Limon, Colorado to Custer, South Dakota - Saturday, June 13, 2020

Today's drive was almost a straight shot north on Colorado-71, Nebraska-71, and South Dakota-71. The scenery didn't change much; it was mostly grasslands and prairies. In Colorado, we passed through Pawnee National Grassland. In Nebraska, we skirted around the west side of Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area, Nebraska National Forest, and Oglala National Grassland. We saw ranches and wind turbine farms. 

Wind turbine farms in Colorado.

Wind turbine farms.

Entering Nebraska on NE-17.

Only a few small towns dotted the landscape. The largest town we passed through on our seven-hour jaunt was Scottsbluff, Nebraska. We did not stop at Scotts Bluff National Monument on this trip.

Looking toward Scottsbluff
National Monument.

Entering Scottsbluff, Nebraska.

Time to put in more diesel fuel. Scottsbluff is the best spot for supplies and gas for miles!

Storage (in Scottsbluff) for sugar
made from sugar beets.

Once again, we headed north on NE-71. More grasslands and pronghorn were our points of interest. After we passed into South Dakota, it was a few miles until we arrived in Black Hills National Forest. Here the scenery changed to canyons, rocks, hills, and more trees than we had seen in the previous three days. 

Driving north near Hot Springs, South Dakota, we passed a sign and picnic area that said Cascade Falls. Many vehicles were in the parking lot. Popular place...we figured there must be a swimming hole. Farther on, we saw a sign for Cascade Springs. These two places piqued our interest and we decided we would come back to see what was there while we were based in Custer.

Upon arriving on the outskirts of Hot Springs, South Dakota, I suggested to Bob that we take our 5th wheel on the U.S. Hwy. 18 bypass to the west, and SD-89 and US 385 north. That would be a better option than taking our 5th wheel through the old downtown area of Hot Springs, South Dakota, with its narrow streets. (Doable, but more stressful.) We can visit Hot Springs when we come back to see Cascade Falls and Cascade Springs.

We made it to our campsite at Ft. Welikit in Custer at 4:00 p.m. The site assigned to us required directions from the owner to get our big rig into it. The owner asked Bob if our rig turned like an aircraft carrier or a PT boat. (I was amused by the question, but thought it was a good way to find out the size of a rig's turn radius!) Bob told him the turn radius is like an aircraft carrier. 

The owner had us come in from an unusual direction for that site so that we could use the natural lay of the land and gravity to back into our site. He said it would be a lot easier to back downhill than uphill. Amen to that! He also asked two other campers to move their big trucks temporarily. 

Bob got our 35' 5th wheel into the site around the trees on both sides of the road and on both sides in our site and made it look easy. Other campers watching Bob back into our site came over and told him they didn't think they could have gotten such a big rig into that site around the trees and bushes. Kudos to Bob and the park owner! That's one of the best experiences we've ever had going into a new-to-us RV park, especially one that is so tight to get into.

Our site at Ft. Welikit. Beautiful!

Campers across the road from us.

Campers up the road from us.

Ft. Welikit Family Campground.

Our 5th wheel is on the upper level.

By this time, we were hungry. After we were set up on our site, we went into Custer and had pizza and beer for dinner. That was so good!

1881 Courthouse Museum (next door to
Pizza Werks - where we had dinner).

Tomorrow, we will explore the town of Custer and Bob will check out where the George S. Mickelson Rails to Trails path is. He can't wait to ride his bike! My next blog will be more fun, I promise. 

Travel Bug out.

I Was A Homebody Today; Bob Wasn't - Saturday, May 4, 2019

Here is a more current blog since I'm a few weeks behind. 

Bob was gung-ho to see the brand-new American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Virginia. Saturday was the day to do it. In fact, Saturday was the grand opening, ribbon-cutting ceremony.

I, however, was done with Civil War History and opted to sleep in, clean the 5th wheel, and do laundry. To me, it seems like no matter where we go in the East and Southeast (even in Arizona at Picacho Peak!) there is yet more Civil War history. It was a battle that raged on, pitted brother against brother, killed thousands, and broke up families. On the other hand, it granted freedom to the oppressed slaves. It needed to happen, but it wasn't pretty. Bob says, "It's complicated." He'll explain later in another blog.

Anyway, Bob loved his day. Even though the new museum didn't live up to his expectations, he also went to Chickahominy Bluffs, Beaver Dam Creek, Gaines Mill, Cold Harbor Visitor Center, Petersburg (did a driving tour of Petersburg including the site of the crater), and City Point where Grant had his headquarters for the campaign. (And he says I schedule days tightly!)

At Cold Harbor Visitor Center, Bob talked with a Park Ranger for an hour and a half about the war. He said he really enjoyed that conversation. (It was a slow day at that visitor center.)

Meanwhile, back at Rockahock Campground (don't you love that name?), I did five loads of laundry because our next two campgrounds don't have laundromats (one state park, one fairground). With all the walking we've been doing, the laundry was a must.

Rockahock Campground in Lanexa, Virginia, is about half-way between Richmond and the Newport News area. We used it as a base for our explorations for six days. I thought you might like to see photos of it. 

A major fishing destination!

The dock at Rockahock Campground.

Some huge bass and catfish have been pulled out of the Chickahominy River here. They have photos posted in the campground office.

The docks to nowhere.

Beautiful cypress trees line the river here.

Campground office.

Walker's Dam Grill Restaurant next to the office.
We never had time to eat there.

Covered "amphitheater" for group events.
A Good Sam Virginia rally was happening this weekend.

There are yurts.

Their propane tank has seen better days!

Kid's rock climbing wall and playground.

A children's bounce "pillow."

Beautiful cabins for rent.

The pool looked like it hadn't been open for
quite some time.

Our site is in the front row, middle.

Our neighbors looked long-term with lots of junk in their site. The photo below shows our hook-ups for water, sewer, electric, and cable. Our site is on the right. You see the firewood and the picnic table? Those belong to the neighbors on the left. They are usurping "our" site. The picnic table is supposed to be on their brick pad to the left. I don't know why their firewood is on our site. Bob had to navigate around it to do our hookups.

Laundry room.

Clubhouse.

Sunset over the Chickahominy River.

So, we each had our own time and both of us did what we wanted (or needed, in my case) to do. Personally, I would love to go see "The Avengers: End Game," go to an art museum, and spend more time at gardens. 

Tomorrow, we drive to Lums Pond State Park in Bear, Delaware. The fastest way to get there is supposed to be I-95 around Washington, D.C., and Baltimore; however, we decided to take the longer, slower way up the Delmarva Peninsula.

That's it for Saturday.

Score: New Cat Beds - Zero; Box They Came In - Two - Wed., July 19, 2017

Fur kids can be quite entertaining or downright frustrating. Our cats haven't had their own blog for quite some time and they have been pretty cute of late. 

As most of you know, we are getting ready to move from our 5th wheel into a single-wide, manufactured home. In preparation, we have made some small purchases. The only place we have to store them is in our 5th wheel until we get keys to our new place.

As we know, cats love boxes, so it's time to share some cute cat pics. I bought some new sandals, put the empty box on top of three other boxes. Bowie got in the box and spun around and around and around until he fit perfectly. "If it fits, I sits sleeps."

I caught Bowie in a Bass box!

"This box is mine!"

So comfy

Sunnie would never fit in this box!

Kitty wedgie

 So, where did Sunnie go? He likes the top of the recliner.

Lots of room to spread out

Ahh, this is the life!

Last time he got weighed, he was 20 lbs.

That was last Thursday. Here's what we did today.

I put together two new cat bed/scratching posts. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to do it because there were no instructions in or on the box. When they were done and set up, here's what happened...

Cat beds: 0

Box cat beds came in: 2

They were on or in this box for 30 minutes

But cat moms are tricksy, yes they are. A bunch of catnip spray and cat beds get used and loved!

Sunnie fits perfectly

Bowie was still a skeptic and taking the long way around the cat beds. I sprayed on more catnip spray and rubbed it in and fluffed it up. He decided the cat bed was A-OK.

Bowie enjoying the new cat bed

Yes, this will be just fine.

In other news of the day, our 5er was filthy with black streaks and ugly edges on the roof. We had Carlos and two employees from Alamo RV Wash do a thorough exterior clean and wax job. This will make the rig stay nicer in storage, and will look good when we go on our trip to Washington, D.C. in September/October. 

Anything out of the ordinary makes cats rather curious and getting the RV washed and waxed made them sit up and take notice.

Watching the rig get waxed and the window washed

In the photo above, the cats are sitting on top of some large boxes currently waiting to be moved into our manufeactured home. (We don't have keys yet!)

The windows are so clean it looks like we don't have windows. Extra wax was put on for protection so the next time they come to wash it, it makes their job easier. Wow! Here are a couple of photos.

Carlos finishing polishing

Rigamarole is clean!

For a 2003 5th wheel, she cleans up real nice. Thank you to Alamo RV Wash crew for a great job.

News of our manufactured home...

1. Today, the AC was supposed to be installed. We were told they would be here this afternoon. As of 5:30 p.m., nothing. No AC unit. 
2. The deck build-out was supposed to happen today as well, but we did a change order. That means we need a new quote, and to be re-scheduled.

Hopefully, they will still do the interior trim out on Friday and we will get our keys, but it would be nice to have AC before we start moving things in.

At least we have our 5th wheel to live in with two AC units. It's nice and cool here!

All for today. I have two more days of blogs from our 20-day Volksmarching trip to complete: Garden of the Gods and Trinidad, Colorado on one day, and Capulin Volcano and Amarillo, Texas on the other.

I'll be back!

A Blue Angels Kinda Day - Wed., May 10, 2017

Yesterday on our walk we saw the Blue Angels from a distance. Today, we are at Naval Air Station Pensacola, the home of the Blue Angels, to see them up close. Oh, and to visit the National Naval Aviation Museum. Everything is free except out lunch and gift shopping.

National Naval Aviation Museum

Tom, Bob, Rosemarie

At 10:00 a.m. we rolled into the parking lot of the National Naval Aviation Museum. It would be an hour until the Blue Angels practice session. The Naval Aviation Museum was open, so we spent 45 minutes "nosing" around the exhibits. 

I particularly liked the "nose" and body of this beauty.

"The Homecoming."

At 10:45 we walked to the airfield with (about 3,000 other people) to watch the Blue Angels perform. Impressive doesn't begin to describe the power of those aircraft. The jets are super speedy, maneuverable, and built to withstand high G forces. The pilots are the best of the best and fly with high precision. You know when you go to a Blue Angels show that you are in for a treat. The photos below tell the story.

Tight formations

Ups and...

...downs

Wingtip to wingtip

Notice that one jet is upside-down!

The jets are flying slowly in the tail-down position

Upside down

Very tight formation

Crossing from six different directions...at 600 mph

Peeling off from the formation to circle and land

After the air show, we had lunch in the museum's cafe, Cubi. The restaurant is fun to look at, had good service, good food and they were very fast putting the food on the table.

Cubi decor

Bob, Tom, Rosemarie at our table

Me with some of my "friends."

After lunch, we shopped in the gift shop, finished seeing the first building, and then made our way to the second building. There is so much to see; we stayed until closing.

Below is the Navy-Curtiss Flying Boat, the first plane to fly across the Atlantic ocean. This plane was used to search for German U-boats in World War I.

Navy-Curtiss Flying Boat

See photo of "squadron car" below

Squadron car

Skylab

Me in a photo-op cockpit

Tom studying the interior of a display jet

Gotta love the bad dog! LOL.

Presidential helicopter

Look closely for George W. Bush's name on the cockpit

At the end of the day, we jetted out of there and went to dinner at Wayne's Family Diner, the place Bob anf I went yesterday for lunch. I was cured of the diner after tonight's experience. For the second day in a row, they didn't have oysters. Bob really wanted their oyster po'boy sandwich. I ordered a Reuben sandwich. About 15 minutes after I ordered, our waitress came back to say they were out of corned beef.I ended up with a generic burger and fries. Tom and Rosemarie were less than impressed with the menu choices (sorry about dragging you there).

Back at the ranch, so to speak, we watched the first "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie. Bob had never seen it and the verdict was that he won't be seeing "Guardians of theGalaxy, Vol. 2."

Stay tuned tomorrow for our day at Navarre Beach Pier and other exploration. Travel Bug out. (I'm trying to finish up the blogs from our last trip before I head out with friends Susan and Darren on our next trip -- leaving next Wednesday, May 31.)