Home in central Ohio

We made it home.  We traveled 4468 miles.  The old Chevy truck with 197,000 miles on it ran great without any problems.  It used one quart of oil. We got 10.92 miles per gallon.  The cheapest gas was 3.69 in Delaware, OH,  and  Rapid city, SD and most expensive was  4.19 in Upper Peninsula, MI.  Our blog will now take a rest for awhile. Glad to have you along for the ride.

Lewis and Clark State Pk. Anawa, Iowa

Spent last night at Lewis and Clark SP.  It was a beautiful campground on a lake.  There was keelboats like Lewis and Clark used to travel the Missouri river.  It has turned cooler with highs in the 60's.   Tonight we are camped in a commercial campground close to Galesburg, ILL.  We will probably be home tomorrow night.   Here are some of the pics over the last few days.

                                          At campground Glacier NP

                                          Can you see the mountains thru smoke and haze?

                                          smoke from wildfire

                                          camped at Badlands National Park

                                          At Lewis and Clark SP

                                          Keelboat at Lewis and Clark SP

Badlands NP

We stayed at Indian Campground in Buffalo, Wyoming on Saturday night.  Then Sunday we drove to Badlands National Park where we stayed at a campground in the park too far from internet service.  The wind was very bad driving on Sunday.   We are also heading east now as we had enough of the west.  The smoke and haze are so bad that I could taste it some times.  It finally turned clear in South Dakota.  I am writing this at a rest area on I90 close to Sioux Falls, SD.  No pics today.

Pictures of Glacier NP

Glacier National Park

Yesterday we drove thru Glacier over the Going to the sun highway.   The scenery was terrific and the weather was perfect.   Took about 250 pictures.  Stayed at Apgar campground on the west side of the park.  Left Glacier this morning and got into the smoke from forest fires.   Could not see very far.  We headed south and took interstate 90 east away from the smoke.  Don't think we are going any farther west.   Tonight we are staying at the Lewis and Clark caverns state park east of Butt, MT.  It was clear and very hot when we arrived but I smell the smoke again.  Not very pleasant. Too slow of connection to send pics.

Cut Bank, Montana

Made it to Cut Bank, MT last night after a long trip over very boring route 2.  Staying in a private campground, Riverview RV Park.  It is about 50 miles to Glacier National Park, which is where we are heading today.  There will be no pictures today as Park WiFi is down along with all phone lines.  The Verizon data card is working, but very slow.  Weather cooler at night, may warm up today, think we will head south for warmer weather.  Will try to post pictures later.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

We are camped at a commercial campground in Glasglow, MT.   after driving all day with windy conditions.  We also went through the area of North Dakota that is doing all the shale oil drilling.   It was a real mess with all the trucks on the highway, traffic jams, road building, and the lack of services like gas stations and grocery stores.  If you want a job there are plenty here.   For lunch we had $7.00 cheeseburgers  at a little roadside trailer on the North Dakota and Montana state line.   Very good but expensive.  Yesterday we camped in the Theodore Roosevelt NP.  Camped at a park campground which was along the Little Missouri river.  It was a bargain at only $5 per night for seniors.  In the evening we took the 20 mile loop to see the scenery and wildlife.   Seen wild horses but didn't get very good pics  because it was getting dark and they were running fast.

                                          at Theodore Roosevelt NP

                                           Bison just above us along road in NP

                                           view from campsite in NP

                                           wild horses in NP

                                           more wild horses

     

Abraham Lincoln state park Mamdan, ND

Last night we camped at the Crow Wing state park close to Baxter, MN on the banks of the Mississippi river.  We hiked along the river.   Today we traveled to Bismark ND.  We are now camped at the Abraham Lincoln state park on the banks of the Missouri river.  There is a cavalry post here that housed the 7th Cavalry and its Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.  Weather great today

                                                                                      

                                          Barb and Mississippi river

                                           Gerry and Mississippi

                                         

                                            Gerry in tepee with Missouri river

                                           Barb and Missouri river

                                         

Michigan porcupine mountains state park

Thursday we seen the Tahquemenon falls.  Spent the night at woodland park campground in Grand Marais overlooking a Lake Superior beach.   Friday we drove  thru Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore  seeing what we didn't have to walk very far too.  The way to see the beautiful shoreline  is on a lake cruise which we didn't take.  Rained most of the day.  We are spending the night at Porcupine mountains state park which is overlooking lake Superior.  Beautiful campground.

                                          rowing to an island to see falls up close

                                           lower Tahquemenon falls

                                          barb  rowing back from falls

                                          upper Tahquemenon falls

                                          log slide area at Pictured rocks

                                          log slide at Pictured rocks

                                          miners castle at pictured rocks national lakeshore


                

                                      

Left home Tues morning,  drove thru rain part of the day.  We ended up at North Higgins Lake state park for the night.  Gas in Michigan 4.09 a gallon, hard on the wallet.  Wednesday drove about 80 miles to the Mackinaw bridge.  Spent some time there taking a few pictures and then on to the shores of Lake Superior.  Staying tonight at the  Tahquamenon Falls state park.  It rained on an off in the afternoon, and lost campground power for several hours.  The camper roof developed some leaks  and dripped on the bed till we fixed that with a few well placed bowls.  Tomorrow it is on to see the upper and lower Tahquamenon falls.  So far we like upper Michigan with its light traffic and beautiful scenery.

Home

Tuesday we drove  from Savanah, GA to Wytheville, Virginia and stayed at the KOA campground.  Wednesday we drove on home arriving at 3 PM..   It rained some on the way, first rain we seen since we left Ohio 3 weeks ago.   Our blog will shut down now untill our next trip.  Thanks for reading and looking at pictures.

Whispering Pines campground near Savananah, GA

Left Florida today after 2 nights at Longpoint and drove to Savananah, GA.   Last night a raccoon broke into our ice chest and stole all our oranges and apples.  Yesterday was spent hiking around scout island, which is attached to our campground by bridge and also seen many birds.  This place has a lot of  woodstorks.  Also watched Ohio State beat Michigan and that was about it.   Here are some
pics.

                                           Gerry with woodstorks

Longpoint county park, north of Vero Beach

After we left Long Key state park we wound up at Flamingo campground in the Everglades National Park.  We spent 3 nights there, and we were 40 miles from the nearest cell tower, so no cell phone or internet.  It was way back in the swamp.  The first night we had no electric, and had to stand in line for an hour to get an electric campsite for the next 2 nights.  They said they had alligator, crocodile, and manatee,  but didn't see any.  Seen a lot of birds mostly common.  Rode bikes a lot,  temp in the 80's, lots of sun, sprinkled one day.  We spent several hours watching Osprey feed their young on many nests.  Today, saturday we drove north to a camground north of Vero Beach.  Here are the pics.

                                           Kiteboarding in the keys

                                           Campsite at Flamingo

                                           Barb watching birds on the Eco pond

                                           Roseate Spoonbill

                                           At Flamingo visitor center

                                          Osprey

                                          Osprey on nest with young