Friday, July 23, 2010
July 23rd, 2010
Right after we left the KOA at Hardin we made the 2,000 miles mark of our trip. I love this country. We entered South Dakota hoping to camp now at a KOA near Mt. Rushmore. It is very close to Sturgis, and the motorcycles were everywhere due to the Sturgis Annual Rally coming up on the weekend. There was NO camping anywhere.
We took a few side trips today and did some good sightseeing, we saw the badlands where Wild Bill Hickcock, and Annie Oakley used to run. The Battle of Big Horn happened there too. A lot of history in these hills, we saw where they had the long hard cattle drive to Texas. We went into a Danish community with a huge historic windmill. The barns were beautiful; the Danish barns have an extra little fancy thing at the peak.
We were enjoying this drive so much when the lightening started up everywhere and the wind, rain and thunder was very strong. All of a sudden, Kate and I noticed that we were the only ones on the road…very eerie feeling, we were scared. We went off all the exits and every place had signs out No Vacancy. Finally, at 9:30 and a lot further away from Sturgis and all the motorcycles we stopped in Mitchell, SD and we got a last room, she said it was a conference room…and she charged me a fortune. They call the conference room "Murphy's Room" because it has a Murphy bed. When we got in the room it just took Katelynn's breath away and certainly surprised me, the Murphy bed was down and was King size, it had the biggest flat screen TV I've seen, it had a kitchen and a refrigerator, and a bar, in the bathroom it had a two person Jacuzzi, it had a dining table and a couch and a coffee table and wing chairs, it was SUPER nice. We are gonna sleep real well here, I can tell. Check out is at noon and we have to be in Kentucky on the 25th, and we have 953 miles to go. Goodnight,
Thursday, July 22, 2010
July 22, 2010
We got up fast and ready to roll in no time, adrenaline is an amazing thing when you're excited you can get it together so fast. We are headed for a couple of days in Yellowstone. We made great time, and saw wonderful countryside, the Mountains of the Rockies…Beautiful. When we got to the Gate they were just opening and my Golden Access Pass got us in for free, sure beats $50. The traffic inside was unbelievable, we went to the first campground we saw because w just wanted to set up and then get out and see the sights. It was full.
We drove on disappointed, with the traffic, but surrounded by the most beautiful country I have seen, just about beats Yosemite. There were steam holes all over, they smelled like rotten eggs, we saw people taking picture so we would pull over to see what they were shooting, they must have had telescopic lenses because the buffalo we saw were so far away they looked like a pack of dogs. We went to the next camp, and it was full, we drove on, we went to some famous grazing sights to find out that we just missed them. We were getting a little discouraged. We pulled into another campground and talked with the park ranger. We were told if we didn't get here by 10 am that all the site were taken, and ours that was reserved was probably given up since we didn't call again to confirm, their website said nothing about this, I'm getting really irritated now and this lady was too nice to bestow my wrath upon her. She called all around for me to try to help. But the bottom line is that we didn't get to stay in Yosemite, but we sure did get to see the sights, somehow we got turned around, when I thought I was going East we were really going North. And by complete luck we got to pull over and see this most beautiful huge waterfall.
So we ended up in Montana, unexpected, BOZEMAN, MT. Now on interstate 90 we just wanted to camp somewhere nice. Tomorrow we will be seeing Mt Rushmore in S. Dakota. Montana was a lot more beautiful than I ever expected we kept stopping and taking pictures, it was the big sky and huge mountains, and acres of grassland. We saw so much, we ended up staying at the KOA in Hardin, MT…and it had everything we could need. We paid the extra $20 to be members because we know we are staying at more of them, they have showers, laundry rooms, pool, hot tub, grass sight for your tent and a continental breakfast in the AM. I started on the laundry right away then bought hotdogs for dinner and Katelynn built the fire and started the soup and hotdogs, after eating I switched the laundry around and took a shower…..and
So can a really bad day get so much worse? YES, That night we were in the middle of dinner when we started getting a little sprinkle, no biggy we decided to put out the tarps and rain flies on the tent. But by midnight, we were right in the middle of the biggest thunder and lightening storm, monstrous rainfall and 70 mile an hour winds. Kate was so scared, we could hear all kinds of things breaking and blowing around, I have to admit I didn't know what to expect. It was crazy, the tent was blowing right across us sideways. We slept and in the morning with just our bottom sleeping bag a tiny bit damp. We had survived!!!
I took the blanket to the laundry room and put it in the dryer. The sun was out so we laid out our tarp and tent to dry. We weren't able to leave until 12 noon, but we left clean and dry.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
July 21st
Boohoo we had to leave the haven in the town of Cascade. The drive out was just as beautiful as the trip coming from the other direction. But wait… before we left John made us a tasty breakfast. It started out with a parfait, a layer of strawberries and layer of fruit yogurt and granola on top. Then he came out with omelets, just perfect – one filled with all the right things. I ate the whole thing.
So today we are heading to Yellowstone, we stopped in Boise to shop at a book store, I wanted to buy a kindle so bad so I could read in the tent as the screen lights up. But while we were in Boarders, I was looking at the travel information for Yellowstone, and I got to talking to this man about our trip and that we were headed there today. He said that he was so sad to inform me but if I didn't get there at 10am when the gates open I wouldn't be able to find a camping spot. We needed to sit somewhere and look things over and make a decision. So after Kate got her books we stop at a Starbucks and talked for a while about what we should do, after calculating how far we were from Yellowstone, we wouldn't even get there until 6pm. I don't want to miss out on anything. So we will drive on until 5 or 6 then set up camp closer to the park entrance.
We pulled off at 5:30 in Pocatello Idaho, very close to Idaho Falls still an hour and ½ to Yellowstone…and it's raining like crazy, looked for camping nearby because KOA has some good covered sites at times. No luck. We ended up in a hostel, right across the street from Applebee's, and it was very close to a big airport. So in the morning we pack up early and head out, we can't wait to see the buffalo, Old Faithful and the Sulfa Ponds.
After eating at Applebee's Kate and I came back to our place and were able to go for a swim at the hostel's indoor pool. As I'm writing, I'm falling asleep. Got to get up and rolling early.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
July 20th 2010 Cascade, Idaho
Today was filled with excitement, we have been waiting for this day for months. We made our reservations to stay at the Dutch Oven Bed & Breakfast in Cascade Idaho. Oh wait! The drive up here through big rocky mountains, with the snake river along side the road, the 78 miles up from Boise was perfect! So beautiful to drive, we stopped and smelled the roses on our way and took a lot of pictures it was just overwhelming. We talked with people in this lazy little town called Horseshoe bend, took more pictures of steeples, barns, and a huge one lane old bridge. The little town was so cute, back in time, very old west like. Everyone sitting out in rocking chairs and enjoying the day, the river goes around the town in the shape of a hoseshoe, hence that's how it got it's name. We had such a good time on this drive singing and talking, I'm just so happy Katelynn is enjoying thia as much as I am, I remember driving across the states when I was younger with my parents and was so bored, I couldn't wait to get off the road. We arrived shortly after 12 noon and passed the B&B to take a look at the lake first. Small town....slow and very comfortable. The owner of the B&B greeted us, his name is John Warner, he is a chef. He showed us around and then we unpacked in our room, "the fishing room" it was decorated real authentic western...our room has twin beds and a rocking chair, dresser and we love it!!! John announces that dinner will be at 7pm. Katelynn and I decide to dress for dinner, and I'm glad we did because John made a formal meal and wore his chef coat and hat. We had blackened chicken with a tequila chutney sauce, fresh green beans with a little bacon and almonds, then Kate had roasted red potatoes and I had the garlic mashed, I took pictures:
Doesn't it look so yummy? It was the best, I practically licked my plate. John was so nice, he sat and talked with us as we ate, we welcomed it or I'm sure he wouldn't have, he was so polite and careful to make sure we had everything we needed. I loved his place, one of my favorite spots was on the front porch.
The whole front of the house has huge round logs, log cabin style, and a porch with chairs and tables, or chair to just sit and read or to enjoy the view of the river and mountains. This place was everything we were dreaming of, we didn't go to bed very early at all, it was too nice and we wanted to enjoy. Thank you Lord, for this experience, we will never forget.
Doesn't it look so yummy? It was the best, I practically licked my plate. John was so nice, he sat and talked with us as we ate, we welcomed it or I'm sure he wouldn't have, he was so polite and careful to make sure we had everything we needed. I loved his place, one of my favorite spots was on the front porch.
The whole front of the house has huge round logs, log cabin style, and a porch with chairs and tables, or chair to just sit and read or to enjoy the view of the river and mountains. This place was everything we were dreaming of, we didn't go to bed very early at all, it was too nice and we wanted to enjoy. Thank you Lord, for this experience, we will never forget.
Monday, July 19, 2010
July 19, 2010
Wow, today is hot! I'm so glad we have an airconditioner. We called the B&B in Cascade Idaho, thay are full for tonight so we made a resevation for tomorrow night.
Kate and are going to head towards Boise and camp where ever we fill like stopping. Parts of Idaho are really brown but nearer the river there's a lot of lush green places. Highway 20 was not what we expected at all, we drove through miles and miles of high-plane dessert, still so much to see. After a few hours we found ourselves in the middle of huge rocky mountains carved out by a river that stayed with the road but Idaho was elusive. We went through a time zone and we kept our eyes peeled for the sign "You are now entering Idaho", we went to the Piautte Indian Reservation as a little side trip off of the main road. That was truly sad, they looked so poor and oppressed. On entering the reservation there was a sign that said it was illegal to bring any form of alcohol onto the resevation. Some of their houses looked like little card-board sheds. Back to the main road, for a couple of more hours, then to the big interstate freeway (yeah!) which we knew was in Idaho, so God knows how long we really in Idaho, then there was the sign, "Welcome to Idaho", we were exhausted, we lost an hour with the time zone, so it was ow 5PM. It was strage, it was a different world, we were just in the most desolate areas, and all of a sudden we were in busy big cities, traffic everywhere...it didn't look like we were gonna get to camp. We got out our travel books to find a place to stay and we got into a BED!!!! in a Super 8 stinky motel, in Boise by the airport.
We arrive at the motel and I go to check in and couldn't find my ID, thank God Katelynn was 18 and had ID. I searched the car, actually, unpacked it and finally after a couple of hours of dumping everything...I found it. We ordered pizza then had an excellent sleep, we even woke up too late for our continental breakfast.
So on the road again heading for the B&B at Cascade, we left as fast as we could because the B&B owner said we could come early and go to the lake and it was a beautiful day.
Kate and are going to head towards Boise and camp where ever we fill like stopping. Parts of Idaho are really brown but nearer the river there's a lot of lush green places. Highway 20 was not what we expected at all, we drove through miles and miles of high-plane dessert, still so much to see. After a few hours we found ourselves in the middle of huge rocky mountains carved out by a river that stayed with the road but Idaho was elusive. We went through a time zone and we kept our eyes peeled for the sign "You are now entering Idaho", we went to the Piautte Indian Reservation as a little side trip off of the main road. That was truly sad, they looked so poor and oppressed. On entering the reservation there was a sign that said it was illegal to bring any form of alcohol onto the resevation. Some of their houses looked like little card-board sheds. Back to the main road, for a couple of more hours, then to the big interstate freeway (yeah!) which we knew was in Idaho, so God knows how long we really in Idaho, then there was the sign, "Welcome to Idaho", we were exhausted, we lost an hour with the time zone, so it was ow 5PM. It was strage, it was a different world, we were just in the most desolate areas, and all of a sudden we were in busy big cities, traffic everywhere...it didn't look like we were gonna get to camp. We got out our travel books to find a place to stay and we got into a BED!!!! in a Super 8 stinky motel, in Boise by the airport.
We arrive at the motel and I go to check in and couldn't find my ID, thank God Katelynn was 18 and had ID. I searched the car, actually, unpacked it and finally after a couple of hours of dumping everything...I found it. We ordered pizza then had an excellent sleep, we even woke up too late for our continental breakfast.
So on the road again heading for the B&B at Cascade, we left as fast as we could because the B&B owner said we could come early and go to the lake and it was a beautiful day.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
July 18th 2010
Whiskeytown Lake is so beautiful to wake up and see first thing in the morning. We all slept in until 8:30 in the morning, I started to hear the little ones getting dressed and exiting their tents. By the time i could get up to see them they were all down by the lake.
Katelynn is a good person to sleep with, quite the cuddle bug. However, our queen sized sleeping air bed doesn't hold air, so we decided to leave it behind. Matthew and Jenny said they would blow it up for the water.
Matthew was such a huge help packing us up so we could get out of there, but not before Jenny made us a great egg, sausage, and cheese breakfast burritos.
We hit the road by 10 headed for Bend, OR. The drive north was such a joy, the scenery was incredible, many of the mountains still have snow. We saw Lake Shasta was full to it's brim, I don't think I've ever seen that, no big red dirt beaches...the water line was up to the trees.
We saw Sister Buttes, and I handed Kate the map and had her pick out the place we would stay as there is a lot of good camping in Oregon. She picked out Tumalo State Park Campground.
This spot was just meant to be, God is taking care of us, I can feel Him. It was the last site available, it was paved in most parts for the disabled, right next to the showers, and across from the bathrooms. We registered and bought some firewood from the camp host.
I cooked dinner and Kate built the fire....we were on our own !! Now it feels real, we are fending for ourselves, and we are free!! We roasted marshmallows and read our books then went to sleep in our tent. All sooo peaceful. Sleeping on the ground isn't as bad as I thought, we have decided not to buy another air mattress.
Kate and I did wake up early (4:30) I made Kate stay in the tent and read so that we wouldn't wake up the other campers. We only managed that for one hour and were out making coffee at 5:30 on our cook stove. We are getting good at setting up and tearing down camp, the car is so small that every thing has a place and in it's place is where it has to be. We made a fire, took a shower, and had breakfast and were on the road by 9AM. Heading towards Idaho today on Highway 20.
Katelynn is a good person to sleep with, quite the cuddle bug. However, our queen sized sleeping air bed doesn't hold air, so we decided to leave it behind. Matthew and Jenny said they would blow it up for the water.
Matthew was such a huge help packing us up so we could get out of there, but not before Jenny made us a great egg, sausage, and cheese breakfast burritos.
We hit the road by 10 headed for Bend, OR. The drive north was such a joy, the scenery was incredible, many of the mountains still have snow. We saw Lake Shasta was full to it's brim, I don't think I've ever seen that, no big red dirt beaches...the water line was up to the trees.
We saw Sister Buttes, and I handed Kate the map and had her pick out the place we would stay as there is a lot of good camping in Oregon. She picked out Tumalo State Park Campground.
This spot was just meant to be, God is taking care of us, I can feel Him. It was the last site available, it was paved in most parts for the disabled, right next to the showers, and across from the bathrooms. We registered and bought some firewood from the camp host.
I cooked dinner and Kate built the fire....we were on our own !! Now it feels real, we are fending for ourselves, and we are free!! We roasted marshmallows and read our books then went to sleep in our tent. All sooo peaceful. Sleeping on the ground isn't as bad as I thought, we have decided not to buy another air mattress.
Kate and I did wake up early (4:30) I made Kate stay in the tent and read so that we wouldn't wake up the other campers. We only managed that for one hour and were out making coffee at 5:30 on our cook stove. We are getting good at setting up and tearing down camp, the car is so small that every thing has a place and in it's place is where it has to be. We made a fire, took a shower, and had breakfast and were on the road by 9AM. Heading towards Idaho today on Highway 20.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Start Of Trip July 17, 2010
I'm writing the memoirs of Katelynn's and my road trip across the great USA. Our adventure starts today in Petaluma, CA. I haven't slept well the last two nights from the excitement of it all and I woke up today with some heavy anxiety, that stayed with me until we picked up the rental car. I guess I was afraid of something going wrong. Praise #1 there were no problems, we picked it up, our KIA Rio. We loaded up the car and left town around 11:00 am.
Our first night was at Whiskeytown Lake camp, we met up with the rest of the family there, Matthew, little Kurt & Gia, Jenny and Jonathon, Ethan & Alyssa, Jacquie and Daniel, Christopher & Kaylee, and Daniel's daughter Alesia, Denise and Randy & J.C. Praise#2 Randy and Jonathon both brought their ski boats. We spent the end of the day in the water since it was 110 degrees!!!
Katelynn and I ate at Jimboy's Tacos in Fairfield on the way up. With all the sun that day I felt dehydrated. Matthew tooks good care of me, he put up my tent, blew up our mattress, carried things back and forth to the car...he's such a good son.
The cutiest thing was Christopher: he is growing into such a mature teenager, he talks alot more to me now than he ever has, he was telling me about the horses he has been working with in his summer program, all his responsiblities in their care and in riding them. When they were diving in the water he remembered how much I like green rocks and he spent a long time diving for them, he would sift through them to find the best ones to bring to me. He was so proud in presenting them to me and of course I oooed and ahhed over each one... I loved it.
Katie and I talked tonight after dinner then the campfire, she and I both feel we aren't truly on our own yet, and truly free, seeing new things yet. We leave here in the morning for Oregon.
Our first night was at Whiskeytown Lake camp, we met up with the rest of the family there, Matthew, little Kurt & Gia, Jenny and Jonathon, Ethan & Alyssa, Jacquie and Daniel, Christopher & Kaylee, and Daniel's daughter Alesia, Denise and Randy & J.C. Praise#2 Randy and Jonathon both brought their ski boats. We spent the end of the day in the water since it was 110 degrees!!!
Katelynn and I ate at Jimboy's Tacos in Fairfield on the way up. With all the sun that day I felt dehydrated. Matthew tooks good care of me, he put up my tent, blew up our mattress, carried things back and forth to the car...he's such a good son.
The cutiest thing was Christopher: he is growing into such a mature teenager, he talks alot more to me now than he ever has, he was telling me about the horses he has been working with in his summer program, all his responsiblities in their care and in riding them. When they were diving in the water he remembered how much I like green rocks and he spent a long time diving for them, he would sift through them to find the best ones to bring to me. He was so proud in presenting them to me and of course I oooed and ahhed over each one... I loved it.
Katie and I talked tonight after dinner then the campfire, she and I both feel we aren't truly on our own yet, and truly free, seeing new things yet. We leave here in the morning for Oregon.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
USA 2010
I hope y'all are great, (just a reflection of my new southern accent). Boy, we loved the South. Our trip was the kind you dream of, I've always wanted to do this. We went 9,640 miles, I'm afraid they'll never rent me a car with unlimited miles again, though they had no complaints at Hertz when I returned it. I'll list the states we saw and attach a few pics for ya, then show the rest when your home. We headed out on the 16th of July, our first night was at Whiskeytown Lake, CA with all my children and grand-children and Denise's family, only one missing was Valerie. Then we camped at Bend, OR, then KOA at Boise,ID, we had a reservation for a B&B in Cascade, ID, the next night and it was superb! We had hoped to make it to Yellowstone, WY the next day, but left too late to make the miles and we ended up staying one more night in Idaho, at Pocatello. We left early to get into Yellowstone because we heard the camping sites went fast. We were in the gates at 10AM and the sites were all taken, so we drove through and saw the sights at Yellowstone but couldn't stay there, we missed seeing buffalo but saw so much more, what a beautiful place.
We left Yellowstone through the North gate and were in Montana, BIG SKY, and that is so true. We camped at Hardin, MT at KOA, we had a nice site there, pool and hot tub, there I was able to get our laundry done, and shower. Katelynn made the fire and dinner, by the time I got done with the laundry. Then the fun started, around midnight we had to get in the tent as it started to sprinkle. Then came the lightening and loud thunder, Katie was scared, our tent was blowing right over us, sideways. We made it through the night and stayed dry. The sun was up and we broke up camp, turned over the tent and it only took a very short time to dry out, then we were on our way again. Heading for S. Dakota, Mt. Rushmore. Everything was so beautiful, there were motorcycles everywhere for the Sturgis Annual Run. There was no where to camp in the area so we were forced to drive on, that day was cloudy but not too bad, we saw so much. We drove thru the badlands and saw Little Big Horn, places of Crazy Horse and Wild Bill, Annie Oakly. Old towns, that night was exciting we needed to find a place and fast because we were seeing lots of lightening and hearing loud thunder, all motels were filled up and no one was left on the road, winds and rain pouring down we couldn't see very well, so we went from town to town trying to find a room and finally got the last room at Mitchell, The Old Irish Inn, they price gouged us, 140.00.
We were getting behind on the miles we needed to cover because we were suppose to be in Kentucky by the day after tomorrow, so from Mitchell, SD I decided I wasn't going to miss out on what I wanted to see, that I would take my time during the day, and see what I wanted to see then make up the time driving through the night this time. So we saw Sioux Falls, the big Missouri River, we drove right along side of it for awhile til we reached Omaha, NB, then went into Iowa, the dutch country with their windmills and the Covered Bridges of Madison Co., DesMoine and went south when we met the Mississippi, during the night I drove on through Illinois, and Indiana and the sun came up once we reached Kentucky. So we made our reservation. Katelynn's boyfriend came over right away to our motel in Danville, he was wonderful to her and me, a very nice guy. She was respectable and on top of the world. We had planned to stay 2 nights here but I couldn't break Kate away from Alex and the area was some of the best I've ever seen, I could live in Kentucy...I loved it too, and we decided to stay a third night there.
We left KY headed for the Cumberland Gap, we stayed along the Blue Ridge Trial in the Mts. of Virginia, at a KOA at Natural Bridge, a huge rock bridge. The next night at a National Park, Big Meadows. We had an elk family that we shared our camp site with.
We went out sight seeing from our place at Big Meadows, we drove though tunnels and saw the mts. that seemed to go on forever. We had bought our firewood earlier for that night but got back way after dark, around 10 pm, and went to bed. Kate and I slept so good in the tent, that was no problem for us and we got great setting it up and breaking down camp. When we got up in the morning we ended up giving our firewood to our neighbors, a big Filipino family, they offered us breakfast and were so thankful but we were getting ready to leave and declined, but then his wife said how about coffee? Yeah! I had the best coffee of the trip right there from the nice family camped next to us.
We left there and headed east, we were now so close to the Atlantic, we wanted to see the ocean. Virginia is beautiful, and now we were out of the tourist traps, on a two lane road that wound around all the little tiny settlements of people that lived off the land and sold whatever their specialty was in their front yard. We found a place that sold preserves so Kate bought a cherry salsa, and I got Kirk some Chow-chow and Pickadilly. Then we came to Sperryville, right at Mt. Vernon... a lady was selling quilts in her little shop in front of her house, They were done on a machine, but were definitely handmade, we each fell in love with them and went outside and decided that these were what we wanted to buy as our special souvenir of our trip, something that would last, we spent a long time there picking out the perfect ones, and the lady was so kind as to mark them down until finally they were affordable. We left there feeling proud of our find and our bartering skills. Then we headed North towards DC, saw Jefferson's Monticello, that they have kept up wonderfully restored. Got to HWY 81 which took us almost the whole way to Harper's Ferry. That was a really big tourist trap there, it is the place where they had a big battle that turned the war around, Oh ya, I forgot to mention that we followed the Civil War trail on and off thru the whole Eastern area and South. We saw a lot of graves, memorials and battle grounds, the ones you always hear about in movies and history. We couldn't find our hostel at first but the people were so helpful they practically took us there, it was between Knoxville and Harper's Ferry on the Potomac River. We, loved our hostel, it was big and had interesting people there, a teacher from Toronto, a Krishna priest, Lydia who was the host there, and Chris also a host, 4 men who were aides to congress, they were celebrating their promotions, and their new apartment they found in DC.
We reserved 4 days here, as it was centrally located. The 1st day we decided to stay kind-of local, we went looking around close by, and ended up back on the road of our hostel to go swimming in the Potomac, what a job! The place was rocky and we had no water socks, so it was hard on the feet, we wanted to go out to the deeper water but when we got there the current was strong and took us further from our things on the beach. We made it back finally and were cut up, bruised and my knee was killing me so I limped around the rest of that night. Katelynn was such a good sport, she did whatever I wanted to do right along side of me. We made our dinner, and offered some to the house manager, and Lydia ate with us. It really felt like our home when we were there.
The next day we got up and were going to look for the Amish in Lancaster, PA. On the way we found the Grotto of Lourdes, I will tell you more about the miracles we experienced there later, but I will tell you that I went to the shrine and all around the place with my pillow trying to find the perfect place to pray for a healing of my knee, Katelynn too, it wasn't hard as there were signs everywhere, saying "Shh, quiet area, People praying". I will say I was healed. This was a very special stop on out trip. Right after that we were at the site of the Battle of Gettysberg, and the memorial they had there was wonderful.
Finally, we made it to Lancaster, we saw many Amish, no electrical poles going to their homes and they were working the fields with horses. It was really nice to see, and I would love to live that way (for awhile anyway.)
When we got up our third day at the hostel Chris said are you going to DC today? He wanted to come along. With him with us we had our guide, and weren't afraid to ride the Metro in (that's what they call the subway.) Washington would take forever to tell you about but I will say we saw it all. Most impressive was seeing the President come in with 3 big huge helicopters landing on the grass in front of the White House. Actually, that was up there but really the thing I loved the most was Lincoln's Memorial. We also saw the Ford Theater where he was shot. We ate right across the street from the Ford Theater at the DC Hard Rock.
We left Yellowstone through the North gate and were in Montana, BIG SKY, and that is so true. We camped at Hardin, MT at KOA, we had a nice site there, pool and hot tub, there I was able to get our laundry done, and shower. Katelynn made the fire and dinner, by the time I got done with the laundry. Then the fun started, around midnight we had to get in the tent as it started to sprinkle. Then came the lightening and loud thunder, Katie was scared, our tent was blowing right over us, sideways. We made it through the night and stayed dry. The sun was up and we broke up camp, turned over the tent and it only took a very short time to dry out, then we were on our way again. Heading for S. Dakota, Mt. Rushmore. Everything was so beautiful, there were motorcycles everywhere for the Sturgis Annual Run. There was no where to camp in the area so we were forced to drive on, that day was cloudy but not too bad, we saw so much. We drove thru the badlands and saw Little Big Horn, places of Crazy Horse and Wild Bill, Annie Oakly. Old towns, that night was exciting we needed to find a place and fast because we were seeing lots of lightening and hearing loud thunder, all motels were filled up and no one was left on the road, winds and rain pouring down we couldn't see very well, so we went from town to town trying to find a room and finally got the last room at Mitchell, The Old Irish Inn, they price gouged us, 140.00.
We were getting behind on the miles we needed to cover because we were suppose to be in Kentucky by the day after tomorrow, so from Mitchell, SD I decided I wasn't going to miss out on what I wanted to see, that I would take my time during the day, and see what I wanted to see then make up the time driving through the night this time. So we saw Sioux Falls, the big Missouri River, we drove right along side of it for awhile til we reached Omaha, NB, then went into Iowa, the dutch country with their windmills and the Covered Bridges of Madison Co., DesMoine and went south when we met the Mississippi, during the night I drove on through Illinois, and Indiana and the sun came up once we reached Kentucky. So we made our reservation. Katelynn's boyfriend came over right away to our motel in Danville, he was wonderful to her and me, a very nice guy. She was respectable and on top of the world. We had planned to stay 2 nights here but I couldn't break Kate away from Alex and the area was some of the best I've ever seen, I could live in Kentucy...I loved it too, and we decided to stay a third night there.
We left KY headed for the Cumberland Gap, we stayed along the Blue Ridge Trial in the Mts. of Virginia, at a KOA at Natural Bridge, a huge rock bridge. The next night at a National Park, Big Meadows. We had an elk family that we shared our camp site with.
We went out sight seeing from our place at Big Meadows, we drove though tunnels and saw the mts. that seemed to go on forever. We had bought our firewood earlier for that night but got back way after dark, around 10 pm, and went to bed. Kate and I slept so good in the tent, that was no problem for us and we got great setting it up and breaking down camp. When we got up in the morning we ended up giving our firewood to our neighbors, a big Filipino family, they offered us breakfast and were so thankful but we were getting ready to leave and declined, but then his wife said how about coffee? Yeah! I had the best coffee of the trip right there from the nice family camped next to us.
We left there and headed east, we were now so close to the Atlantic, we wanted to see the ocean. Virginia is beautiful, and now we were out of the tourist traps, on a two lane road that wound around all the little tiny settlements of people that lived off the land and sold whatever their specialty was in their front yard. We found a place that sold preserves so Kate bought a cherry salsa, and I got Kirk some Chow-chow and Pickadilly. Then we came to Sperryville, right at Mt. Vernon... a lady was selling quilts in her little shop in front of her house, They were done on a machine, but were definitely handmade, we each fell in love with them and went outside and decided that these were what we wanted to buy as our special souvenir of our trip, something that would last, we spent a long time there picking out the perfect ones, and the lady was so kind as to mark them down until finally they were affordable. We left there feeling proud of our find and our bartering skills. Then we headed North towards DC, saw Jefferson's Monticello, that they have kept up wonderfully restored. Got to HWY 81 which took us almost the whole way to Harper's Ferry. That was a really big tourist trap there, it is the place where they had a big battle that turned the war around, Oh ya, I forgot to mention that we followed the Civil War trail on and off thru the whole Eastern area and South. We saw a lot of graves, memorials and battle grounds, the ones you always hear about in movies and history. We couldn't find our hostel at first but the people were so helpful they practically took us there, it was between Knoxville and Harper's Ferry on the Potomac River. We, loved our hostel, it was big and had interesting people there, a teacher from Toronto, a Krishna priest, Lydia who was the host there, and Chris also a host, 4 men who were aides to congress, they were celebrating their promotions, and their new apartment they found in DC.
We reserved 4 days here, as it was centrally located. The 1st day we decided to stay kind-of local, we went looking around close by, and ended up back on the road of our hostel to go swimming in the Potomac, what a job! The place was rocky and we had no water socks, so it was hard on the feet, we wanted to go out to the deeper water but when we got there the current was strong and took us further from our things on the beach. We made it back finally and were cut up, bruised and my knee was killing me so I limped around the rest of that night. Katelynn was such a good sport, she did whatever I wanted to do right along side of me. We made our dinner, and offered some to the house manager, and Lydia ate with us. It really felt like our home when we were there.
The next day we got up and were going to look for the Amish in Lancaster, PA. On the way we found the Grotto of Lourdes, I will tell you more about the miracles we experienced there later, but I will tell you that I went to the shrine and all around the place with my pillow trying to find the perfect place to pray for a healing of my knee, Katelynn too, it wasn't hard as there were signs everywhere, saying "Shh, quiet area, People praying". I will say I was healed. This was a very special stop on out trip. Right after that we were at the site of the Battle of Gettysberg, and the memorial they had there was wonderful.
Finally, we made it to Lancaster, we saw many Amish, no electrical poles going to their homes and they were working the fields with horses. It was really nice to see, and I would love to live that way (for awhile anyway.)
When we got up our third day at the hostel Chris said are you going to DC today? He wanted to come along. With him with us we had our guide, and weren't afraid to ride the Metro in (that's what they call the subway.) Washington would take forever to tell you about but I will say we saw it all. Most impressive was seeing the President come in with 3 big huge helicopters landing on the grass in front of the White House. Actually, that was up there but really the thing I loved the most was Lincoln's Memorial. We also saw the Ford Theater where he was shot. We ate right across the street from the Ford Theater at the DC Hard Rock.
The next day we checked out and went more north east to Philadelphia, another hostel for two nights, I wasn't very happy about this place because we were supposed to stay in the historical Chamineux Mansion, it was beautiful with all the parlors and antique furniture, and the basement kitchen. No... we didn't get to stay in that building they had turned the stables into a hostile overflow for when they were filled up they would put the extra people there, bunkbeds, no nice furniture, a lock on the door that didn't work, etc... I could go on.
So the first night we headed into town and found Franklin square, we asked 3 ladies where the best Philly Steak Sand's were and they showed us a place by the Love Story park, an old Irish Pub, and we did indeed have the best Philly cheesesteaks.
The next day we drove around seeing everything we could, went into New Jersey, and then found a theater to get out of the heat, after I flagged down a cop to find my way back and as it turned out we found our way by ourselves, if we had went his way, we would have been closer to Baltimore.
This was our official turning around towards home point, the next morning we were heading West on the turnpike towards Pittsburg. We wanted to see more covered bridges since there were so many in this area, we got off on a two lane hwy, south and stayed in Lancaster Ohio, KOA. This little two lane hwy was a good route we saw some extra special sights and loved the view the whole way, it's so hard to describe. The feelings were special. The Ohio River, barns, green fields, old homes, and a different way of life. I stopped to buy cigerettes and ended up talking to the shop owner for an hour, people have time. I didn’t know it but we were in the town where the movie “We Are Marshall”, was their story.
The next day we only drove for three hours on another two lane road that went thru the horse area, lots of big selling horses with beautiful stables, then we were in Danville KY again.
So the first night we headed into town and found Franklin square, we asked 3 ladies where the best Philly Steak Sand's were and they showed us a place by the Love Story park, an old Irish Pub, and we did indeed have the best Philly cheesesteaks.
The next day we drove around seeing everything we could, went into New Jersey, and then found a theater to get out of the heat, after I flagged down a cop to find my way back and as it turned out we found our way by ourselves, if we had went his way, we would have been closer to Baltimore.
This was our official turning around towards home point, the next morning we were heading West on the turnpike towards Pittsburg. We wanted to see more covered bridges since there were so many in this area, we got off on a two lane hwy, south and stayed in Lancaster Ohio, KOA. This little two lane hwy was a good route we saw some extra special sights and loved the view the whole way, it's so hard to describe. The feelings were special. The Ohio River, barns, green fields, old homes, and a different way of life. I stopped to buy cigerettes and ended up talking to the shop owner for an hour, people have time. I didn’t know it but we were in the town where the movie “We Are Marshall”, was their story.
The next day we only drove for three hours on another two lane road that went thru the horse area, lots of big selling horses with beautiful stables, then we were in Danville KY again.
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