GA Gypsies – Fulltiming

Thanking the Lord tonight for all of His many blessings. He gave me this dream of wanderlust many years ago when I was just a young girl. And now He is fulfilling this dream to travel and see the many wonders of His creations. I am also thanking him for healthy knees that I can actually walk again and overall better general health – able to ride each day for longer amounts of time and able to do other things when we get to campgrounds other than rest or sleep. So very thankful. Custer State Park has to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever stayed. It ranks right up there with Glacier and Yellowstone. The silence in our campground at night was profound. We left Custer later morning and drove towards Devil’s Tower (in Wyoming), but first stopped at Jewel Cave National Monument. We made it in just as the 11:30 tour of the “big room” – a 20 minute tour that takes place in one large cave room. There were only about 30 steps. (YEAH!) It was absolutely breathtaking – I was able to actually look around and up at the ceiling!

Totally different from Wind Cave. The cave is 180 miles long, the third longest cave system in the world. I was wearing my True Grit/Ridgway t-shirt from last year, which started a conversation with a couple in the elevator ride down 230 feet. Then the Park Ranger leading the tour joined in – talking about Ridgway. He was from Delta, CO. After the tour, he talked to us about my knee surgery because he wife also had knee surgery in January. It is amazing the people we have met and the things we’ve talked about and the commonalities we all have. From Jewel Cave, we drove on to our campground at Devil’s Tower – we are near the base and can see it from the campground. Knowing we were getting close, when we came around a curve and caught the first site of Devil’s Tower in the distance, it was breathtaking. Tony set up the camper and we drove up to the visitor center and looked around.

Another thunderstorm system was rolling in, so we did not hike around the base today – that is for tomorrow. We then drove to the small (very small) town of Hulett, WY to get diesel and we ate at the golf course restaurant, watching it rain. Then back to the camper, still raining. It is nearly 7 PM, the rain is coming down and it is supposed to be 39 degrees tonight. We are snug in our little home on wheels. This is DT coming back from Hulett with the clouds rolling in and our view from the camper.

Tomorrow, we are hiking Devil’s Tower, then on to Sundance and to the Vore Buffalo Jump.

 

WOW! What a day yesterday was. We drove to Wind Cave National Park (about 35 miles south of us) and had planned to take the 1 hour easy Garden of Eden guided tour in one of the cave’s open rooms. However, they had not started that tour yet and the only one available was the 1 1/2 hour one with 300 stairs. Well, I decided to try it and I made it, but it was tough. Not only were there stairs, mostly down (about 260 feet down into the cave), but in some places it was wet and the paved walkway was not level – it went up and down. And even though it was lit, it was still very hard to see in there in some places. I was afraid I was going to slip and fall. It was a constant 54 degrees – everyone else had on jackets – I was sweating. I’m glad we did it, but once was enough. We had planned to hike one of the trails when we came out of the cave, but that didn’t happen! It’s called Wind Cave because of the difference in the barometric pressure in the cave and outside – depending upon the weather the natural opening of the cave will blow wind out or suck wind in. And oh, there was an elevator back up! I asked to be on the second load of 10 – I was ready for terra firma! Yesterday was the first day after being out and exploring that I took a pain pill and I laid down and rested when we got back. We did see a lot more bison, deer, pronghorns, and prairie dogs. It’s about 4:30 PM here and around 12:00 PM, we started hearing thunder. It had gotten hot yesterday afternoon and this morning – we even had the ac running before the clouds rolled in. It started raining about an hour ago and about 30 minutes ago it started hailing – it is almost pitch black outside. Our weather radio is in the truck, but it’s hailing too hard to get it. Hope we don’t get blown away. Our camping neighbors had left earlier to go hiking – hope they are okay.

Wow – what a day. Started off slow & lazy, but when we got going, we went and went like the energizer bunny! We left around noon and made it back to the camper about 6 PM. That’s a long day for me. Lot’s of getting in and out of truck, walking in and out of places. I am turning in shortly because we have lots to see tomorrow. We drove around the whole state park and stopped at each lodge, general store, and campground. Along the wildlife loop we saw elk, buffalo, pronghorn, whitetail deer, & prairie dogs. We drove up the road called Needle Highway to Sylvan Lake Lodge (still in the park, way to the northwest) and went through two very narrow tunnels. I closed my eyes in the one called Needles Eye Tunnel – it measured 8’4″ wide X 11’3″ tall – we had to pull in the mirrors to go through. When we got to the other side (and we did) Tony measured the truck – we had 10 inches to spare on each side with mirrors in; only 3 inches if the mirrors had been left out. We ate late lunch/supper at Sylvan Lake Lodge and then drove back to campground a different way, going back through Custer City. Lots of pictures to finish up the day.

This is the lake and lodge across the road from our campsite.

We rode back into the park before leaving this morning. At 11:00, it was 60 degrees. We headed towards the outskirts of Rapid City, then turned southwest to Custer State Park. Just after we checked into the park, headed to the campground, it started raining and then began hailing, really big and really hard. And then just as sudden as it started, it was over. We drove on to our campsite at Legion Lake and got set up. Then we rode into the town of Custer and ate a late lunch. Back to the campsite and we took a nice walk through the campground and across the road to the lake and lodge. We are back at the camper and I’m turning in early tonight. It is so beautiful here, so peaceful, so quiet. I can’t wait to explore the next few days. No pictures today.  Just as I finished typing this (just a little before 8 PM) it started raining again. While we were parking and setting up the camper, it was thundering and lightning. We have trees ALL around the camper. Hope there’s no close lightning.

It rained again early this morning. And it was really cold last night, with the wind blowing off the river. I had to pull out my winter pj’s and bedroom booties. We rode around and got a better look at the campground this morning – it is really nice – lot’s of space, clean, trees, spread out. Saw a bald eagle flying down the river as I was walking this morning. We left around 11:00 headed to Custer, but we will be staying close to the Badlands. Very foggy, then it began misting rain for the whole ride. Saw some different wildlife – two huge whitetail deer ran across the road in front of us, saw a couple of pronghorns, some mule deer, and for the first time I saw pheasants – two males flew in front of us. They were beautiful. We made it to the campground around 3:00 PM (Mountain Time) – we are about 1 mile from the entrance to the Badlands National Park. We have a pretty view from the campground. We went to the only place close to eat – a bar/grille and then we rode into the park. For the first time ever, we parked the truck and got out and actually hiked two short, easy trails in the Badlands – probably a little over a mile. How’s that for two new knees? Made it back to the camper – we bought a frozen Pepperidge cake and had a piece for Tony’s birthday today and Mother’s day. And now for some pictures.

Our campground on the Missouri River from last night.

And in the Badlands.

And there is a little less of me – no sugar, no carbs (well, just a little every now and then) and a whole lot of walking.

 

This morning started off chilly, no, actually cold – 46 degrees, windy, and wet. It rained during the night. Beautiful country through northwestern Iowa, then into southeastern South Dakota. Starting to see a lot of Native Americans and Indian Reservations. We made reservations at Randall Creek State Park in Pickstown, SD. It is beautiful – on a river, wooded. Trying to figure out where we can stay tomorrow night – there aren’t a lot of campgrounds between here and Custer SP unless we go by interstate, which I’m not going to do. My Welcome to South Dakota pictures are behind other signs. Hard to take pictures through the windows at 80 mph! Second picture is just how this part of SD looks. (Tony said he wasn’t going 80 mph, that was just the speed limit and what everyone else was going.)

We got a lot of rain around 7:30 this morning, with rolling thunder in the background. It sure sounded good on the slide of our bedroom. Don’t think that there aren’t good people in the world. We met the nicest people in Iowa – from the shops & restaurants we went in, to the gas stops we made. People would ask where we were from and where we were heading and they would always say to be careful and safe in our travels. We missed a turn heading our today and had to go a ways down a two lane road to turn the rig around. Tony finally saw a place that had a pullout on both sides and had pulled over to wait for traffic to clear. The traffic coming towards us was a sheriff’s car and he pulled over to see if we needed help. (We had to make a detour because a bridge was out.) He and Tony talked for a few minutes and then we turned around and headed back on our way. About fifteen minutes later, going through a small town, a sheriff’s car was in the center of the road, lights flashing, and flagging us to the middle lane. It was the same deputy sheriff – he had seen us and thought he had given us mis-direction since we weren’t going the way they had talked about. He stood there by the truck, looking at the map and the way we thought we would go and told us that road would be very winding and marked on our map a better route to get to our destination. He just carried on a pleasant conversation with us about traveling and riding his motorcycle with his wife. He was the deputy sheriff of Cass County, Iowa. Before he got back in his tahoe, he handed us a card with his name and number and said if we were ever back in the area and needed anything, to give him a call. So nice, something he didn’t have to do. And God’s timing – when we made a wrong turn going around a bridge that was out, who should we meet from the other direction but a deputy sheriff. Thank you Lord for keeping us safe on this trip. The weather is very iffy tonight – possible thunderstorms. Campground owners made sure we knew what county we are in just in case of warnings.

 

Slept in a little later this morning. Tony had his coffee outside a bit earlier, listening to the birds and enjoying the coolness of the morning. We played tourist after lunch. Well, I guess that’s what we are. Went to the historic downtown square of Winterset and visited the Iowa Quilt Museum, several little shops, a quick zip back into the quilt store, and then lunch on the north side of the courthouse at Northside restaurant, where some scenes from The Bridges of Madison County were filmed.

Then, we did our thing – in the truck, searching back roads. Our quest to see the Roseman Bridge. It was about 9 miles out of town and really cool to see with our own two eyes. There is a fairly large stream/small river running under it where you can put in a canoe or kayak and float/paddle 3 miles to a state park. Everything is so green and fresh looking. We played Clint Eastwood & Meryl Streep (ha! ha! ha!) and Clint took pictures of Meryl on the bridge. That was fun.

Back at the camper, resting. We have reservations for Custer State Park and Devil’s Tower next week, then we’re westward onward.

First – pictures from Ohio – Megan’s visit.

 

And now that I have my notes, I can fill in details from yesterday and Monday. We stayed in Hillsboro, Indiana Monday night at Charla Rose Lake & Campground. It was the one in the country that was so quiet and peaceful. Tuesday, we stayed in Davenport, Iowa and ate at the Machine Shed – it was like a local Cracker Barrel. It rained most of Tuesday night. We are now on Central Time. The campground was Interstate RV Park and it was NOT quiet. 65 degrees when left this morning at 11:00.

Today, we came across part of Iowa. Not any plowing at the farms – (we are off the interstate now) – hundreds of white, two story farm houses, barns, silos, out buildings, sheds, etc. We made it to Winterset, Iowa and are staying at the Winterset City Park – it is really nice. This is our campsite.

We rode through town – this is the birthplace of John Wayne – there’s a museum we are going to tomorrow. It is also where the Roseman Bridge is – this IS Madison County  and there are many covered bridges – even one in the park!

We are staying here two nights so we can explore tomorrow. Saw a quilt shop in town at 5:00 – it was still open. Went in and the owner was talking to us and telling us about the other worker in there – Tony – who designed quilts, patterns, etc. I saw him and I started thinking, he looks familiar. And then it dawned on me, for my quilting friends – Tony Jacobsen – who’s in all the quilt magazines. As it turned out, there quilt store just happened to be featured in this month’s Quilt Sampler as one of the top ten quilt shops in US. So they gave me an autographed copy! When I finally figured out who he was, I said, “You’re Tony Jacobs?” and he corrected me – Jacobsen – I reached out to shake his hand. And all this time I had been looking around my Tony had been showing this mega-star in the quilting world my puny little quilts from his phone. They both told us to make sure we saw the bridges, the John Wayne museum, and the Iowa Quilt Museum, which was just two doors down from there shop. And they said to go to Frostees to get a lemon malt. So we did. And it was good. Like the lady said, when you are traveling, you’ve got to have ice cream! Can’t wait to see what we find tomorrow while exploring. Oh, and I promised pictures from Sunday, so I saved the best for last.

I guess we will make it back to Ohio by November.

 

Monday we left Ohio and made it most of the way across Indiana. Lot’s of freshly plowed fields and farmers out in the fields on their tractors. Had one of the best pizzas ever at a locally owned restaurant not far from the campground. This morning, we left that beautiful, peaceful campground in the country and drove across Illinois. We are in Iowa tonight – time change – so we have to remember to watch NCIS at 7:00 PM. What is going to happen to Abby? I think she’s shot, brain dead, and will be an organ donor. Tony thinks DiNozzo will make an appearance. What do you think? I’ve got a few pictures to post soon, promise.