Zion

2008-05-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

We had a reservation to stay within Zion at the Watchman Campground however Lisa made reservations initially for the wrong dates (oops) and we were unable to revise. The computer system at the park was all messed up (It was booking people at different parks in different states) and since we needed to change our dates we had to cancel since the computer system could not rebook. Which meant we had to wake up early (yuck!) and head to Zion to try to get one of the first come, first serve spots. Guess what, it was our lucky day, we got a spot for 1 night and it was right on the river, very cool! The campground was great, perfect for the puppies and we had amazing views from our site.

We spent the next 2 nights down the road within walking distance to the park, local stores and restaurants. The campground was right on the river as well and we could hear the water rushing past us as we enjoyed our first campfire of the trip. Weird that we have not had a campfire up until this point considering we had been “camping” for almost a month however many places we have stayed did not permit campfires or we were just too whipped at the end of the day to “deal” with it! Here is the view from our campsite - not too shabby!
During the busy months the park does not allow vehicles on the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive so we took the tram the park offers to explore the scenic drive. Stopped at a few of the sites along the way and enjoyed a nice leisurely stay at Zion. Well Lisa had a leisurely stay, Troy on the other hand biked the scenic drive. Very hilly but for some reason he likes the hills, strange!

Continuing thru Utah at Bryce Canyon National Park

2008-05-13T21:50:00.000-07:00

Driving from place to place Troy likes to keep track of the elevation (He has a watch that tracks this for us and is addicted to checking this as we drive along!) On our way from Capitol Reef to Bryce we drove to 9600 feet on US 12 with a skimpy road that at times was only 60 feet wide with cliffs on each side, what a drive!

What a location! We stayed within the Park at the North Campground and had a great campsite within walking distance of the numerous trails and hoodoos along the rim of the canyon, very cool! Most of the parks we have been visiting have been pretty empty which has been great, enabling us to truly experience the parks and not worry about all the traffic and noise that lots of people bring. (Course this is going to change very soon, every day we get closer to Memorial Day the busier places seem to get!)

Our first day within Bryce we drove the park and took the18-mile scenic drive, stopping along the route to check-out all the scenic overlooks, what an amazingly beautiful place! We also explored “Ruby’s” right outside of the park, the oldest campground in the area (early 1900’s), Wow – talk about a tourist trap, stay away!

Along with the beauty was snow, course we are in the mountains but we can’t escape the snow, isn’t it spring? From one mile to the next the temperature changes drastically as does the scenery. We took a hike into the Bryce Amphitheater and walked among the hoodoos and Douglass Firs, truly amazing! The hike was 5 miles but what a tough 5 miles, the way down into the canyon wasn’t too difficult but the way back up was met with icy hills and switch backs, fun! This picture of Lisa with the Bryce Amphitheater (hoodoos) in the background does not begin to show the beauty of the area. We have this same picture at home with Troy from a previous trip he took with our friend Tony Bucci, can’t wait to compare them when we get home to see the changes.

And as local lore states: “It is one hell of a place to lose a cow!”

National Parks of Utah

2008-05-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

First off we have to say we are sorry for the lack of blog entries over the 2 weeks or so. We flew home for a couple of days and as funny as it sounds it was an adjustment getting back into the swing of things especially since we played in Vegas for a couple of days and of course everyone knows how that messes things up. :) Then we headed for Kings Canyon and Sequoia, which we can't wait to share with you in a future blog but while we were there we did not have Internet (not good for people who are addicted but it was a nice break from the everyday) so needless to say we are even further behind then before we left, but we are back and ready to continue our updates!!!

There are 5 National Parks in Utah and we have now hit them all. Capitol Reef National Park was 3 of 5 and a step back in time. The nearest traffic light was over 75 miles away, Internet was not even a thought, the park still operated the Apple Orchard that the original founders planted and which the Gifford Farmhouse (also from back in the day) used to make and sell homemade pies and breads (so yummy). The original town of Fruita still had the schoolhouse intact, everything was as it used to be, really makes you think about life past and present.

We stayed in the park at the National Campground at Capital Reef, another "dry" camping experience, so peaceful. A small creek ran behind our campsite, the orchard was in view, a huge field where the puppies could play was there too and we were greeted with the sight of Mule Deer everyday and everywhere around the park.

Numerous scenic drives around the park allowed us to explore the natural beauty of the park with short hikes and a bit off roading in the Jeep. The area was a hideout for Butch Cassidy and many of the sites where named in his honor. The bridge you see here was named for an early settler/explorer Hickman and is over 125 feet high and a 2 mile hike that takes your breath away. (Does every hike have to be up hill?)

Exploring Moab

2008-04-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

On our way to Moab we stopped by to see the place that John Ford filmed almost all of his westerns and that John Wayne made famous in Stagecoach; Monument Valley and Gloudings Lodge. We tried local Navajo cuisine by having a Navajo Taco which is made with Navajo Fry Bread, loved the bread!

There is so much to see and do in Moab and the surrounding areas, we only scratched the surface exploring in the 4 days we were there.

Our first night in Moab we stayed right in the town at the Canyonlands Campground. We were able to wonder around town from there, do a little shopping (not that we bought anything) and we checked out the local scene at the Moab Brewery, beer was pretty good and of course we bought a glass for our collection at home.

Early the next morning we headed to Dead Horse State Park to try to get a camp site but they were already full. It is amazing how many campgrounds don't take reservations and are first come, first serve. The ranger recommended a campground right down the road with gorgegous views of the moutains, Horsethief Campground - our first "Dry" camp experience. This means we did not have electric, water or sewer hookup, so we were "roughing it" in the RV!

We set up camp, doesn't take long when you are "dry" camping, and headed the few miles to Canyonlands National Park to do a bit of four-wheelin', so much fun - gorgegous, Lisa's favorite spot so far. Right off the start we encounter Pucker Pass - wow! If we would not have been told by the lady at the Visitor Center that we would fit we might not have believe it! (Course we would have tried it unlike the 2 vehicles that were following us who turned around, chickens!)

Along the almost 50 miles we did four-wheelin' this was Lisa's favorite spot, went on as far as the eye could see, so many different colors and types of scenery, the picture does not do it justice, truly amazing, Lisa could have sat here for hours soaking up the sun and the views.

Next we came across Musselmans Arch, after a 4 mile, not so easy drive, we were greeted with the only Arch in the park that you can walk across. Look closely at the picture, there is only the thin layer of the Arch underneath us and a very long way down to the valley floor.
The picture below is of a "Rock Cairn". They are along each trail to show us the way, very helpful, so we thought we would share them with you as they keep us from getting lost and keep us on the trails that the parks mandate you keep to.
We moved campgrounds again and landed at Portal RV Park, in the middle of being remodeled but once it is done, wow, some of these RV parks are amazing (and expensive). We then spent the day at Arches National Park. We rented the audio tour of the park from the visitors center and we drove the scenic loop through the park stopping at all the arches and rock formations along the way. There are over 200 Arches in the park, we saw just a few along the route and numerous rock formations - penguins, queens, wall street, all the larger formations are given a name and resemble one thing or another. Two of our favorite Arches are below:

Broken ArchDelicate Arch, the most famous of all the arches.

Next we are off to Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks - we will write more soon!

Can't Get Enough of Arizona

2008-04-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

We had a few days to "kill" before we were heading to Moab/Arches in Utah so we decided to stay a few more days in Arizona and pointed the RV towards Page, AZ: Glen Canyon National Park home of Lake Powell, Antelope Canyon and Vermilion Cliffs National Monument.

Our campsite was located inside of Glen Canyon National Park and we had a great view of Lake Powell. After we got settled in (which takes all of about 15 minutes) we took a tour around the campground, had the Jeep on the Beach, checked out the fishing pier and cleaning stations (looks like the fish were biting, next trip Troy) and had a few beers at the lodge inside the park where we met a few locals who provided us with some trails to take the following day.

The following morning we headed to Antelope Lower Canyon and it was breathtaking! After we trudged through a sandstorm we were astonished to see the way the light danced through the sandstone canyon. Troy took some amazing photos, here are just a few:

We then headed towards the Vermilion Cliffs to take a hike into the mountains but the wind was too much so instead we took a scenic drive around the area. The Jeep was getting blown all over the road, not the leisurely scenic drive we were hoping for but the cliffs and mountains in the area were all around us, beautiful drive anyhow. We made it so close to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (which is so far away from the South Rim so it was really cool to be there) but the North Rim does not open until mid-May due to snow, we were a month too early! :(

Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam are amazing, next visit Lisa wants to rent a house boat and tool around the lake. The lake is surrounded by the Canyon's and it is so interesting to see all the different colors and shapes at every turn.

Thanks for the recommendation for hitting the Page Area Aunt Sherri, it was a great stop on the tour!

Exploring Grand Canyon and Sedona

2008-04-20T23:00:00.000-07:00

The RV headed in for service and we headed to the Grand Canyon. We drove around the South Rim and explored the park by car with a few short hikes to see the true beauty of this natural wonder of the world.
Troy figured out how to use the timer on the camera, now we can actually take photos with both of us :) Next trip to the Grand Canyon we want to hike down into the Canyon and stay at the Phantom Ranch for the night. Can you believe there is a ranch at the bottom of the Canyon?

The next morning we headed to Prescott to see Aunt Sherri and Uncle Bob. With the RV parked in their driveway (Yup, we pulled the RV into their driveway and stole electricty from Uncle Bob's "Man Mansion") and let Aunt Sherri drive us around Prescott to show us their favorite sites. First we headed to Granite Dells, very cool rock formations that Troy decided he needed to conquer.

We walked around Prescott's historic downtown which was full of interesting old bars (Whiskey Row) and great little shops (which Lisa resisted, you are welcome Uncle Bob!). Afterwards we went to Lynx Lake, a favorite spot of Uncle Bob's and Aunt Sherri's to enjoy the sun, we were finally in a place with good weather!
The following morning we explored Sedona, AZ. Red Rock formations were everywhere as were the "Dirt Devils" that chased us while we were viewing Cathedral Rock.
Thanks for a great visit and for the use of your washer and dryer - still haven't had to use the Laundromat!

Wind, Wind and More Wind

2008-04-13T23:30:00.000-07:00

Will the wind ever die down? Wow - is all we can really say! Every day seems to be more windy than the day before and driving the RV is more and more challenging. (40-50 mph wind gusts are not uncommon and now we are in tumbleweed country, dodging tumbleweed in the RV is not as easy as one might think!)

Monday, April 7th we made our way to Brantley Lake State Park, NM which became our homebase while we explored the Carlsbad Caverns. (We did drive through Roswell on our way to the park only to be disappointed by the town, not what we expected from the Alien Capital of the world, not sure what we were expecting (Aliens to appear?) but whatever it was the town did not offer it and it was not worth the drive to Roswell).

Weird feeling to be at Brantley since we are used to the greenery of Michigan when camping, we were definitely in the desert. Here is a picture of a camp site at the park:

We headed to Carlsbad Caverns at dusk to see the million bats that live there every spring/summer and their nightly exit from the Caverns. We sat with impatiencance (Bats are not Lisa's favorite) for the mass exit but it never came, guess it was a bit early in the session for the nightly ritual however we were greeted by a skunk, lucky for us he didn't care for our company and wondered back into the forest almost as quickly as he had appeared! The bats normally emerge from this large cave below where we sat for about an 1 and 1/2 waiting for them:
On Tuesday we returned to the Caverns to explore the Caves, wow! The Natural Entrance is a 1 mile trail that takes about 1 hour to walk to get you to the "The Big Room" which is over 8 Acres. We took a ton of pictures of the amazing formations within the cave but most of them didn't turn out but here are a few:

Temple of the Sun

Whales Mouth

On Wednesday we found ourselves in "Billy the Kid Country" and decided to take a drive through a few of his old haunts. As we were exploring Lincoln we kept referencing the movie "Young Guns" as our guide to history, funny how that happens? The town of Lincoln is stuck in time, we felt like it was 1881 and Pat Garrett had just returned from gunning down"Billy the kid".

Our drive took us through Capitan, NM which is home of Smokey Bear so we took a quick tour of the Smokey Bear Museum, who knew there was a museum in honor of Smokey? Did you know that Smokey Bear was named after he was already created and featured in ads? He adopted the name of a bear cub who was rescued from a forest fire in Capitan, NM. And of course Lisa had to get her picture with him, he is an icon after all!
We also drove through Ruidoso, NM. Such a cute town, reminded us of up north, would love to stay for a long weekend: shops, skiing, hiking, great dining - very cool place!

April 10th should have been such an easy day, we woke up early and were ready to hit the road by 7:30 am and were only going to drive a few hundred miles. We conducted our routine checks before we left the campground (there are a lot of them) and we found our brake lights were not working on the RV or the Jeep we are towing, not good! Seems we blew a fuse (might be Lisa's fault but she is not admitting anything at this time) which in turn affected the brake lights and cruise control. So we quickly changed our plans and instead of a short day of driving we dove the longest yet in the wrost winds yet, 486 Miles, to get us to Flagstaff, AZ where we were able to get into a RV Service Center the next day!

As we were driving to Flagstaff we came across the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest which we could not pass up! These pictures don't do the area justice, so amazing with all the different colors in the dirt:

Painted Desert Tepees

Petrified Wood - really feels like stone and has so many colors within it!

Route 66 went through the National Park once upon a time - now this vehicle and the faint trace of the road is all that remains. (Not sure we have mentioned it before but for some reason Lisa is infatuated with Route 66 and whenever we can we are exploring parts of it!)

We love the comments on the blog and are so grateful that you are all following our journey, we hope it makes you want to start exploring yourself!

Next Blog: Who knows :) So far we are about 50/50 for hitting the dates we have set for updates so check back when you can and follow along, we enjoy the company! (Coming Up: Grand Canyon and Sedona)

Change of Plans

2008-04-08T11:46:00.000-07:00

Saturday we had a great time in OKC with Uncle Ted and Aunt Sandy showing us the sites. We drove from Russellville to OKC, 279 miles and stayed at an RV Park right down the street from Uncle Ted and Aunt Sandy. After a tour of the RV we were off!

We headed downtown to Bricktown and checked out the local scene where we took a water taxi tour of the area and learned a few tid bits about the areas history. After the tour we headed to Mickey Mantle's restaurant for dinner, so yummy, make sure you save room for the carrot cake if you ever make it there, excellent! After dinner we headed over to the Federal Building Memorial and took a few moments to remember what had happened and be thankful for our lives today. Here is a picture of the Reflection Pool at the Memorial Gardens.

Thanks for a great day Aunt Sandy and Uncle Ted, we love you and it was so great to be able to visit you at your home away from home!

On Sunday we woke up early and started our way to Carlsbad, NM. All was going well until Lisa drove the RV (her first time unless you count pulling out of a parking lot) and while she was driving the large slide on the RV decided to "creep" out about 10 inches (the brake was not working properly), we stopped numerous times to try to fix it but not until the 3rd attempt did Troy figure out that the brake had somehow "slipped" into manual positon and needed to be set to automatic. So needless to say it was not a fun drive for us and we didn't make it all the way to Carlsbad. Instead we made it to Amarillo, TX (about half way to Carlsbad from OKC) which is a beautiful place to get "stuck" as we had a ton of fun exploring the area. We drove for a few on the "Mother Road"- Route 66 and headed to Cadillac Ranch. A crazy display of 10 Cadillac's stuck in the ground in the middle of farmland, strange, very strange!

We then took a drive to Palo Duro Canyon which is said to be one of the most beautiful places in all of Texas, it did not disappoint us!

Next Blog: April 9th (at least we will try for that!)

Lake Dardanelle State Park

2008-04-05T13:58:00.000-07:00

A picture of Copper and Chase in their "puppy jail" - we are trying to keep them here while we are driving, only seems to work half the time :)

We made it through the monsoon (with a brief stop at a Truck Stop to let it pass) and a "short" 225 mile drive we made it to Lake Dardanelle State Park in Russellville Arkansas. (About 60 miles NW from Little Rock) Most of the state seemed to be flooded however when we arrive we were greeted with pure beauty and a Bass Fishing Lake - what could be better?

In our minds this is our first "true" camping experience with the RV as Graceland was not very rustic. (As I am sure you can imagine). We set up camp and took the puppies for a long walk around the campground to check the place out. Then we enjoyed a quick peak at the sun for sunset, Troy threw a few lines (with no luck) and then the storm rolled in. We discovered that we have a leak coming from the skylight in the kitchen, fun! At least it is a small leak and Troy will be able to use roofing caulk to patch us right up!

The next morning we went off to explore a few of the other State Parks in the near by area. It was cold and rainy so a drive was a perfect way to spend the day. We went to Petit Jean State Park - beautiful, too bad the trails were way to muddy to explore the area. However we did take a short walk to Cedar Falls, wow! All the rain had the waterfall working overtime, what a sight!

After the falls we drove to Mount Magazine State Park located within the Ozark Mountains. To get from one park to the other we passed a zillion chicken farms (Have you ever smelled a chicken farm, yuck!) and a few million cows and we then were in the mountains. Amazing drive until we got to the top (the tallest point in Arkansas), fog, lots of fog however we grab a quick bite at the Mount Lodge (Gorgeous) and before we left the fog had burned off and we had a easy drive back to camp.

Next Blog: April 6 recapping our visit with Uncle Ted and Aunt Sandy in OKC on our way to Carlsbad Caverns

Memphis, TN

2008-04-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

We are now on our way to Lake Dardanelle State Park in Russellville, AR and it seems the best time for us to recap our journey is while we are driving to our next location so here we are: The long drive takes a toll as we are still learning about the RV and all its many functions. Getting gas is a challenge, you need to pick the gas station and the pump itself with care, the RV is 12 ft 10 inches tall so height is a factor but more than that is getting back on the road once you get gas, not so fun! But with everything we will get better with time and we are finding our favorite gas stations already.

Driving through TN was beautiful, we kept saying over and over, look at how green the grass is! (Winter was way too long this year!). We drove 442 Miles on April 1st (Lisa's b-day) and we arrived at the Mempis-Graceland RV Park located off of Elvis Presley Blvd on Lonely Street behind the Heartbreak Hotel which was directly across the street from the king's home itself - Graceland. This was our first camping experience with the RV and it was so much fun. Minus the rain and the fact that the starter broke on the Jeep (Not fun, no Beal Street for us!). All is fixed now and we spent an extra day at the park which worked out great to learn more about the RV. So, instead of heading to Beal Street we got picked up in a Pink Cadillac Limo (No joke) and we were taken to a local BBQ joint, let's just say we would not return for the BBQ but the Pink Limo was a hoot!

The next morning we headed to Graceland and toured his Mansion, automobile collection, the Lisa Marie and Hound Dog II Air Planes and 2 museum's; 1 dedicated to his outfits and 1 talking about his time as Private Presley. Seeing all of the pictures of Elvis reminded us how at times Jim (Lisa's Dad) had a striking resemblance to Elvis, very cool!

Did you know Lisa had her own plane? :)

Did you know that Sirius Radio has a station dedicated to Elvis, All Elvis, All the Time - we listened to it during our stay in Graceland in Memory of the King. (However we never heard Troy's favorite Elvis tune "In the Ghetto", good thing he as it on his itunes and we can listen to it over and over and over again anytime he feels like it!) And a visit to Graceland would not be complete without trying a few of favorites of Elvis so we made ourselves Peanut Butter and Banana Grilled Sandwiches, not bad! This was the first meal we cooked in the RV and we (Lisa) made the fire alarm go off, oops - next time we will turn on the ceiling fan!

For those of you wondering the puppies are doing very well, adjusting to all the changes in daily routine but getting to spend quality time with us!

Next Blog: Saturday, April 5th on our way to Oklahoma City

Day 1

2008-04-01T10:40:00.000-07:00

Our first blog entry of the trip, crazy! We are so excited, nervous and thankful to have this opportunity, thank you everyone for your love and support!

The first day of a trip is always a bit hectic. Making sure you have everything you need (That was a bit tricky for this trip!), getting out of the house on time and oh by the way don't forget your passport (Canada, eh) and yesterday was no exception! Searched for over 45 minutes for mine, I just had it for Geneva, where could it be? Turns out I packed it weeks ago with the important stuff and we already had it in the RV, thanks for finding it Troy!

Troy's goal was to have us leave the house at 10:30 AM and make it to Louisville Kentucky to camp for the night. Well we pulled out of the driveway at 1:15 PM (Took me a bit to pack up my scrapbook supplies, not that Troy or my brother understands this since "it is just paper and stickers", how dare they! We pull out of the drive and it seemed like we were dragging the Jeep instead of pulling the Jeep, sure thing, we pulled over in a near by parking lot and the steering wheel was locked, oops! So we fixed that and we were finally truly ready to hit the road. The dogs had a bit of a rough time adjusting to the RV (they are doing much better today) and honestly we did too, not as easy as driving our Jeep!

We made it 317 miles on day 1 to Carrollton, Kentucky, the Wal-Mart parking lot to be exact. Might as well start the trip out in true RV Style - Thank you Wal-Mart!

Tomorrow: Graceland and Heartbreak Hotel RV Park