Day 17 September 8, 2008 Crazy Horse

We woke to a beautiful sunny morning. We started out having breakfast in Rapid City at a neat place, Fort Hays. They serve pancakes for 99 cents. The only other items on the menu were biscuit and gravy and sausage. I really enjoyed the food and atmosphere, we ate out of tin plates as they did back in the old western days. There were scenes from the movie Dancing with Wolves filmed at this location and they have that area on display.

We returned to the campground to move to the new campsites and although we are not all together we are close. It is very pretty here and there is a large meadow right outside our door.



We were off to Crazy Horse Memorial. This is a huge facility with a lot of history on how Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski was invited by Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear to carve a sculpture of Crazy Horse in Black Hills. Korczak started the sculpture in 1949. As of today Ruth his wife and seven of their children are still working on this magnificent sculpture. We will never see the completion of this in our lifetime.

I think the entire group enjoyed the day at Crazy Horse. Some of us returned this evening to watch the Legend In Light Laser Show. We were able to watch the show from our cars in the parking lot which was nice as we were cozy and warm. Another great adventure and Ed and I are enjoying this trip as much as the rest of our traveling group.

Tomorrow another adventure to Custer State Park and Mt. Rushmore..

hmmm, Butch what time are we leaving????

Kennedy, Reagan and Bush Monument

Crazy Horse Monument

What Crazy Horse will look like when completed

A piece of the rock WE were BAD!!!The Gals, Pat,Marilyn,Betty,Sue,Maureen,Bev and Paula

The Guys, Arnie,Ed,Leonard,Butch,Ed L.,George and Steve

The whole darn Gang!!! We are having a blast!!!

Oh gosh, I have to do it... What do Butch and Arnie have in common?

On that note Goodnight!

Day 16 September 7, 2008 Travel Day To South Dakota

For all of you back home enjoying nice warm temperatures, we have rain, yes real rain!! As Californians, it is a novelty just wish it would wait a week or two. We left Lusk Wyoming and had about a two hour drive to Hill City South Dakota. I did not drive today, Ed had the pleasure today. It started raining about halfway to SD and has drizzled ever since.

When we arrived at Rafter J RV Ranch, there was some confusion on our accommodations. We were assigned sites without cable TV and we were directed to a very nice area with flat long sites but no cable. For some it is not an issue as they have satellite, and we do get two major stations. Thanks to Butch our trail boss, he was able to sort things out and if we wish to move to sites with cable, we will do so tomorrow morning. Even though there was a miscommunication along the way, the manager and owner have been extremely cooperative to make our stay here a positive experience. For such a long trip, we have been fortunate that this is the only mishap we have had. Thanks to Butch and his patience for getting things sorted out.

One of the couples is having electric problems and had to go to town for the night, hopefully that issue will be fixed in the morning.

We had a snack night again, I cannot spell that ordervs word so I just go with snack... We are going to Rapid City tomorrow to get a feel of this part of the State and get some idea's of what we want to do. WE do have the "have to do" list planned but there may be other adventures out there.

On the road again.... notice the raindrops on the window!

Almost there!

The rigs lined up!

It's 5:00 somewhere.....

Speaking of time.... when we crossed into SD, our phone's switched to central time but by the time we got to the campground we were back on mountain time... so heck if I know what time it is!! Huggs to all family and friends of our traveling group reading this blog, I will try to keep up every day of this busy week....

Day 15 September 6,2008 On the road to Lusk Wy.

On the road again today, travel day to Lusk Wyoming, a small town and by stopping here, we cut an almost 300 travel day in half. I drove the entire trip today 157 miles onto my log. I pulled out of Terry Bison campground, even through a gas station and pulled into B J Campground in Lusk... woohooo!!! Did not hit a thing and did not scare Ed even once!!!

We have seven rigs here, having a relaxing afternoon, sun shining and going to have a potluck BBQ tonight. B J Campground is right in the middle of a neighborhood, pretty cool and the owner Linda is nice, offered me a beer when we pulled in... what a gal!! They do not have a website yet so if you are ever this way the phone # 307-267-1051.

We will be in Hill City South Dakota tomorrow and looking forward to a fun filled week of new sights and good times with our traveling friends.

Driving down Highway 85 in Wyoming



Lusk Wyoming

Campground

P S... We had a gorgeous afternoon turn into a wind storm and rain for about an hour. Butch's awning went a flying and almost took Betty to Kansas.. just kidding, anyway George, Ed and Butch finally got everything under control, wish I had pictures but I was hiding out in my nice warm RV. We went ahead with the potluck BBQ tonight and although it was cold, I think we all had a good time and a few laughs. No one wanted ice cream for dessert tonight...

P.S.S. For family and friends of this traveling group, we do not have cell service in this area. In case of emergency one can call the number above, only for emergencies. We should have cell service tomorrow.

Day 14 September 5,2008 On To Wyoming

We left Estes Park Colorado about 10:00 am. The drive to Cheyenne Wyoming was a short drive about 76 miles and I did not drive today. I will be getting some driving time in tomorrow for sure.

In just a few miles from leaving the campground, I tried to get some pictures of the awesome river, one shot below was the best I can do going around all those curves. It did not take long to be right into the plains, what a difference from all those mountains and high altitude.

We arrived at Terry Bison Ranch about noon. This is a working ranch with buffalo, camels, ostriches, horses and other animals. We are here off season but during the active months there is quite a bit to do here from horseback riding, fishing, train rides, tours, children's activities, a great stop in Wyoming.

After the entire group arrived, some of us went into town, some did domestic chores and Ed and Pat L. took the train tour of the ranch and got some great pictures of all the animals. They also had lunch at the restaurant here on the ranch and said it was very good. George, Bev, Ed and I drove into town and visited a sporting good store, drove by the State Capital. We went to a place called Little America which Ed stayed at about 25 years ago and it was a huge truck stop at the time, now it is a fancy hotel and totally remodeled. We had a very nice lunch in their dining room. We are just here for the night and we are having a desert and card games this evening before we head to Lusk Wyoming tomorrow.


Leaving Colorado

The Plains

Wyoming State Capitol

The pictures below thanks to Pat and Ed L. The wildlife of Bison Ranch.

The Train Ride

Camels

Ostrich's

Buffalo

Four hour old baby

We had social meeting tonight with cards, mexican train and ice cream.

Day 13 September 4, 2008 Rocky Mountain National Park

What a way to end our stay in Estes Park. Our entire group left this morning to Rocky Mountain National Park. I am running out of words to describe this beautiful country, and the ride through this park with many stops at the Vista points and just pulling off the side of the road to see wildlife was totally amazing, beautiful and awesome. The elevation was getting to some of us, I know I was feeling different with the highest elevation at about 12,200 feet. I know everyone in our group enjoyed this day and many pictures were taken. We saw some Moose on the way and that was real neat.

We ended up at Grand Lake and had a nice lunch and also a bit of shopping. Tom and Floy, Butch's sister and brother in law bid us farwell and headed home. We enjoyed meeting them very much. We had to drive back through the park to get back to Estes Park where we saw some herds of Elk and especially one Big Daddy..

I think the pictures will show more than I can say in words... Enjoy!!

Visitor Center

Top of peak

Some of the boys Leonard, George and Ed

Arnie and Butch

Moose

Three Elk

Herd of Elk

Big Daddy

Tomorrow is a travel day, we are off to Cheyenne, Wyoming... Safe travels to us all....

Day 12 September 3, 2008 Estes Park

Brrrr... a chilly morning, especially coming from the heat in Moab. We had temps in the low 40's this morning but I think most slept well with the cooler weather.

Today, the entire group started out with breakfast at the Egg and I. A great breakfast and Butch and Betty suggested we take the river walk and do some window shopping. There is a very nice path and the river is so pretty, also there are flowers everywhere. Of course there are the tourist shops that some of us visited, a few purchases were made. Lots of Moose stuff in this town, even saw Moose ice cream advertised in one store, passed on that one for sure.

This afternoon Pat and Ed L, Leonard and Paula, Butch and Betty, Butch's sister and brother in law decided to hit the golf course . They had a tee time of 2:15 and we also discussed having dinner at a Mexican restaurant this evening. Arnie and Marilyn had a relaxing afternoon, Bev and I hit the shops a bit more in the afternoon and George and Ed wandered around first they tried to ride the Tram CLOSED, horse back riding, CLOSED, go carts, CLOSED, pee wee golf CLOSED!! They even tried to find our golfters to be their gallery, could not find them, so they got the car washed. This was not a real exciting day but was a slow day which is nice when we are trying to cram so much into a short time.

Tomorrow we are going to Rocky Mountain National Park, which should be interesting.

Trailboss and Mrs Trailboss Butch and Betty

The river

Flowers in town

The Gals

Estes Lake

A sign just for Ed.... it is in the RV window..

Day 11 September 2, 2008 Trip to Estes Park

Travel Day, Arnie, Marilyn, Leonard and Paula left about 7:30 am, George, Bev, Ed L, Pat, Ed and I got on the road about 8:20 am after fueling up. Another "ouchie" on the pocketbook. I started the drive today and drove 138 miles. Ed and I switched near Vail Co. and I am so glad because the roads got nasty.

I think I have fallen in love with Colorado, the scenery is breathtaking and driving through the towns that just looked so peaceful. I loved the Vail area, did not see any stars driving around .

We have a navigation system called Garman Nuvi. Well today, Nuvi let us down, it routed us of Highway 70 way to early and we went through some narrow roads and through a small town that had streets so narrow, I really was wondering if we were going to make it, especially the two other rigs that were towing. THEN, there was a roundabout we had to go around, oh my... we made it, George made it and Ed L. did it twice... thank goodness he is a patient man. WTG Ed L.

We arrived at Mary's Lake Campground about 3:00 and greeted by Butch and Betty. We are so happy to finally meet up and they even beat us to Estes Park by a day. Butch and Betty put this trip together and it was sad they missed Moab but we will have a great time from here on. We got set up in record time, Arnie, Marilyn, Leonard and Paula arrived about half hour after us. They did NOT take the scenic route we did but had a bit longer route. We just have to get Steve and Sue back with us and we are a full group again.

We had a little get together this evening to hear suggestions from Butch about this area. There is a plan for the next two days and will tell you about those when they happen, as some fulltime RV'ers have written before me... "all plans are made in jello" subject to change so will post what we do daily.

A big thanks to George and Bev for guiding us through the Moab Utah part of our trip. I can say we all had a wonderful time and with the suggestions of things to do and see, the Moab portion of our trip was a success. Also thanks George for leading today....

Hope everyone back home is doing well and wish more of you could have joined us.. Hugggs ... until tomorrow!

Colorado River

George and Max at one of our stops

Vail Colorado

Eisenhower, Edwin C Johnson Bridge elevation 11158 feet

The Rockies

Day 10 September 1, 2008 Grand Junction

Happy Labor Day, What a difference in weather, we woke to rain and temperatures about 25 degrees less than yesterday in Moab. The cooler temps make for better sleeping.

We started the day at IHOP for breakfast, we split up in two cars of five. We decided to take a ride up to Grand Mesa which is above 10,000 feet elevation. On the way Leonard talked about a peach farm so we took a detour to get some peaches. Off the highway we go, passing fruit stands, and peach farms and arrived at High Country Orchard. This was the last day of operation for the shipments to the stores this orchard supplies. We were greeted by Theresa who gave us a mini tour of the operation. There was two cases of peaches and one case of tomato's purchased that will be split between the five couples. Theresa threw in a 1/2 box of peaches that are ripe and ready for eating. Leonard was telling us all what great pie Paula makes and YES, she has an oven........ hmmmm so just maybe some hot peach pie on this trip!

We started up to Grand Mesa and stopped at a vista point where car 1 Ed and Pat L, Arnie and Marilyn and Paula decided to go the entire loop, where as Car 2 George, Bev, Leonard, Ed and I decided to go back. The altitude was bothering me a bit and I think we were just a bit tired.

We checked fuel prices and easy access stations on the way back as some need to fuel up tomorrow. We found diesel for $4.27 and fuel has gone up over the weekend.

Car 2 just returned, they went the entire loop and had a nice ride. We are going to Texas Roadhouse for dinner tonight. Just heard Butch and Betty are already at Estes Park and looking forward to meeting up with them tomorrow. We have a long drive day tomorrow so will be getting out early.

High Country Orchard

High Country Gift Shop Antique Coke Machine

View from Grand Mesa

View of Lake from Grand Mesa