The Devil you say!

6:16 am - Thursday - June 25th - Devil's Tower, WY - 63° F, 73% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the northwest....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 80° F.....we had an amazing electrical storm begin around 2 am with winds, then heavy rain.  We had to get up just before it hit and stow all our awnings, including the patio awning.  The view this morning......↴

After 2 delightful days lazing around the campground on Lake de Smet it was time to roll our wheels once again.  By 8:50 am we were on our way back to I-90 and the eastbound lanes, but for just a few miles....we needed to dump our gray and black tanks and TLE had found a free dump station at the CENEX fuel station in Buffalo, WY.  By 9:15 we were parked next to their dump station and doing the deed.  By 9:35 am we were back on I-90 eastbound through rolling countryside.....a little up, a little down....over and over again......

.....eventually we left I-90 for US-14, which would take us to Devil's Tower, WY, our destination for the day.....

.....soon the tower came into view, and then it was just a matter of a couple of miles until we arrived at Devil's Tower View Campground.....

.....where we quickly paid for one night ($45) for electricity only (50 amp)....the other places here are really expensive, so what's not to like about an actual view of Devil's Tower, and electricity to run your A/C units on a very warm 91° F afternoon?  Claude and Gail  had stopped in Moorcroft, WY to visit a local museum, but arrived about an hour later.....

....setting up in site #5, right across from us (we are in site #2).......

.....TLE and I were here back on June 29, 2013 very briefly....we were traveling with two Newell couples and friends, the McClouds and the Oliviers, with whom we were headed to Alberta, Canada.  It was suggested we take the US-14 loop by Devil's Tower on our way to Great Falls, MT, so we did.  As soon as we turned off our engines in the visitor center parking lot I began to wonder how we would extricate our large rigs from this tightly packed parking lot.  We stopped for about 20 minutes, took the obligatory pictures, and were on our way west again after some tight maneuvering out of the very crowded parking lot.  I have always wanted to do the hike around the base of the tower, which is why we are here almost 7 years later to the day.

We spent the afternoon inside the air conditioned wonder of our individual coaches, but met for dinner at the campground diner around 6 pm for dinner.  We all agreed to meet at 8 am Thursday morning to drive in the VW the 5 miles over to the visitor center to do the aforementioned hike.  The food was surprisingly good....I had their bacon cheese burger, while TLE their Reuben (of course!), and Claude and Gail their fish and chips.

This little 8 site campground with electric only (no water, no sewer) is perfect for a quick overnighter.  They have very nice restrooms and showers....I know, because I used one of their showers whilst TLE took hers in the coach, and they do have a nice onsite gift store, and restaurant.  Thursday we roll our wheels again to Keystone, SD where we will spend two weeks....time to be in one place for a while!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

Buffalo, or bison?

8:02 am - Tuesday - June 23rd - Buffalo, WY - 63° F, 55% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the north.....clear, blue, warm skies today with a forecast high of 79° F......what a change of fortunes....what's not to like about Buffalo, Wyoming? Our view this morning.....↴

 Lake de Smet near Buffalo, WY

What's that up in the sky?  A bird, a plane?  No, it's ultra lite!

Sleeping in a big box store parking lot is not optimal, and the older I get the less I look forward to  it, but when you are moving across country it makes a lot of sense.....it is free, after all, right?  And the  convenience being near restaurants, and grocery stores is quite handy.  All that being said, I slept pretty well in the shadow of the Cabela's big box store Sunday night.  There was, however, the semi tractor/trailer rig a few sites over which had its refrigerated unit run about 10 minutes every half hour, the sound of the I-90 traffic 2 blocks away, and the usual noises of vehicles ingressing, and egressing the parking lot at all hours.  When you have been used to pretty much NO sound at night as we have these past few weeks, the sudden, jarring sound of a city while seeming benign to those who reside there is not benign to those of us who get used to the lack of night time sound in the often very rural areas we seek out as we move across the northern latitudes of our great country.  I went to bed around 9 pm Sunday evening, and was up by 6:30 am typing my blog.  Around 7:30 am I received a text message from Claude asking if we wished to dine out for breakfast to which I replied in the affirmative, and suggested we haul anchor and head over to the local Cracker Barrel just one exit back west off I-90, so that is what we did at 8 am.

We were there, and parked within 10 minutes to find a sparsely populated dining room.....this is a national chain, and they are practicing social distancing, with all employees wearing face masks.  Hmmmm......in Yellowstone County there have been 3 deaths, and 125 cases in over 4 months.  I asked our server about wearing a mask for 6-8 hours and she said it's not too bad once you get used to it, but it is difficult for her patrons to understand what she is saying....yeah, I would be in total agreement with that.

As is always the case at a Cracker Barrel the breakfast was consistent, and very good, which is what I like about them.....the food is consistent across the country.  By 9:30 we were on our way eastward on I-90 once again heading for Sheridan, WY where TLE and I would spend about an hour a the local Walmart Super Center shopping, and getting lunch (got some of their 'Orange Chicken at their deli.....love it!)......  

 Rain....

Stopped raining about a mile from exit #25

......by noon we were back on the Interstate heading for our destination of the day.......Lake de Smet just outside Buffalo, WY.  It rained on and off for the last 20 miles, but quit just as we reached the lovely county campground on the shores of this large reservoir......Mikesell-Potts County Campground (located in Johnson County....15 cases, 1 death).  I found this hidden gem on 'The Days End Directory' which is available to members of Escapees.  It has been an amazing resource over the years for free to very inexpensive places to stay.  For instance Mikesell-Potts offers 50 amp electrical service (no water, sewer, or dump) for $15/night right on the shores of the lake....this place definitely has the 'IT' factor.....

....we decided to pull into our site as opposed to the traditional back in....easier to get into, and get out of when we leave....as you can see the trailer is already angled for a quick getaway.....all I have to do is start backing and the trailer will track perfectly as we exit.  Claude and Gail spent time in Sheridan at a local saddlery museum, and finally arrived here around 4:30 pm.  They took the site directly across from the front of our rig.  Each site is surrounded by bushes which provide privacy....something we have not had a lot of lately....

......privacy has not been a big issue, however, it's nice not to have to worry about closing the curtains when it gets dark, and we still have the lights on in the Newell.....yeah, you get the picture.......the problem is we don't want anyone else to 'get the picture'.....lol.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

Ever eastward.....

6:34 am - Monday - June 22nd - Billings, MT - 53° F, 78% humidity, wind 10 mph out of the north by northwest.....clear, blue skies this morning with a forecast high today of 83° F.  The view this morning.......↴

After four glorious days dry camping at LaDuke Springs Campground on the Yellowstone River we bade farewell around 8:40 am and began rolling our wheels north back to Livingston and I-90 eastbound.  The 43 miles on US-89 were mostly flat and slightly downhill.  As we came into Livingston we decided to make a quick stop at the CONOCO fuel station to take on 30 gallons of diesel.  My fuel gauge showed about 1/8 of a tank left....it gets terribly inaccurate when it is below 1/4 and we had put on almost 1,000 miles since we last paid the rent in Grand Junction.  Once I put in the 30 gallons the gauge jumped from 1/8 to over 1/3 full, so we did have plenty of fuel after all to make it to Laurel, MT where we could use our fuel card at a Travel Center of America fuel station to get 22¢  off a gallon, or $1.97/gallon.  I took on 126 gallons saving almost $28 off the pump price of $2.19/gallon.  This is the second time I have paid under $2/gallon for diesel since we left Wittmann, AZ almost 2 months ago.  In all we covered 1,046 miles from Grand Junction, CO to Laurel, MT on 156 gallons (the 30 gallons we took on in Livingston, and the 126 gallons we added in Laurel) for a rough average of 6.6 miles per gallon....not too bad considering the number of grinding climbs and descents we made over that time.

The distance from Livingston to Laurel was just over 100 miles of mostly flat driving along the banks of the mighty Yellowstone River which I-90 follows, and from there it was another 12 miles to the Cabela's in Billings, MT where we planned to overnight.  This Cabela's has about 10 RV lanes, a well as a free dump station, which we plan to utilize Monday morning before we depart Billings for our next destination......

.....the drive was effortless.....just set the cruise control, and hang onto the steering wheel.....we were parked in our overnight sites by 1 pm, and enjoying the balmy breezes associated with the 3,400' elevation of Billings compared to LaDuke where we sat at 5,500' elevation.  The high temp in Billings was 82° F Sunday, and it was nice to begin to feel summer like temperatures again.  After a brief rest TLE and I went inside Cabela's to do some shopping.  We needed a grease splatter screen for when we are cooking bacon inside, or outside and wanted to check out their small, cast iron Dutch ovens.  We found both items at very fair prices. Of course, TLE also found a new, short sleeved hiking shirt without which she could not live.

We spent the rest of the afternoon reading, but around 5 pm decided to walk over to the local Pop Eye's Chicken place to eat dinner.  Upon our arrival by foot we found that ONLY the drive through lanes were open for service.....no in store ordering, or dining.....doh!  We ended up walking back a block to Burger King.....a very poor second choice, but certainly serviceable.  We were back home a little after 6 pm and continued our reading endeavors.  I finished the two book Western series by Elmer Kelton (Sons of Texas), and began another Western by William W. Johnston, recommended to me by Claude.  By 9 pm I was ready for the rack and bid adieu to TLE who is more of a 'night person', and continued to read into the night.....

.....of course the sun does not set in these northern latitudes until after 9 pm, and I was able to get these pictures before hitting the aforementioned rack for the night....

.....we are once again in travel mode, and will be moving pretty much every day until we arrive in Keyston, SD on Thursday, or Friday for a two week stay.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

2017 in review...Part Three....The rest of the story

(CLICK ON PIX TO MAKE THEM BIGGER!)

I left off installment 2 of our 2017 in review series with us preparing to fly to SoCal for our son's wedding........on October 5th we flew to SoCal to attend the wedding of our youngest child, Tim, to his fiance, The Beautiful Laila (TBL)......we left the Newell in Livingston, MT and drove into the International Airport in Billings, MT for our flight.  By that evening we were sitting in the family room of Tim and Laila's home in Ontario, CA!

Daddy Nick with Jolene, Sharon with Brayden James (grand kiddies), and Cynthia (grand daughter) with our great grandson Daniel.

The wedding entourage

Laila and Tim reciting their vows

TLE with my sister Hilary, and her daughter Stepanie

.....we were in SoCal from October 5th until the 9th, had a wonderful time spending time with our kids, and grandkids, staying at the Historic Mission Inn, and, of course the wedding was wonderful!

 Lunch before boarding our return flight

....we arrived back at our Newell around 2 am on October 10th, and by the 12th we were on our way southward to warmer climates.....

.....our first day on the road in quite sometime saw us drive all the way from Livingston, MT to Dillon, MT where we overnighted at a local RV park, then the next day found us on the shores of Ririe Reservoir outside of Idaho Falls, ID.....we planned to stay until Sunday, but Saturday morning we woke up to 5" of unexpected snow.....

 Got 5" of unexpected snow at Ririe Reservoir

....for a number of reasons you can read about here, we left Ririe Reservoir a day early and proceeded further south to Downata Hot Springs where we spent three days....

 Got out the snow and headed south to Downata Hot Springs in Southern Idaho

.....we luxuriated in the Hot Springs several times, and I took some time to diagnose an air leak in my air system, as well as clean up the Newell for the first time in months.  Our next stop was near Salt Lake City where we spent 2 nights, and parts of three days courtesy parked at the home of my brother Dwyer......we shopped a lot (COSTCO, Trader Joe's, thrift stores, State Liquor store, etc.) in preparation for the next two weeks as we worked our way down to the Grand Canyon......

 Courtesy parked near Salt Lake City at the home of my brother Dwyer

.....we took two more days to get to Bryce Canyon, overnighting in Panguitch, UT where we were treated to an amazing sunset.....

....then it was on to Bryce Canyon National Park where we arrived on October 20th to spend a few days site seeing, and hiking......I'll let the pictures tell most of that story....

.....in all we hiked close to 20 miles during our Bryce Canyon sojourn.......what an amazing place!  We left Bryce Canyon wanting more, and we will be back for another dose in the near future!

From Bryce we traveled further south to the shores of Lake Powell, to a place called Lone Rock, where we spent a week relaxing in the warm, balmy temperatures....

......we arrived at Lone Rock on October 25th knowing we could stay about a week before we moved south about 10 miles to Page, AZ where we would park our Newell at the local Elks Lodge for 4 days whilst we drove into SoCal once again to attend the wedding of good family friend Amanda to her fiance Michael.  We have been to Lone Rock a couple of times before, but it is always great to spend time there......there were numerous happy hour sunset fires, hiking and site seeing.....

Amanda and Michael reciting their vows, and then "The Kiss"

......our trip to SoCal for Amanda's wedding was a whirlwind one, and we were back in Page, AZ by November 5th to pick up the Newell and drive the final 140 miles to Desert View Watchtower where we arrived on November 6th, went to our Delaware North check in meeting November 7th, and began working on November 8th, and that is where we have been since that date.  We closed out the year with a blood pressure scare for me, and a day in the hospital due to a very minor stroke....I was lucky....no residual effects.

In retrospect 2017 was an amazing year....a year of new beginnings, a re-dedication to exploring places new to us.  There was disappointment and elation.....we ended the year on our terms, and are looking forward to new adventures in 2018, so hang on tight, here we go!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission.