7/26/2014 6,000 MILES Nekoosa, Wisconsin then IL, IN, OH

7/25 - We are on our way to visit John's last of 4 siblings in Nekoosa, Wisconsin.  After leaving the Minneapolis area, we travel south on Route 94 and skip across on Route 54E (plod is more like it, we are on back roads in this rural area), to visit sister Judy (and Bill) who live in a lovely lake community in a cute A-frame cabin.  We relax for a while in Bill's boat then take a cool ride in his 1968 cherry red Camaro convertible to have dinner by the lake.  Many more trees and less open land in Wisconsin than we have seen for the majority of our trip and the crop around here is cranberry.  Acres and acres of bogs, farmed for Ocean Spray.  Don't see many cows along our route but they must be somewhere since Wisconsin is known for its cheese!

7/26 - A long day of travel from WI, IL, IN to OH.  It's 4 weeks today since we left Virginia; as we pass Chicago we have gone 6,000 MILES.  Our minds and body are getting numb.  Thank goodness we are nearing the end of this push.  Went for 8 hours (which is long for us) today to try and get as much road behind us as possible.  On Route 90, Ohio rest areas have RV parking so we stayed there to save driving off the route to a campground.  This was fine as a last resort, but the 24 rest area was buzzing with cars and trucks all night long so "rest" was not so good.

As you can imagine, at 11 MPG we stop for gas a lot but it doesn't always align with our (my) need for a rest room.  We stopped at a rest area under construction which said "no truck parking" but I HAD to go.  Well, John stopped to let me out while he stayed in the truck trying to find a place to pull over.  There was none!  When I came out he was no where to be seen. I followed the road through the rest area and see him creeping onto the highway entrance ramp backing up a LONG line of traffic behind him.  I take off running and catch up right before he is on the highway.  Oh my, oh my, oh my! We cracked up laughing.

7/24/2014 5,000 MILES Palisades Park , South Dakota and Buffalo, Minnesota

Palisades Park, South Dakota

5,000 miles on the truck since we  started this trek!
July 21 - Route 90 takes us all the way across South Dakota to Palisades Park Campground on the Split River Creek on the Minnesota border.    These 50 foot canyon walls are lined with 1.2 Billion year old Sioux Quartzite rocks that are just magnificent.  The picture does not show it well but these beautiful rocks are all a dark pinky red!

July 22 - On to the Minneapolis area following Route 23 North through a township called "Hanley Falls".  It consists of a grain elevator at a train stop, a ball field, farm equipment museum and a few houses; population 1884 was 300, population now is about the same.  Didn't see any falls.  The town was named after a railroad officer, when they were establishing the grain elevator/train stops every so many

Hanley Falls, Minnesota

miles.  Not sure if John is related but fun looking up the town history.  Most of the mid-west landscape we have seen this trip is corn, soy beans or cows. For folks used to living on the coasts, it is hard to imagine how much land is under production in the middle of our country and how few people populate these states.  We see a few small family owned farms but mainly huge corporate lands under production.

John, Aunt Joanne, sister Barbara

July 22-24 - It was great visiting John's Aunt Joanne, sister Barbara and many nieces, nephews and grand-nephews in Buffalo, Minnesota.  We had a fun cookout and did lots of catching up on each others lives.  We stayed on one of the more than 11,000 thousand lakes in Minnesota called Lake Independence at the Baker Park Campground. 

John's dad (Jack) was an officer in the Navy Civil Engineer Corp and after retiring the family moved to be near Jack's parents in Minnetonka, MN.  We visited the house John's family lived in when he was in high school and what was left of the horse farm his family moved to when he went off to Dartmouth College.  John invited Debra to Minnesota to meet the family the first Christmas after we met.  Debra said no but then changed her mind, bought a ticket on the same flights he was on and surprised him with her packed suitcase, at the airport when he thought she was dropping him off.  He called his mom from the New York stopover to tell her to plan for one more.  His parents and family were delighted to have her and she had a fantastic time once she agreed to get out of the car.  You see, greeting our arrival was their MASSIVE German shepherd named Simon.  Deb heard this bark which sounded like an angry bear, saw him in the window and said she wasn't going in.  After some persuasion, she came in and by the next morning she was having coffee at the kitchen table with John's dad while Simon rested his head on her lap.  



7/21/14 Zoe and Jack Update

Wolf in Motion Camera Photo

ZOE UPDATE -  Zoe visited her living and study area a few days ago and was terribly disturbed by the devastation of burned down homes, buildings, and the forest.  Her house in Mazama was not touched and she was able to collect her belongings and move her equipment to the nearest Ranger Station for safekeeping until the study can resume.   Another storm went through the area with penny size hail and 50 miles an hour winds but also lots of rain which helped reduce the size of the fire which is still burning.  The fire is 60% contained but many roads are still closed so she can't get to her study area.  Still no electricity or gas.  She watched a plane skimming a lake picking up water to drop on the fire.  It went right over her head dripping water on her.  Good  news is that the wolves and cows with tracking collars are moving around so they are okay.  (She later finds out that one of the wolf pups was killed in the fire.) For the time being, she is enjoying working with another team in the southern Cascade mountain area where there is a lot more wolf activity.


JACK UPDATE - another big promotion and raise at work in less than 3 months!!  Environics Communications has lost several higher level people since Jack has been there which is good for him because he has taken over their duties and is performing them very well.  In less than two years, he is an Account Manager which usually takes 7 to 10 years.  He has been traveling to Florida to meet with clients and is working the 

Jack at Great Falls Virginia

 
long crazy DC hours on top of an almost 3 hour a day round trip commute.  He and a college buddy are looking for apartments in the downtown DC to be closer to the action and cut down the commute.  His men's league baseball team went into the finals in first place but was eliminated in the playoffs :(  Will be seeing lots of Nat's games in August until his baseball league resumes in September.  About a year ago, Jack totally surprised us when we got back from a 2 month RV trip with his decision to join the Navy.  NEVER having expressed any interest in the military, we were shocked; but very proud that he would be following the Naval tradition of his father, both grandfathers and a great-great grandfather on John's side.  The Navy's Surface Ship Warfare Board should be meeting in August which will determine if Jack will be attending Officer Training School in the Fall.  If not, at least he is well situated in his current career.

7/21/14 Mt. Rushmore and Badlands, South Dakota

July 19 - Three weeks on the road and loving it -

From Devils Tower on the north eastern boarder of Wyoming, we continued on Route 90 to Hill City, South Dakota where we visit again with John's sister Joan and husband, Craig; we had a cookout with their wonderful (and colorful)

neighbors, Deb and Craig took another ATV trip to an old mine and found a large piece of rock which was mainly rose quartz. John wouldn't let her take it with us (memories of the Lucy and Desi Honeymoon RV Movie  The Long, Long Trailer where Lucy secretly collected LOTS of rocks in their RV....) so Craig said he would hold on to it till we had space.

Speaking of having space, we just found out that our condo building at Champlin Woods in Westerly Rhode Island is the next building to be built!!!!  So we could have a place next fall to move to if we decide by then to get off the road for a while.  We'll see.  At the rate these guys are building, we are planning more on Summer 2016.

There is so much to do and see in the Black Hills.  We went kayaking on one of the many lakes near where gold was first found in the Black Hills.  That brought Custer with a massive scientific survey team to check it out.  We toured Mt. Rushmore which is only 15 minutes from our

campground in Keystone.  It is impressive!  Like Devils Tower you can't really comprehend how large it is without something to scale it by.  It took Gutzon Borglum and a crew of about 500, 14 years to carve these 4 presidents faces.  I am reading a very good historical novel called "Black Hills" by Dan Simmons about a Lakota  Indian's life from living free with his tribe as a boy during Custer's last stand,  to setting up the reservations, the Chicago World's Fair and finally to the last 14 years of his life as a powder-man building Mt. Rushmore.  The protagonist is fiction but it appears most of the rest of it pretty accurate.

Here is John at our Keystone Kemp Campground one morning communing with nature.  This deer is clearly used to being fed.

Badlands, South Dakota

July 21 - We leave today heading for more of John's family in Minnesota.  Continuing east from Rapid City on Route 90 we are quickly in the Badlands where the temperature is 103.  With miles of canyons that dead end, you can see why people went here to hide but I don't know how they found their way out!

7/19/14 Zoe Fire Evacuation

On July 12, the day we left Washington after visiting Zoe, she sends this picture with a note describing what is going on near her study area in the Methow Valley of the Cascade Mountains.   "It's fire season!  There are 4 or 5 small blazes in this frame.  Doesn't help that the high today is 104."    She said although the air was hazy, it was not affecting the wolves and livestock in her study.  But 2 days later another thunder storm touched off even more blazes and now her study area is burned out.  Several homes have been destroyed, towns evacuated, no power, no gas, etc.  You can read more about these fires at    www.cascadeloop.com/index.php?Page_id=217.         

She and her tech have evacuated their living quarters and are working with another team in another part of the state until it is safe to return.  She had been tracking wolves in a den in the area and says the cubs were hopefully old enough to be safely moved by the pack.  Time will tell.  She was getting calls from the local ranchers whose cows she had also been tracking as they wanted to find out where their cows were.  It appears the cows escaped to safety; at least the ones that were tagged.  With no water or electricity in the area due to lines and power stations burned down; until her area becomes habitable, she has joined another group of researchers in a different part of the state.   Zoe hopes to go back Monday and check things out. 

 This is one of so many stories in her life as a wildlife biologist.    We have tried to tell her to write this down and publish a book someday but she says its not really that interesting as that is the life of all wildlife biologists........

7/17/2014 Togwotee Pass, Continental Divide, Devils Tower, Wyoming



Togwotee Pass, Continental Divide Wyoming

July 16 we left the northwest corner of Wyoming and the Teton's heading southeast on Rt 26 towards Casper.  First have to get through Togwotee Pass and the Continental Divide again at an elevation of 9,594 feet.  Of course what goes up must come down, so we spent the next 9 miles between 2 and 6 percent grade.  7% is the steepest grade allowed on US Interstate highways and we have seen plenty of that in these Rockies.  Thank goodness the truck has a feature called "tow haul" which uses the engine to slow down on steep downhills otherwise we would burn up the brakes pretty quickly.

When the kids were in high school we took a ski vacation to Jackson Hole and came to Togwotee Pass to dogsled.  Zoe was driving the sled that Jack was riding in.  Long story short, in the middle of the wilderness, Zoe let go of the sled while trying to untie it and the dogs took off bat-outta-hell.  Zoe falls off and Jack realizing he was about to die, leaped over the back of the sled, landed on the rails and stopped it before it flipped over and dragged him to who knows where.  The guide driving our sled, saw this stunt and was ready to hire him on the spot!   Jack then instructed Zoe to get in the sled and he drove it the rest of the way. 



Gassing up in Dubois, WY - 4,000 mile mark on the trip

After seeing a black bear in Togwotee Pass, we stopped for gas in the small town of Dubois, WY.  The geology changes dramatically in these parts as you can see by the beautiful red hills behind the gas station.  A big group of families was also here when we arrived and many were dressed like early settlers.  They said they were on their way to a "pioneer experience" where they were going to live like they did in the 1800's .  When John got back from the restroom I told him this and he said "really, if they really wanted to experience living like a pioneer, then why did they clobber the line to the bathroom." 

We camped in the middle of nowhere (which much of Wyoming is) in the oil fields of Wright, Wyoming.  Camp area was called Sage Brush RV which sounds nice but it was a very sketchy.  Very small with lots of run down trailers and campers.  Looked like workers from the oil fields lived there.  However, when we go to the park owner's home/office to sign in, we see a shiny Mercedes and Cadillac in his garage.
 

Devil's Tower 5 miles away

July 17 - after heading north from Casper yesterday up Route 387, we head to 90 east and stop at Devils Tower in the northeast corner of  Wyoming.  Remember the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"?  This is it!  But it's not hollow, that was movie magic.  The exposed part of this ancient volcano core stands almost 1,000 feet high and 1,000 feet in diameter at it's base.   To get an idea of how huge this really is look at the close up photo and note that those Ponderosa Pines growing ON THE ROCK are 100 feet tall!  We saw climbers on a ledge which in the close up picture is the dark spot on the left side about 2/3's from the bottom and 1/4 in from the left.  The American Indians called this place Bear Lodge.

7/15/14 Jackon Hole Flora and Fauna

Buffalo on Ridge in Front of Grand Teton Mountains

We were greeted by a herd of Buffalo on our arrival and again on our departure.  Camping on the Gros Ventre River lent to a short walk to fishing and close range viewing of Moose along the river.  Photo below is of a teenage moose and we also saw a cow and calf Moose the next morning. 

Teenage Moose Gros Ventre River

A photo of a grizzly was taken in our campground  two weeks before we got there.  You have to keep your eyes peeled for bears and moose at all times and make noise walking near the river so as not to startle them and provoke a charge.  As we walked I banged two rocks together for noise and John said, you throw those rocks at a bear and you'll really get eaten.

Got Me Some Bear Spray

Signs everywhere tell you what to do if attacked - basically don't run as that excites them and they can outrun you.  Lay on your belly with hands behind your neck.  It's harder for them to eat you when the most bony part of you is presented.  How reassuring.  John is reading the book, "Lord Grizzly" about the Mountain Man in 1823 who got mauled by a grizzly and left for dead by his army unit. With no weapons for defense or to get food, he crawled 200 miles surviving initially on grubs. Incredible true story of human tenacity. 

As a result of an unusual amount of rain this year, the western prairie and mountains are still covered with red, orange, purple and yellow flowers and sage bushes.  People say they have never seen flowers like this so late into summer.  The delicate sweet smell of sage (not the spice variety) is wonderfully intoxicating.







7/15/14 3,500 MILES Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Teton Mountains from the Gros Ventre

From Glenns Ferry,  Rt. 84, we headed north on Rt 15, to Rt 26 through Idaho Falls to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  Not the shortest route but the least windy, steep, scary route through this part of the Rockies especially for a RV.  Emphasis on "least"!  Just south of Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park in Jackson Hole, Wyoming has to have one of the most breathtaking mountain views on earth.  It is called Jackson "Hole" because it is a valley surrounded by mountain ranges. The park is about 7,000 feet above sea level and the top of Grand Teton Mountain is about 14,000 feet.

2010 Family Reunion

We had great fun kayaking, hiking and fishing (not catching).  John took me up to a place in the Gros Ventre Mountains called Red Rocks where he fished as a kid.  In 2010, we held a family reunion here and celebrated 50 years

2010 Family Reunion

since their last camping trip by staying in Signal Mountain with Aunt Joanne, Phil, Kevin, Megan, Barb, Mike, Joan and families.   Had great times touring Yellowstone where the cousins got to get reacquainted again.

John Fly Fishing Gros Ventre

The rivers are very full this year due to abnormally high snow/rain and are moving too fast for the fish to even see a hook.  At least that is why John says we are not catching anything:)  He has to be very careful walking in the rivers while fly fishing because slippery rocks and the speed of the water can easily wash him downstream.  

Jackson Lake 2015

We knew this part of our journey; a cross country trip (Washington DC to Washington State to Connecticut and back to Washington DC with many great stops along the way) was going to be a push over a 31 day period but we had certain timelines to meet to get Zoe's household goods to her while she had a few days out of the field and then get John back to Washington DC for meetings on his consulting contracts.  We have gone about 3,500 miles in two weeks and are feeling the strain; mainly of the driving.  We switch drivers about every hour and a half to stay fresh.  So far the RV lifestyle is great, being in the camper very little with all of our activities. 

Red Rocks Area Gros Ventre Mountains

7/12/14 Oregon Trail Route, Glenns Ferry Idaho

Actual Landscape Shown Under Sign

Left Zoe's in Pullman, on our way to Grand Teton National Park in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  Hopped back onto Rt.  95 South down the west boarder of Idaho and hooked up to Rt. 84 East toward Boise along the Snake River and the Old Oregon Trail. Camped overnight in Glenns  Ferry, Idaho at Three Islands Crossing Campground.  

Snake River from the Campground

 There are still wagon train ruts from thousands of pioneers who headed West in the mid 1800's through hostile Indian territory, mountains and miles of desert.  At 9 a.m. it was 76 degrees, at 9 p.m. it was 99 degrees.  This entire part of the country was volcanic (still is, read about the massive ocean of lava under Yellowstone) and is strewn with huge lava flows. 



Lava Flow Along Route 84

7/11/14 Zoe's Wolf Research in Washington

Zoe at Pullman House

These past 5 days have been glorious!  We unloaded all Zoe's "treasures" from the RV and truck into her rented house in Pullman which she shares with two vet students. She is so excited to also share their two dogs and a cat since her schedule of being in the field for months at a time precludes her from having pets of her own.  The town of Pullman is 2 miles wide by 2 miles long and consists primarily of  Washington State University (WSU).  Town population is about 30 thousand, of which 20 thousand are WSU students.  It is set in the middle of nowhere.  There is a Safeway and Walmart and a bunch of small businesses but the nearest mall is 100 miles away in Spokane.  Besides the little bit bigger town of Moscow, Idaho 9 miles away; just rolling hills and some cows as far as the eye can see. 

Zoe (left) and Friends Cascade Mountains

We had a cookout at the campground with some of her friends and hooped it up till well after dark.  Fun group of "kids".  Not really kids, all late 20 early 30 something graduate students.  Photo (left), includes Zoe and friends hiking Goat Peak near Mazama, WA in the Cascade Mountains.  Zoe is working in this area for 5 months assessing wolf - livestock interactions (a.k.a -trying to determine how much livestock is being killed by wolves versus their natural prey of moose, elk and deer).  

Zoe with Moose Carcass

This moose carcass is a recent wolf kill.  In her hands is the jawbone.  Doesn't she look happy :) The state of Washington has funded WSU  to direct this wolf research project which involves soliciting cooperation between the governments of Washington, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana and local ranchers. An extremely difficult task considering the varied viewpoints in this region (from "kill them on site" to "let them live in peace") on how to manage wolves. Zoe's primary role in the project is mapping areas in Washington which could be at high risk for wolf-livestock interactions.  See her standing on her Forest Service truck with an antenna tracking the tagged cows to see if they are still alive. 

Zoe Monitoring Livestock with Radio Telemetry

 Her study area covers about 50 square miles throughout the Methow Valley in the Washington Cascades.  There are three other teams of grad students doing the same thing  in other parts of Washington State where wolf packs are also present.    At the end of 4 years Zoe will have a PhD in Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences. 

7/10/14 Misoula MT to Zoe in Pullman Washington

Far Off Snow Capped Montana Rockies in July

Day 9 was a second day driving in Montana from Billings to Missoula.  The plains turned into the Rockies where there is snow on some mountain peaks.  Day 10 we are still on Route 90, and are now driving through these once far off mountains. On the other side we are in Idaho and on to Coeur D'Alene. 

Lake in Coure D'Alene

This is a beautiful town set on a massive lake. When we stopped for gas we noticed a flat tire on the RV.  Thank goodness there are two on each side!!!!  Amazing that we couldn't feel it was flat as we drove through the mountains.   We traveled south along the Idaho-Washington boarder on Route US 95 where the hills were covered with wheat fields and farms. 

Wheat Fields Idaho

A quick stop in Moscow Idaho for supplies then across the boarder for the 9 mile drive to Pullman,Washington.  The Pullman campground is small and nice and not very busy.  We will really be able to "drop our packs" on this 5 day visit and refill our emotional and physical tanks while we visit with Zoe.

7/5/2014 Little Big Horn Battlefield, Crow Reservation Montana

Yellowstone River Billings, Montana

Day 8  - From Hill City, we continued north on Route 90, cut across the NE corner of Wyoming on Route 212 for 166 miles, then rejoined Route 90 outside Billings, Montana where we camped along the Yellowstone River. The temperature when we left Hill City was 53 degrees.  10 minutes later after descending several thousand feet to Rapid City, the temperature was 83 degrees.  

Taking about 2 days to cross Montana.  Big sky country, rolling hills as far as the eye can see.  Easy to go hundreds of miles and see nothing but cows, antelope, sheep, and horses.  Have to get gas just about every place you see a station since they are few and far between and we only get 10 to 12 miles a gallon depending on the terrain.  We goofed and had a gallon left at one point (I have no fingernails left).

Crow Reservation Horses, One Got Over the Fence

You can really understand why people in this part of the country think differently than the coastal areas where human density require massive resource and population management.  These folks can pretty much take care of themselves, a totally different mindset, hence not wanting government interference.

Stopped at Little Big Horn Battlefield (Custer's Last Stand) about one hour east of Billings, Montana.  Montana and the Crow tribe have done a nice job preserving and presenting this history.  Hard to imagine how the Calvary in the mid to late 1800's  traveled such vast desolate

Custer's Last Stand Monument Where He Fell

distances (see monument photo), back and forth between Forts for supplies and reinforcements while they systematically destroyed the Native American way of life. 

7/4/2014 Hill City, South Dakota

Day 7 -We have gone about 2,000 miles since leaving Fairfax one week ago.  From Kansas City area, we headed north on Route 29 up the western Iowa border then stopped in Sioux City, Iowa so John could find cell service for an hour and a half conference call for his DARPA project.  Back on Route 29 we were immediately into South Dakota where we hooked back up to Route 90 in Sioux Falls.  The corn got less and the cows got more as we moved through Missouri, Iowa and into South Dakota.  Pretty flat in these 

Black Dots Are Cows and Big Sky in South Dakota

parts until we reached the Badlands and Black Hills in western South Dakota.   Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse monuments are very close but no time to visit this time.  Hope to stop on our way back from Washington state. 


Joan and Craig's Deck View

Our RV,  Craig and Debra on ATV

Our next rest stop is here at Hill City, South Dakota at John's sister Joan's (and Craig's) fabulous home on a hill (at 5,000 feet) looking at the back side of Mt. Rushmore.  And no, there are no bums carved on the back side ;)  This is one of the most beautiful places on earth.  Craig and Debra are both rock hounds and off they went on his ATV through the nearby cute little town of Keystone.  North by Northwest and National Treasure 2 were filmed near here.  Found a huge slag pile (rock debris from an old gold mine) and dug around searching for minerals that were cool looking or had value. Finished off the visit on July 4th with a thunder and hail storm.

John in Wall Drug

 They are big into billboards along the highways in these parts.  We saw hundreds of them mostly advertising Wall Drug which is a famous "drug store" in Wall, South Dakota.  Of course after seeing 400 miles of Wall Drug bill boards, we had to stop.  Google this phenomena which has made every national news show and magazine.  This is a sampling of some of the other signs we saw: "Eat red meat,  wear fur, and carry a gun.  The American Way."  As brother-in-law Mike would say, "Darlin', you ain't in Fairfax any more."