Wind Cave National Park cave and creatures

We've been to Wind Cave National Park before and didn't need to go on another cave tour.  Refreshed in our minds how big this cave system is > 121 miles and > 500 feet deep.  Keep in mind that the cave has not been fully discovered.  This map shows how many side chambers there are.  Only some are fully explored.  One of the important items on the map are heights of the areas – many are only 2' high!  Crawling time.



Whole cave map



lots of little side caves

We came to watch the wildlife and what we had remembered from before was the number of buffalo in the park and we saw bunches. 

Mr Bison and his friend, Bird

The way these guys were trotting at us, we wondered for a second if we were going to be bumped
but, no, they were off to the side

 We camped for three days in the park's one campground.  The campground was fenced to keep the buffalo out.  Smart move.  The campsites were nicely mowed and we enjoyed watching birds and the morning deer feeding.

We had forgot about the prairie dogs but enjoyed their antics.  Constant motion. 

Are you anybody I should know?



Sharing

Peek-a-boo

Black Hills and Green Prairies

Well, the Black Hills aren't.  There is nothing black.  The native indians thought that the trees were black.  There is nice granite to carve Rushmore & Crazy Horse.  Lots of pine trees that they call a weed that grows just about everywhere.  Like much of the mid-west, the pine beetle has caused many pines to die.  Leaving red trees that topple frequently.  Not black trees. 

 

We were amazed at how green everything is now in the hills and the prairies.  What drought, we wonder. 

 

 

The prairie was alive with wildflowers.  Look closely.

 

prairie grasses - all these flowers hide in the grass

 

 

Rallied Out

We've just been to two RV rallies.  For people who like to travel only 50 miles a day, attending 5 days at an RV rally is like traveling 300 miles a day.  It's exhausting.

 

The first rally in Gillette, Wyoming was full of activities, seminars, and entertainment. The Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) is celebrating it's 50th anniversary and there were 2,639 RV's (and twice as many people) there to celebrate.

 Like many FMCA rallies the days start at 7am with coffee and donuts and end at 9pm when the entertainment is over.  In between, we will both have sat in on 5 seminars. Add in running back to water the dog, checking out the 350 new RV's on display and all the RVers "must haves" being sold, and the trying to avoid the rain and hail from the thunderstorms and tornado warnings, we were very tired by the end of the week.

We enjoyed many of  FMCA's photos from some of their first RV rallies.  A nice friendly little group.

 

 Unlike this rally we attended in 2004 in Redmond, Oregon.

 We were at the red dot - all functions were at the red arrow - a long long way away.

The second rally was put on by the Freightliner Chassis Owner's Club (FCOC) in Sturgis, SD and we were very pampered. Full breakfast and a dinner each day. A barbershop quartet came and sang, a bus tour of the Black Hills, games, a few seminars but also time to explore the area or just lie back and enjoy the sun.  (Hey, I won $50 at a scavenger hunt!)

 

We had time to explore the town of Sturgis, SD.   A very quiet little town...this week.  The town is preparing for the onslaught of up to 500,000 motorcycles in August. We understand that all the merchants turn over their storefronts to outside vendors and leave town during the week. Saw lots of T-shirts for sale. We expect there will be at least 500,000 T-shirts sold by mid-August.

Touring the Black Hills

Traveling on our own we seldom take guided tours but we had the opportunity at the Freightliner rally to do so and we did.  It was a long day bus ride through Rapid City with a couple hours each at the Crazy Horse Memorial and Mt. Rushmore.  The driver had quite a patter and MY driver got to sit back and enjoy the scenery.  Nice day.

All carving on the mountain starts from this model

The story behind Crazy Horse Memorial was unsuspected.  What an amazing project.  The sculptor Korezak was hired by the Native Americans and blasting started 1948.  From that time on, all monies were donations.  No federal funding has been received.  He and his wife had 10 kids.   He passed away in 1982 without seeing the face which was dedicated in 1998.  7 of his children continue work on the memorial. 

He started with this

The sculpture is being done in the round so what we see from the visitor center is only part of the carving.

Today

There is no timeframe for completion but with more donations coming in, more modern equipment is able to be used and progress seems faster.  But it still could be another 50 years until completion.

 

Already there is a Native American art gallery and a prep school for the Native Americans.  Many more facilities are in the plan for grounds.

 

We have been to Mt. Rushmore a few years ago and the stone faces didn't seem to have changed any... :o).  So we took the opportunity to sit in the shade and people watch.  It was amazing to see how many people "do Rushmore" in 20 minutes or less.  "Check that off".  Short vacations and lots to see.  No time to dawdle!

 

Can you get out of your RV case of fire? Practice!

One of the seminars at the Gillette FMCA Rally was on planning ahead about how to escape your RV in case of a fire... while you are driving...or while you are sleeping.

Is the window big enough?  Can you get your legs out?  Don't go head first.  Use a blanket or comforter to assist over the window sill.  A fire extinguisher won't be any use at this time – just get out.

 

A number of women volunteered to try exiting the bedroom window.

 

Think about it. Think ahead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rollin...rollin' on the Rivers - continued

We traipsed through the Rocky Mountains still following US 12.  Over Lolo Pass in the Bitterroot Range and MacDonald Pass before heading down to rolling hills. 

From the time we entered Montana, we have seen a lot more wildlife from prairie dogs to antelope.  And have got up close and personal with leaping deer – TG for paying attention and good brakes.

 

This is the type of road we like to travel.  Not much in the way of commercial traffic, lots of wildlife and farms, and a comfortable enough road for a whole club of these old Fords to travel on.  AND! even better news: Our fuel mileage was 6% better than usual in spite of climbing the hills and steering along windy rivers.  Cool!

  

Coming over Lolo Pass into Montana we followed Lolo Creek downhill noting "Watch for Moose" signs – saw none.

 

Then we traveled 70 Miles on Interstate 90/ US 12 where we crossed Clark Fork several times (Did William Clark jump over Clark Fork as many times as we did?) and passed Clinton – home of the Testicle Festival (that's a story for another time).

 

The rivers as we headed east tended to be not much more than healthy creeks. Hardly worth the title of "river".

 

US 12 left I-90 in Garrison and we continued east along the Little Blackfoot River (creek?) until we crossed over the Continental Divide at MacDonald Pass.

 

Over the mighty Missouri River south of Helena and on to our last stretch east as we followed another skinny river, the Musselshell River (named by Lewis & Clark from the mussels they found on the banks) before finally leaving US 12 after 850 miles. 

 

We are now heading south to Billings and from there onward to Wyoming.  Notice blue sky in the picture above.  Yep, rain has stopped.  RV and CRV have an extra "protection" layer of mud.  Need to get them washed!

 

 

Electric Trains

Have always known a bit about trains as my dad shared many stories about his time with the railroad and he was always interested in watching them.

 

Today in Harlowton, MT we went to a restored Milwaukee RR Depot.  Nicely done.  And the highlight was what we learned about ELECTRIC TRAINS.  From here in central Montana to the Idaho border 440 miles away, the Milwaukee RR line had DC electric trains with overhead power lines climbing over the mountains on the Continental Divide.  Electric trains climbing mountains had many advantages including more pulling power at low speeds, better adhesion and the best: regenerative braking as they went down hill they returned power to the grid.

This engine was built in 1915 and was retired in 1974.

 

When I think of trains with overhead power, I think of city commuter trains.  I cannot fathom the problems with breaking the overhead lines when there were heavy snows or winter storms. 

 

We also found out that another electric train line was built between Othello and Tacoma (216 miles) and up and over the Cascades.

Rollin', rollin' on the Rivers

Heading for Wyoming we decided to travel US Highway 12 from I-5 across Washington, Idaho, and more than halfway across Montana.  What a pretty ride. 

 

Washington....



Mad power

In Washington we followed the Cowlitz River up to the summit of the Cascades.  Then the Tieton River down to Yakima.  Through the Yakima Valley following the Yakima River to the Columbia River at the Tri-Cities.  Lots of apples, grapes, peaches, and hops.

 

Then we basically followed along the Snake River to Clarkston, WA through the Palouse rolling hills and finally to Lewiston, ID where the Snake River comes north up through Hell's Canyon. 

Idaho....

In Idaho we followed the Clearwater and the Lochsa rivers up to the summit of Lolo Pass and Montana.

We camped for a couple nights at the Wilderness Gateway Forest Service Campground and were lucky to be able to listen to good old country music coming from the Wilderness Jam Campout.  This is the 33rd year this informal festival has been held.  It is held for a week in mid-June and another week in mid-August.

 

From our campsite we drove a ways back to tour the historic Lochsa Ranger Station.  The volunteers on hand that day were rangers from 1951 and had lived in that building during their stay. 

 

Beargrass

They were full of information about the area. 

 

We learned that the highway in this area wasn't finished until the mid-1950's. 

 

We asked about the billboards we had read about "megaloads".  His explanation: these loads were equipment shipped up the Columbia and the Snake River to Lewiston to be used in the mining of oil (fracking?) in Alberta, Canada.  They would travel only at night on Hwy 12....on the slow, narrow, and twisty Hwy 12.  Pull-offs were paved to allow traffic to get off the road to allow the load to pass. 

A megaload is: 24' wide, 196' long, 30' high.  Total load 500,000 lbs.  Only one truck made the route and there was lots of damage: car accidents, road damage, tree limbs, power poles, signs.  And then the state of Montana wouldn't let the load go down the road between Lolo Pass and Missoula and cause more damage.  The "megaload" sat at the top of the pass for 6 months before being allowed to move. 

 

The volunteer also told us that the river was way to low for rafting.  That the peak season was last month.  But we saw a lot of short kayaks and rafts in the campground and we wondered if they were waiting for a big rain???
 

But we were lucky, at the next turnout was a group of 5 commercial raft captains from Colorado preparing to take a raft down river.  What fun they had to not worry about bouncing a tourist out.  We drove ahead of them and got this picture.

 

 

Montana....

And then it started raining as we headed up Lolo Pass and into Montana.  And it rained the next day.  Big Sky Country was turning into Low Gray Cloud Country.  The citizens promise us that the weather will be turning around soon.  We'll see.

 

They are a fine looking group

Dean kept saying his 60th class reunion would have just enough attendees to fit in a phone booth.  Was he ever wrong. 

 

A great group of 30 alums gathered the other evening to share what's been happening in their lives since the 50th class reunion.  What an active group.  Lots of stories and an enjoyable time.

 

 

A decision was made to meet every year from now on until the last one is standing.  Hope that's many years in the future. 

Beach Rock Bracelets

Don't know why I do it, but have for years.  Lots of people do it.  Beachcombing unique beach rocks.  Never mind that it was similar to one I picked up 10 minutes ago, the next one is prettier, has a unique shape, or the color is more striking.  I always have a plastic sack on these excursions to carry these finds back to the RV.  At home I have this huge (heavy) container of these "special" rocks. 

Luckily, my friend Marj is a rock collector too. 

A few year's ago we found a beach rock bracelet made out of clay.  I was impressed with the artist's skill.  Marj said "you could do that too".  I had my doubts.  Well, we gave it the old college try yesterday. 



Beach rocks or bracelet or both?  Both!



Beach rocks or bracelet or both?  Both!

Two clay bracelets

 

 Two crafty ladies did a great job!

 

RV Remodel: A couple new drawers

It was time.  Time to update the RV with a digital TV.  But there was no way a rectangular digital would fit in the square deep built-in space of the current analog TV. 

 

We were stymied. 

 

With an idea from another Allegro owner, we came up with a workable remodel of the RV dash area.  By installing a new digital TV overhead and converting the old analog built-in space we gained a couple of drawers.  The handy person in this household does great with 2 by 4's but building a finished cabinet was a new experience!

 

First drawers faces were made to fit the built-in.  At the Valle Del Oro wood shop in March he learned to use power sanders and routers (see March 31 blog). 

Then when we got home another new job: cabinetmaking.  Dean took the old TV out and found out what was behind it, rerouted a few cords and added another 110v plug. 

Then he started making a box to fit the area and as he said "nothing is ever square". 

Lots of fit checks. 

Next he practiced staining.  Trying to match what is in the RV today.  Another new skill. 

And what do we have now?  A perfect job!  He sure does good work!