let's go

Another trip is far overdue.
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We made it back from our trip out West the end of July. It's good to be home. School has started now, but we still try to get out and enjoy the summer while we can. Here's a few pictures of me at Lake Anna, just south of Fredericksburg. Our good friend Mark, who teaches the same classes I do at a different high school, has a place on the lake with just about every aquatic toy you can think of. We go out on the lake when we can, but here I am below and well above the lake's surface. -Jeremy

Evergreen, CO

Rocky Mountain National Park

Grand Teton's
We arrived at Flagg Ranch within the Grand Teton's park and decided - we have to go horseback riding in the heat. So - we threw ourselves on our ponies and had our own personal trail ride with Puritt (a cowboy from Kentucky who then lived in Virginia before taking on a job in Wyoming). It was hot and the flies were bad - but was fun.

Afterwards, we traveled a few miles away to scope out a campsite along the Snake River. Right on the river side - quiet with no one around. But it was hot! So after taking a siesta - we went for a bike ride along the river side road. Our goal - Grass Pond. Supposedly, only a 10 mile ride in which 8 campsites were positioned along the Snake River. We were located at site 2 - so we figured the pond was maybe around 7 miles away. Unfortuantely, it was 7 miles uphill on a gravel road - oh, if I didn't mention -- in the heat. We didn't make our goal and I think a good thing. When we arrived back at our campsite - the sun was setting and the mosquitoes were out. I stood at the camper door and the screen was literally covered with mosquitoes. Buzzing, threatening looking nasty little creatures. However, Jeremy was brave enough to grab a few photos of a large elk herd. Came down to the river for a drink, some play among themselves, and of course - to make some weird sounds.
Our next day, we set out into the park. Of course, we took pictures of the Tetons. As tourists - we felt obligated to do so. At the southern entrance of the park - before our departure, we stopped at the Moose Junction for lunch. Sipping some Moose Drool with an excellent backdrop - quite a pleasing experience.

Thursday - Yellowstone - noon

We stopped at Lake Village looking for lunch and instead we found a Grizzly! Yeah! It was just off the road. It appeared to be old enough to not have it’s mother around and young enough not to be a serious threat. Besides, there were at least 20 or so people around that we could out run, so we were safe.

Thursday night biked to West Thumb where we saw some beautifully colored hot springs and then stayed in Grant Village in the southern part of the park.

Mammoth Springs - Yellowstone
Mammoth Springs has some of the best and certainly the tallest of the hot spring formations. The campground had a great view of rolling hills and distant peaks. The wildlife was a little scarce except for some elk that like to cozy right up to the tents and campers.

On Wednesday we drove down to Canyon Village and took a bike ride to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. There we saw the Lower and Upper Falls of Yellowstone River.
After that the weather started to turn, so we rushed back to our camp site, just making it before it started to rain and sleet/hail for a short time.
On Thursday we left early to see the wildlife. We saw plenty of deer, elk, and bison.
Once down to Yellowstone Lake, we went to see about a boat ride. The usual cruise boat that you could take for an hour ride was not running, but they were giving smaller boat rides for the same price. We ended up getting our own personal tour of the lake.

Glacier

Friday and Saturday night we stayed in Two Medicine campground. Definitely the best campground we’ve ever been too, and probably the best we ever will. The view was extraordinary with different shaped, colored, and contoured mountains circling Two Medicine Lake where our campsite was.
If you look at the picture close enough you’ll see our camper.

Saturday we hiked around Two Medicine Lake. During our hike we came across a moose having a snack in the middle of a beaver pond. The beaver seemed to be a welcoming host.




Sunday we drove up to Rising Sun where we picked up Red Bus to traverse Logan’s pass. Our camper exceeded the 21’ limit for vehicles going over the pass. Just past Logan’s visitor’s center we saw mountain goats. The views up there are pretty unreal too with water falls, valleys, and snow drift just off the road.
We biked down to the lodge for dinner and after dinner we got a visit by a black bear right in our campground.

Monday Night we boondocked in Bozeman, MT after having dinner at Plonk Wine downtown.

Tuesday morning we found a campsite at Mammoth Springs in Yellowstone. We had lunch at the Roosevelt Lodge. They have an excellent Vegetarian Reuben. After lunch we thought we would head back to town to find some internet so we could tell you what’s been going on. On the way we came across another black bear. This one was probably only 2 years old. He was very focused on eating as much huckleberry as he could.

We’ve been asked several times about the RV, and it’s doing pretty good for an old RV. We have a little oil leak around the valve cover, so we need to add a quart every 1000 miles or so. We did loose something back in Minneapolis, and that was the clutch plate for our A/C compressor. We thought we heard something fall off, but we didn’t see anything missing and didn’t figure it out until we tried the A/C about 200 miles away.
We don’t need A/C now, but we think by the time we’re heading home, Kansas in the middle of July may be unbearable. If anyone has a good line on used parts, this is an aftermarket air conditioner. Manufacturer is unknown, the only name is on a cap and it could be from anything, but the name is Viking from Corwin, PA. Other identifying marks are the numbers 509618-5702 and O or Q or 0K8-15BH. If anyone can find this part for us on internet we would be very grateful and we’ll be sure to send you something memorable from our trip. Perhaps a six pack of Moose Drool, a fine brown ale that Valerie and I have come to enjoy.

-Jeremy

We had an absolute blast at Wilson & Carolyn's. We hope we can get back together with them real soon. After leaving St. Paul we had lunch in downtown Fargo, ND. Oh yah!

Wednesday night we stayed at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We left camp early in the morning to what we thought would be just a short little bike ride, but the landscape was so beautiful we just found ourself biking more and more. Just when we figured that we should turn around, we met a nice couple from Iowa who insisted that we take some of their nice cool bottled water. That kept us going up to the Ridgeline Trail where we met them again up on a peak that had a wonderful 360 degree view of the park. We had a nice long chat about our best camping experiences. Teddy's park has got to be North Dakota's best kept secret. It is perfect for biking with it's mixed terrain, moderate hills, and the occasional S-curve. Of course saving the best for last, the Bison and Prairie Dogs are very entertaining. Just becareful of the wondering Bison that may just cross your path unexpectedly. Valerie came within a few seconds of colliding with one on her bike.
We left Roosevelt Park after a hotdog and tofu pup lunch.
A long day of driving brought us to Great Falls, Montana where we boondocked at the WalMart for the night. There were more campers than we could count.

Today we are off to Glacier. Having just finished lunch in Shelby, this may be our last source of internet for a few days. Check back for pictures of Glacier then.
-Jeremy

St. Paul, Minnesota

Yesterday we had lunch with Carolyn & Wilson at Taste of India. Excellent buffet. That evening we went to Body Worlds exhibit at the Science Museum followed by a personal tour of James Hill's mansion, where Carolyn works.

Today we hiked around Minnehaha Park. The falls there lead to the Mississippi River.


Following the hike we rented a pedal car to tour the rest of the park.


After touring more of Minneapolis and her many lakes, we've returned for a much needed rest before this evenings fireworks.

Here's a map of our proposed route.

July 2, 2006 pm
The hills of the Appalacian slowed us down a little more than expected yesterday. Along with a back up in Indiana today, we only made it as far as Madison, Wisconsin. Tonight we are “boondocking” for the first time. For those of you not familiar with RVing, boondocking means you spend the night in a Walmart parking lot. At 11:00 pm, we are joining 5 other RV’s already setup for the night.
The entertainment for tonight, you may have guessed, are more fireworks. Much bigger show than last night. Madison must be a very entertaining town.

July 2, 2006 am
We stayed last night at an Ohio Service Plaza just outside of Akron. It had RV parking with an electric hookup. Besides occasional fireworks going off, it was a peaceful night’s sleep.

This morning we’re on our way to St. Paul, Minnesota to see my cousin Wilson and his wife Carolyn.

6/30/06
We are again packing the RV and planning on leaving tomorrow.
Guinness is back on the mend again with the help of a steel plate and eight screws.

Many thanks to my mom for watching over the animals and willing to put up with Guinness' whining over the next 3-4 weeks.

-Jeremy

Emailing: Guinness Leg 004

Guinness' leg has not healed after breaking it over a month ago. He
will need to have surgery and the trip will be delayed/shortened.

With Valerie back from FFA State Convention today, we will begin packing and final preparations for our trip out west. After a long winter hibernation, the RV started right up(with the help of a new battery) and after an oil change and some cleaning, it will be ready to be packed for the 4 week trip.

The plan has changed several times just in the past week. We were going to try and squeeze Bozeman, Montana, Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon all in the trip, but now we're going to drop Grand Canyon so we can spend more time in Glacier and Yellow Stone.

When ever we get a connection out west, we plan on updating. So please send us any suggestions in our travels and we'll hopefully post some good pictures.

-Jeremy