We're Home!!!!

Madison Wisconsin - Ewing NJ
6/27/24

Miles Traveled    933
Trip Total           8256
Travel Time      15:38

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, OR, WA, ID, MT, ND, WI

Trip Statistics 1/Apr/24 - 26/Jun/24

Miles:           8256
Driving Time: 165 Hours

States                 17*
Travel Days   41
Total Days   88
Campground 55
BLM 2
Harvest Host 6
Parking Lot 1
Elks 18
        * States are only counted if we spent the night camping there.

We had one hell of a last day.  Last night we stayed in a Cracker Barrel parking lot.  Well we sort of stayed there.  We had gone to sleep at 9PM, with plans to wake up at 5:30AM.  Around 12:30 Angel woke up when someone parked directly behind our RV and Car and spent a few minutes looking around their car before going to the hotel next door.   There were also a few people hanging around outside the hotel that was adjacent to the Cracker Barrel parking lot.  With all the people hanging out that late at night, we decided not to stay there 

With a little more research, I found another Cracker Barrel 75 miles away, and off we went.  As much as we did not want to drive at night, the lack of traffic made it very easy.  Since the night time driving was not bad we decided, rather than stop at the next Cracker Barrel I would drive until I need to get some sleep.  

What a great decision, we ended up driving through the Chicago area at 5:00am instead of during rush hour. We did hit some traffic around Chicago, but nothing like we would have at 9AM with our original plan.  Knowing I would need to get some sleep we planned to drive until on of three things happened; Rush hour traffic, Me getting sleepy,  Blinding Sun Rise (We were heading east directly into the sun)  The sun and me getting sleepy happened at the same time so we pulled into a rest stop for a 40 minute nap.

After napping we hit the road knowing that we could make it home before dark.  It was a loooonnnnggggg day, but we did it.  Five states, two time zones, two fuel stops, and four bathroom breaks later, before we made it home at 7:25pm.

Once we parked we grabbed just what we needed for the night and headed for the boat.  Tomorrow we will return to unload the RV we are exhausted and need a good nights sleep.  

Madison, WI

Bismarck, ND - Madison Wisconsin
6/26/24

Miles Traveled     695
Trip Total            7279
Travel Time       11:45

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, OR, WA, ID, MT, ND. Wisconsin

5:30AM comes awfully early, but we were up and on the road by 6AM.  Our plan was to drive about 550 miles and stop at a Harvest Host for the night.  The Harvest Host was supposed to have water and room for RV's up to 45 feet long.  We called the Host around 4:15, to find out they no longer had water available to travelers.  When we did arrive we also determined that they did not have anywhere that our RV could park that was even close to level.

After a little research we found a Cracker Barrel Restaurant that allows overnight camping for RV's. (Many Cracker Barrel's, Walmart's and Cabela's allow this)  After another two and a half hours of driving we arrived at the Cracker Barrel.  While their RV parking was not level, there was plenty of room in their parking lot where we could park on level ground without any issues.

After a quick dinner we headed to bed with plans to get up again at 5:30AM for our next leg. From Madison we have about 16 hours of driving.  Our plans are one more 10 to 12 hour day, and then a short 4 to 6 hours day to get home.   

Tomorrow we are going to see how far we can make it and find a place to stop while we are driving.    

Bismarck, ND

Bozeman MT  - Bismarck, ND
6/25/24

Miles Traveled    558
Trip Total           6584
Travel Time        9:30

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, OR, WA, ID, MT, North Dakota

If you read yesterday's post you know we are heading home, we will be traveling long days covering 2200 miles in four days (Hopefully)  As you can see from the number above we are off to a good start.  At 6:30am we said a very sad goodbye to Mark and Karen and started home.

Planning the route home I found a Elks Lodge in Bismarck that allows RV's to dry camp (no electric, water or sewer) in their parking lot so that was our target.

We made several quick stops along the way, both for bathroom breaks and to stretch our legs. One of the stops was for fuel, what a mistake!  The entrance to the gas station was so rough two cabinets and the refrigerator opened.  Corelle and pyrex make a big mess when they shatter, add in a exploded container of applesauce and a can of Diet Pepsi and it gets even messier!!

 Around 2:30 I saw signs for a rest stop that was also a scenic overview, and quickly pulled over.  It turned out to be the visitor's center for Painted Canyon part of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  We spent about 15 minutes walking around enjoying the view, before getting back in the RV and "admiring" the view from the windshield.  

About an hour from the Elks Lodge we passed two RV's that looked like they were traveling together.  I easily passed the first one, but the second one, kept speeding up as I got along side him.  Finally I floored it and passed them.  At that point Angel & I wondered if they were heading to Elks also.  Shortly after pulling into the Elks who pulls in but the same two RV's.  We spent some time talking to the lady from the first RV, She spends most of the year traveling by RV and they were traveling together.

After a quick dinner at the Elks we headed back to the RV for some sleep.  Our goal for Wednesday is Black River Falls Wisconsin.  It is about an hour east of Minneapolis.

Boseman. MT

Missoula MT -  Bozeman MT
6/24/24

Miles Traveled   196
Trip Total          6026
Travel Time       3:30

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, OR, WA, ID, Montana

As much as we do not like leaving early, we departed Missoula at 8:00am.  While planning our route, and looking for somewhere to stop for fuel, I saw the World Museum of Mining in Butte, MT.  It was a little over halfway between Missoula and Bozeman and right where we would need to get fuel.  When Mark looked at the website, he found the offer a tour in the mine.  The only problem was the only time slot that room for 4 people was 10:00am.  

Once we were on the road we realized to make it to the Museum by 10:00 we were going to have to drive faster than we normally do.  Once again I90 did not disappoint us, the road was smooth, flat and perfect views which allowed us to keep our speed around 66MPH.  Normally we try to keep our speed around 62MPH, even though the speed limit was 80MPH.  Once we got off the Interstate the GPS did take us the wrong way down two one way streets, but we made it on time.  

The Museum was on 22 acres which includes two mines The Orphan Girls Mine and The Orphan Boys Mine.  When the property was taken over my the Museum they open a 65 foot deep tunnel leading to the original  Orphan Girl Mine.  After walking down the 17% slope we arrived at the 65' Level from there we followed mine shafts that were dug over 100 years ago to the 100' level.  There are no lights in the mine, the only light was from the headlamps on our helmets.  At one point our tour guide lit a candle like the early miners used and had us shut off our headlamps.  One candle does not provide much light when you are 100' underground!!!  

The mine was opened in 1875 and active until the 1950's, the mine is over 3000 feet deep, with tunnels leading off the shaft at different levels.  The levels are designated by how many feet they are from the surface.  The miners would travel down the shaft in a man cage elevator, the cage looks like it would hold two or three people, yet the would put six to eight miners in it on the way down, and thirteen to sixteen on the way up.  

Another interesting fact about the mines in Butte is they are interconnected.  In the two mile by four mile mining district there are over 10,000 miles of tunnels and shafts.  Once the miners entered the shaft the were there for the duration of their shift.  Until the miners were unionized the shifts were sixteen hours.  In addition to the carts for the ore, they had two other carts with them.  One cart was for fresh water, and one cart for a toilet.  Depending on how big the crews were in the mine some of the toilet carts had six seats on them, GROSS!  

Overall I think the tour was more interesting for Mark & I than Angel & Karen.

On a sad note, Boseman marks then end of the trip for Angel & I.  Angel's dad has been admitted to the hospital and we are heading home first thing Tuesday morning.  It is approximately a 2200 mile trip home.  Normally we travel about 4 hours or 300 miles which ever come first.   Our plan is to drive about 10 hours a day.  If all goes well we plan to be home Friday or Saturday.  We spent the afternoon canceling our reservation and planning our route home.  

We did go out for one last dinner with Mark & Karen, after checking out 3 VERY expensive restaurants, we found a reasonable priced bar and grill.  When we asked for our check, the waitress told us our bill had been paid.  On our way to our table another patron told Mark how much he liked his Trump 2024 hat.  Apparently he liked it so much he paid for our dinner.  

Tuesday we will be leaving at 6:00am for our trip home.

Missoula, MT

Coeur D'Alene ID - Missoula MT
6/21/24 - 6/23/24

Miles Traveled    180
Trip Total           5830
Travel Time        3:20

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, OR, WA, ID, Montana

Another easy beautiful ride through the mountains, this time through Idaho and Montana.  Again we were on I90 for most of the ride.  I wish the road departments in the rest of the country would come see what condition the interstates should be in.  There were a couple of sections where they were  redoing the highway, not resurfacing it, they dug the entire road up and were replacing it.

We are actually staying in and Campground right outside of Missoula.  All of the campgrounds in town were fully booked for the weekend.     While some of the reviews complained about the owner and how rude she was, we had no problems at all.  Turah RV parked turned out to be a great campground.  The sites were a little narrow but level with grass between the sites with a picnic table and a great firepit.

Saturday we took the bikes and explored the riverfront in Missoula.  What a difference between Spokane and Missoula.  While it looked great at first, as soon as we got on the trail we saw a farmers market across the river, and made our way to it.  It was a great farmers market, fresh produce, local farm raised beef, and local bakeries.  That seemed to be the highlight of the trail, as we left the farmers market we quickly found the homeless camp.  There was a large section of the river lined with tents and makeshift shelters, we quickly turned around.  There were a couple of sections where people were sunbathing and swimming, there was even a bridge that the kids were jumping off. The biggest use of the river seemed to be kayakers, and people in tubes.  This ride was only eight miles, and also included a stop for lunch.

Sunday we took a tour of the Smoke Jumpers Visitor's Center.  There are nine Smoke Jumper Bases in the US.  They are all located in the Western part of the country near large roadless wildlands with no other ways to reach a fire.  Missoula has about 70 of the nations 400 Smoke Jumpers and most of them are seasonal employees.  It is very difficult to become a Smoke Jumper, and most candidates have over ten years experience in forest fire fighting.  This year there were 12 openings and over 300 people applied. In addition to the small museum the tour took us through all of their facilites.   

We ended our time in Missoula with a campfire roasting marshmallows.  

Leaving Missoula we will continue on I90 heading to Boseman MT.

Coeur D'Alene ID

Moses Lake, WA - Coeur D'Alene ID
6/18/24 - 6/20/24

Miles Traveled   142
Trip Total          5650
Travel Time       2:46

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, OR, WA, Idaho

Finally after 21 days we are out of Washington.   It has been a beautiful state but we are glad to say BYE BYE!  (Sort of??)  It was another very easy drive on I90, both campgrounds were within 2 miles of the interstate and I90 is very RV friendly, scenic and for the most part in good condition.    We had two choices for this stop Spokane WA, or Coeur D'Alene ID.  We decided on Idaho just so we could fill in one more state on our travel map.  Coeur D'Alene also has a very nice Elk's campground.  Their campground is truly a campground with 30 sites and each site has water and electric.  The only thing missing is sewer.  They even provide wifi to the entire campground.  All for $30 per night.

The reason for the (Sort of??) comment was, what did we do on Wednesday, we headed back to Washington to explore Spokane.  It was a quick drive and Spokane is a great town to visit.  

We started our exploring with a ride on the Numeric Skyride over the Spokane Falls.  It is 15 minute gondola ride, while it was interesting it was not worth the money.  We could have seen as much of the falls from the walkways as we did on the ride.  Our next stop was MOD Pizza.  At MOD pizza you "design" your own pizza, priced is determined by the size no matter what toppings you pick.  It was also one of the cheapest restaurants we have been to on the trip.  After lunch we walked along the river.  Other than the river the two big attractions were; the GIANT Radio Flyer wagon and the River Garbage Goat.  There is no significance of the Radio Flyer being there, but it is so popular that when it was refurbished several years ago, Radio Flyer provided the paint so the colors would be authentic.  The giant wagon is also a slide and has monkey bars built into the bottom.  There were as many adults playing on it as kids.  Yes I did go down the slide.   The garbage goat is a metal sculpture that "eats" garbage.  The goat has been entertaining people and helping keep a small corner of Spokane clean since they hosted the 1974 World's Fair.  The goat eats what trash people feed it.

Thursday we got our bikes out and headed for downtown Coeur D'Alene.  We choose one of the many waterfront parks to start our ride and toured for over 12 miles.  What we did not know when we started our ride was how many parks there were along the river trail.  The river was also line with beaches, including a dog beach.  I regret not taking any photos during the bike ride.  While we were there the city was preparing for an Ironman Triathlon on Sunday.  While it could be fun to see, I am glad we are missing the crowds. 

Friday we are off to Montana, state number fifteen on our trip. 

Moses Lake, WA

Ellensburg, WA - Moses Lake, WA
15/Jun/24 - 17/Jun/24

Miles Traveled    83
Trip Total         5508
Travel Time      2:07

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, OR, Washington

The drive from Ellensburg to Moses Lake was awesome.  The scenery was great, this section of I90 was easy, and the road was in good condition.  What a shame that what a great drive ended up at such a crappy campground!

Pier 4 RV Resort, is part of Sunrise Resorts that owns several campgrounds.  It was also the one we could find two available sites for Fathers Day weekend.  How they can even call themselves a "resort" is beyond our comprehension.   Our first clue should have been the sign in the office that said no refunds given.  As we approached our sites, it was very very obvious that their webmaster is also a master of deceit.  I do not know when the photos on the website were taken but they are very old.  The website showed nice grassy sites, a nice dock, and a great pool.  In reality there was not a stich of grass, just weeds and dirt.  The dock was falling apart and blocked off with caution tape.  The pool was green.  There was no hot water in the bath house or laundry room,  Talking to other campers it has been that way for sometime, and getting worse as time goes on.  The long term residence were very obvious from the junk piled around their RV's and the oil stains on the roadways were they park.  Good thing we were only there for 3 nights, and it has been the only bad stop we have experienced on our trip.

The one good thing about Moses Lake is how close it is to Dry Falls State Park and Lake Lenore Caves.  We spent Fathers Day exploring the two parks.  Dry Falls was carved by the Ice Age falls 13,000 years ago.  The former waterfall was four times the size of Niagara Falls.  The once mighty river is now a three and a half mile wide cliff towering 400 feet over the deep gorges and spring fed lakes.  At the visitor center we stood on the edge of the cliffs looking down into the gorge that at one time was a mighty river.  The now missing river was formed when ice dams miles upstream broke free carving out the gorge and creating the falls.  The falls started out 15 miles south of the visitor center and over time the river eroded the cliff back to its present location.

After leaving the Dry Falls we traveled to Soap Lake to have what was supposed to be an early lunch at Del-Red Pub.  While we tried to be patient, after waiting two hours for our lunch and seeing patrons that arrived after us eat and leave, we decided to leave.  When we told the host we were leaving, they said no, that our food was just coming out.  We could see our very burnt sandwiches in the window, and left anyways.  We ended up having a very quick lunch at another restaurant.

After lunch we headed to Lake Lenore Caves for what was supposed to be another "easy" 1.5 mile round trip hike to the caves and back.   The Washington Trail Guide Association rates this hike as easy with a 200 foot elevation gain.  Wow were they off base on this one. While it was not crazy hard, the elevation gain was way over 200 feet.  The climb from the parking lot up the paved portion of the trail and the stairs cut in the cliff wall  were well over 200 feet.   After reaching the top of cliff the real "hike" started.  From there the trail varied; parts were dirt paths through the brush, parts were loose basalt lava rocks, parts were steep climbs through the loose rocks, parts were narrow cliffs that you had to face the cliff and hold on to the rock wall as you passed.   The caves were all shallow and more like depressions in the cliff walls, but still very impressive.  The last cave was the largest and was in the wall of a pit at the end of the trail.  Not only were the caves worth the hike, but the view from the cliffs was spectacular.   

Monday we spent the day doing RV chores. as much as it sounds like we are on perpetual vacation, we still have normal "household" chores to do.  Much of it is the same as a house, laundry, cleaning, etc  some of it is much different like sanitizing the water system.   We also spent time getting our butts kicked by Mark & Karen in shuffleboard.   

Tuesday we are finally leaving Washington state and going to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  Washington has been a beautiful and diverse state.  We have seen everything from Beaches, Mountains, Rain Forest, Desert and everything in between.  The weather has been as varied as the terrain, and impossible to guess.  Hopefully as we head East it will get warmer.