Go West, and we shall....

Badlands

Deals @ Badlands

You are probably wondering "Where in the world are the Deals?"  I am here to tell you that we have been to the Badlands and are thrilled to be living in 2010 not the early 1800's when wagons filled with one's meager belongings endured the heat, dust and climbing elevation to reach greener valleys and gold below and beyond this vista.

Mike -inside Wall Drug

We also dragged ourselves to, wait for it: Wall Drug, SD....yes, and we did not endure the very long line for .05 cent cup of joe....no, no! And I resisted the Fudge Shop (left)....by merely watching the customers load up on what appeared to be a never ending display of fudge and other "homemade" goodies. (AKA, "TurboTouristTrap x10" - for the uninitiated....this place consumes a full block under one roof").

We also drove through Sturgis, SD....just to say we had. It was a week after the 700,000 visitors for 70th Sturgis Harley Rally, and only 1 day after the Mustang Rally....




In addition to the normal prairie dogs that we have encountered in
South Dakota, we also saw white prairie dogs (specifically bred in 1966) on the land
of one of South Dakota's early homesteader's land (1854) and now on the

White Prairie Dogs

National Historic Register....the sod hill home is intact along with
some outbuildings left and is now a museum. We did not pay
the $8./ea fee to walk amongst the buildings, but viewed them from
the visitor center - aka: gift shop.   There are now areas of SD that
have land posted with signs: No shooting! Prairie Dog Study Area
...acres and acres of prairie dog land  (towns and tunnels)
saving them from gun slingers.

 

This herd of bison in Custer State Park as we drove the scenic route to tour the Wind Cave. This small herd was just 1 of the 3 that we viewed on our drive. The park manages about 1500 of them and each October there is a round-up, followed by branding of the calves, and auctioning off of 450 of the more mature ones to wholesalers or small ranchers. Your next bison burger just may be one of these fascinating creatures. They literally stopped traffic for a good 30 min. before allowing traffic to continue....meantime the humans were capturing as many photos as possible....us included.

A bit later in the drive we nearly drove into this

group of burros, which were totally unafraid of the humans and would walk

right up to the car window....of course there are always people who live outside of the requests and signs that ask us "please do not feed the wildlife" and so these cuties expect to be fed, from each and every driver that slows down. One white burro we passed walked right into the oncoming traffic, stood in the middle of the road as if to say to that car "you will feed me or not pass GO". It was hilarious.

We pushed on, as we were merely taking the historic and the more scenic route to Wind Cave National Monument....the Indians actually named this cave, the 7th largest cave in the US, because of the natural hole that wind emerged from and continues to so today, as I experienced while posing for this photo...inside the visitor center it was listed as a 60mph wind (they have a digital display that provides ongoing information about the gusts, and whether it is outgoing or incoming - we were lucky this day for is was coming out of the cave)

Deals in Wind Cave

Yep that's us, inside the cave. It sure was pretty inside...very different from other caves we have been in...different with Boxwork, a unique feature of this cave and very fragile. No touching....looks like honeycomb and is thought to be shattered levels of limestone, spaces filled with gysum and that was then submerged with water (during the earth formation) and replaced by calcite leaving this 'boxwork' formation.

Deadwood, South Dakota - extreme Western gold mine town....noted for

where Wild Bill Hickok was murdered...they have hourly Main Street shootouts....

and is now a town built around tourists spending every dollar they might have on

every conceivable trinket .... we have learned the art of not shopping and are richer for it.

We also drove through Lead, SD which has one of the largest open pit mines

(non-operational now - but under 'scholarly study) for iron and silver. 

Originally, gold was the ore mined in the area.

We had a great time in the Rapid City area of South Dakota...our RV spot was off the freeway, we met some really wonderful and down to earth travelers who like us are enjoying the many venues and natural attractions that are available for the price of a tank of gas and good eyes. Just outside our parking spot was a gateway of sorts for the nightly trek of deer and wild turkeys...both captured by Mike and his ever present camera.

                                                        

Hi everyone! It's Thursday, September 2nd and we have been on the road now for 13 days.Currently we are just outside Rapid City, SD....

We've covered some territory since my last posting. Let's see if I can get you all caught up.We traveled East from Deer Lodge and had a much needed down day in Columbus, MT. ...and a much needed trek to the nearest Wal-Mart for an extra blanket as the temperature plummeted to 40 degrees.


 US National Park - Last Stand Hill (formerly known as Custer's Last Stand at Little Bighorn)....renamed to honor the Native Americans who actually won this battle.

Part of the Indian Memorial

US 7th Calvary graves - Custer's is the stone w/black

Last Stand Hill Park

Onto Hardin, MT and two days of visiting Custer's Last Battle @ Big Horn and Pomprey's Pillar, the sight of the only known existence of Wm. Clark - Lewis & Clark's Expedition....he left his signature in the pillar, now protected behind a brass and glass case. Originally the railroad placed a iron grill over it (1880's)

 

 

Both Wyoming & Montana are roughedly beautiful, but Wyoming takes the cake for weird...although being the Big Sky country that is Montana....look at these tires? And where in the world is the piece of machinery that they belong to? This was the second of two trucks passing us on I-94

Once in Wyoming we stopped to buy groceries and found in the beverage aisle....who thinks of this stuff...is it a bunch of tasters sitting around and one scratches his head and says "I know, I know...this tastes just like a pig's ass! Let's call this batch that"....I mean really? And this informative piece of information was located on the Women's Restroom entry at Devil's Tower....seriously, are the people of this state carrying weapons?

We spent most of the 1st at Mount Rushmore....amazing is all I can say... then we went to Custer State Park so as to drive "Needles Highway"...glorious and a bit unnerving as they had 4 one way tunnels and 3 corkscrew roads....

 Above: Eye of the Needle and on the right....happy Deals in front of the Presidents.

We've seen a lot of wildlife, from pronghorns (antelope), to ground squirrels, llamas, deer, and of course horses and cows...so far our favorites have been:

 

Daryl, and Darold and my other brother Darryl

Prairie Dog Love

 

 Prairie dogs  that live on the grounds of Devil's Tower proper and are NOT afraid of the humans

 

....and of course your average Bison herd walking down the wrong side of the road..! There were 3 of them, albeit a bit spaced out so I couldn't get them all in the photo...

King of the Road

I'll post some more of our photos in the next few days....we're having fun-are you?

The Road Traveled....August 2010

We have now been on the road for 6 days…of which the beginning was extremely stressful for this traveler.  This is the inaugural journey for Lola and Lucy, our 12yr old Blue Russian/Siamese cats, …who appear to have met the challenge and are adapting. I, on the other hand was completely stressed out the first day – on arrival on our first night out we could not find them inside the RV. They had discovered an opening to get underneath the bed, one that we had not detected…and it may have been the smoothest ride, most likely for them. Every new noise within the RV, to the deployment of the slides, whistling teakettles, birds and the neighboring dog  has resulted in a mad dash for the other side of the bed – really what they want is to get ‘under’ the bed, but with the slide out, they are relegated to the wall side of the bed and throw a cat glare in my direction for putting them in this predicament in the first place. 

  

I am confident that they will survive, none worst for the wear…they now ride inside their kennels on top of the bed or, at least that is what I’m telling myself. Getting Lola out from underneath the bed is a chore, so we are looking for the best solution to closing the gap during travel.

 Lola is ignoring me....have attempted to get her to pose, but to no avail.

Spent two days in Kellogg, ID with our friends Pat and Mike Gaylord…friends of Mike for 30+ years and from whom we are getting educated on the RV life… they “retired” about 12 years ago after he survived a near fatal car crash…so they have paved the way and we are looking forward to traveling with them this coming winter and beyond.  While we were parked in their sideyard, the weather turned cold at night and after near freezing  our tookuses off, we ventured to Wal-E-World for a decidedly warmer blanket (note to self: --- put the down comforter in just for good measure next time out.)

We spent the past 2 days in Deer Lodge ,MT… a stop on our way to So Dakota – our goal destination. We toured the Old Montana State Prison, now a museum.

Entrance to the museum - Deer Lodge, MT

part of the massive toy collection - Playthings

Also, as a part of the museum is the "Playthings from the Past" museum, a re-creation of a small town - Cottonwood City, Desert John's Saloon Museum (the wood bar was shipped up the Missouri River and then overland during the Gold rush days) and is filled with artifacts of guns, whiskey flasks, cowboy and gambler gear.

Me and John in the Saloon

Cottonwood City Jail

if there's a jail-we capture the moment

(If you know us, we just like the 'idea' of jail...so we have many photos of our time behind bars. Given the destinations on this particular journey there may well be more sightings.)

I digressed...onto the museums, both prison and auto.This is most likely the only time in handcuffs one will see me in-twas the admission stamp for the 5 different museums.

Outside Desert John's...Mike was playing his part while I tried to stretch further than the actual length of my arm to snap this photo.

Mike's Paddy Wagon

 

 

just prior to entering the prison....operational from 1871 to 1979.

Mike as a guard

Once inside with book guide, you are on a self-guided tour of the prison museum with descriptions numbered and mounted along a neatly trimmed yard....this one to the right is the first one and describes how the wall was built with inmate labor and locally quarried stones to replace the board fence that had been standing since 1871-started in 1893, it was completed in 1894. The original prison opened in July 1871 with 14 cells, 9 prisoners were received, demolished in 1931 for the construction of an administration building

With overcrowding the new cell house building (left) was constructed in 1896 - in only a year, again using inmate labor. With 32 cells it housed 256 inmates.

We visited the solitary confinement areas of Siberia East & West, the bakery, the infirmary, intake lobby, the cellblock, warden's office and dining room. We even saw the gallows used...the whole experience left me grateful for my freedom.

Inmate Mike

 Another photo opportunity, inside the Montana State Prison. (Yes, photo's of me inside are available - on Mike's camera)

Now onto the fun part of this tour...120 automobiles, from Model A's & T's to 1960's Mustangs, GTO's, Barracuda's and Corvettes....they even through in some trucks, a 1930's tent camper and a amphibicar. We really enjoyed this part of the tour. The Prius isn't the first electric car as you will see below two earlier examples of environmentally progressive minds thinking into the future....

1928 Chrysler Imperial Roadster

Cool Old Cars

1974 Citicar Electric

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1931 Detroit Electric Car

Below is a 27 sec video of a 1949 Hudson....the license plate at the end was worth the tour.....there is an arrow in the lower right corner of the photo frame

Come back and visit us as we travel the road traveled....

Points East of Portland, OR - Aug 2010

August 3. 2010 (Journey started Sunday, Aug 1, 2010)

The only good part about getting old is that I am retired and my time and attention is pretty much my own. I say pretty much because I am currently sitting in our 5th wheel in the Sherman County Fairground and RV Parking, slot #12, Moro OR. It is blowing like we are at the ocean and that ocean is a good 300 miles from where I am presently sitting. The trailer next to us, which is approx 24’ long, had not one but two dogs in it this morning when we left at 9:30am for our excursion into Central Oregon…I know because they were barking…poor things.

We have learned that the majority of those parked here are working on installing and/or maintaining the “Windmill Farms” that are popping up like new housing-dotting the hillsides and harnessing wind energy in the form of gigantic 3-bladed white windmill generators. Thus my attention was diverted a bit today thinking about those two dogs shut inside all day-in a hot, closed window trailer…not a peaceful start for sure.




We are parked, as mentioned earlier, in Moro-next to the county fairgrounds that this year will only have a fair and not have the usual Fair & Rodeo. We have tried to discover why no rodeo this year, Mike maintains that there are not enough young people participating in the sport of rodeos, I assert that it’s because not one young female ran for Queen…apparently it’s expensive and involves going to other events around Oregon and Washington and the county is now too small to support it. ( note: after 5 days still do definitive answer that inquiring minds want to know)

We drove through some very small communities that once were bustling lamb ranches and timber mills and now contain business to support, and barely sustain the wheat and cattle ranches. Towns called Fossil, Spray, Kimberly, Condon, Mitchell, Antelope, Shaniko and Mayville. Shaniko is almost a ghost town on US 97…not much there. The espresso shop also served as the town’s gas station.

an

Antelope

Grass Valley-only bus. open on Sun.

Down the road from Moro is Grass Valley, OR...another small dot on US 97....right thru the middle of town drive the timber and grain trucks, horse haulers and vehicles from all over the country.  The man who is running this wacky shop filled with western artifacts (some with questionable origins) sang Mike an original tune on his guitar.

Finally arrival destination DONE day 3

Our original goal was to visit this area was to see the John Day National Monument Fossil Beds. However, in about 4 different locations within the boundaries of the National Park system we did manage to get this goal accomplished.

Just when we finished a site and then drive a few miles we would happen upon yet another mileage post sign telling us we were x# miles away from the JDNM fossil beds. So we drove on and got to see some pretty amazing Oregon country. Along the way we also toured the Painted Hills.

Outside the Fossil Public RR

Fossil H.S. Information Board

Fossil – named for the fossil beds currently located behind the high school was the attraction of the town, and for $5 you can go in search of some small artifact…the museum volunteer informed us that “pretty much anything of real substance had long ago been removed”`. I decided to pass on this opportunity to get dusty and grimy climbing a hill that edged the football field. Fossil has a lovely Senior Retirement Facility (ha-ha, fossil/seniors) and great public restrooms….photo….soap, hot water and hot air dryers. (We were impressed given our lack of devotion to public restrooms in general.)

Next stop, Condon – possible ranching community that boasts a True Value/Ace Hardware store that Mike found a reason to visit – but not buy a darn thing. What is with men and hardware stores?….it’s like the car is on auto-pilot and they just HAVE to STOP. We did have lunch at the Twist & Shake…memorable by the 30 min wait to get our meal….food wasn’t bad, just a very slow chef…augmented by the “rush” of having 5 tables ordering all within a few minutes. We left there only to find a lovely park just ½ block away where we could have eaten outside. Oh well, live and learn. Wish I had taken a photo of the Twist & Shake….retro only in the name, the appearance would have shocked visitors of the 1950’s and drive-in devotees.

best veggie sandwich ever!

Junipterguy.com - gorgeous custom
patio furniture, lamps, etc

Mitchell, OR...unless you have to eat or get gas, (IF it’s open) – there is no reason to take the 'by-pass' off Hwy 97.
There is a boarding school there ...of which is mostly foreign exchange students from Japan. We got an earful from the owner of the Bridge Creek Cafe while we were waiting on lunch on Wednesday. It was a charming little converted-home-to-cafe....however, the young woman running it as- owner/waitress/cook- had no qualms in letting us know exactly where she stood on how poorly "this administration" is treating the small business owers AND how she would really prefer to have a say in where her taxes were spent and it was definitely not on foreign exchange students subsidies, highway maintenance for the truckers hauling outside community grain instead of timber, etc. She talked non-stop to us "d.i.n.k.s" (double income no kids) not realizing we were them - (yes she used that term and spelled it out for us) however, my veggie sandwich was probably the best one I have had in YEARS! A grilled onions/peppers/mushrooms with fresh tomatoes on toasted whole wheat bread - delicious. Now if she had just had soup, ice cream or pie! (She ran out the day before, in a snit about those 8 Bend men who showed up and stayed forever .... she "just didn't feel like making soup or pie for today", thank you very much.) hahahahaha....I wanted pie or a milkshake the rest of the day.

Jupiterguy.com is right next door....an oversized chair sitting near the roadway caught my eye so we wandered over to investigate. He had lamps, tables, chairs, mantels made from wood he found on ranches...much of it twisted jupiter trees that he powered washed the bark off to reveal the beauty underneath.

More from the field tomorrow with a link to all of the photos we took along the way. Ciao~