Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York

Oct. 17

We left Maine and found a campground in Vermont for two nights.  We stayed in Ascutney, VT which lies along the Western New Hampshire border.  We had another beautiful drive through New Hampshire, colored trees and small towns to get here.

Oct. 18

Today we traveled North along the Green Mountains.  Lots of ski areas in these mountains and a pretty drive.  In the little town we came across a place along the road that sold Vermont maple syrup.  Dick stopped and the farmer was nearby.  He saw our licence plate from Washington and came over to talk.  He was raised in the house across the street.  He once had a dairy farm but is semi retired so just raises beef and makes syrup.  He told us he has over 2000 maple trees and it takes 50 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.  They tap the trees when the snow is still  on the ground and run lines from tree to tree.  Further up the road we saw our first covered bridge with a date of 1879.  I took a picture of Dick driving over the bridge.  We continued up to the little town of Stow, known for its skiing, and had lunch.  On the way out of town we saw a sign to the Von Trapp Family Lodge so we drove up the mountain to the lodge.  The original lodge burnt down in 1980 and a hotel was built on the original lot.  Some of the children live around the area and the youngest son, who was born after they moved to America, manages the hotel.  The view from the hotel was of the valley below.  In the town of Waterbury we stopped at the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory and had ice cream cones.

Dick driving Jeep through 1879 covered bridge

Oct. 19

We moved down to Sturbridge Massachusetts which is about 50 miles from Boston and staying for 4 days. 

Oct. 20

Today we are going to Cape Cod.  It's a long ways so we left at 8 in the morning.  We drove to the end to the Cape Cod National Seashore.  At the visitors center, at the end of the Cape, there was a two story observation platform.  We could see all around the cape and the town of Provincetown just down the road.  We stopped in the town to do some shopping.  It was a busy town with lots of people in the shops.  We had fish and chips again in town.  There were lots of drag queens walking around the town.
On the way home we went up to Plymouth to see Plymouth Rock.  We found out the history books are wrong.  The Pilgrims first landed in Provincetown on Nov. 20, 1620.  They landed at Plymouth Rock Christmas Day, 1620.  They were looking for Jamestown.  We drove over 300 miles in the Jeep today.



Plymouth Rock


Oct. 21

After breakfast we drove down through Connecticut and over to Rhode Island.  We drove South to New London which sits by the Atlantic Ocean.  We drove on secondary roads and saw the countryside.  We drove East to Providence Rhode Island and ended up by the Brown University campus.  We ate lunch at a little restaurant called Louis that was on Dinners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Channel.  The food was very good. 

Oct. 22

Found out my nephew, David and his wife Makeba, has the yacht he captains parked in Boston Harbor until tomorrow morning.  We last left David in Chicago and can't believe we have met up with them again.  He is moving the Yacht from Lake Michigan to Florida and been on the sea for 23 days. We drove into Boston and were able to park our Jeep in the marina for the day.  Went on the boat and with them to get fuel across the harbor.  It was a short ride but fun.  Dick and I took off walking and did part of the Freedom Trail.  We found the visitors center for the Boston National Historical Park and picked up a map of the Trail.  We walked to the Old North Church where Paul Revere and William Dawes lit the lantern  from the steeple.  Stopped at a farmers market along the way where there were vegetables and fish for sale.  Boston is a beautiful city and very historic.  We had a fantastic dinner on the boat cooked by a chef.  We had a great day in Boston.



Perseverance II, yacht David is the captain



Boston Harbor skyline



Inside Old North Church

 Oct. 23

Today we moved to Accord New York.  It's located at the base of the Catskill Mountains.  Again the leaves are in full color and everywhere you look the hills are covered with trees.  I researched the best way to go into New York City on the Internet.  We decided to go into the city for the day on Sunday by driving to the town of Poughkeepsie and getting on a commuter train.  It's takes an hour and a half to get into New York by train and it goes to Grand Central Station.  We will do the Statue of Liberty on Tuesday from the New Jersey side.  That is the first time I could get to go into the pedestal.

Oct. 24

We caught the 9:40 train into the city.  The train was not crowded because it is Sunday.  There is a little rain this morning but it looks like it will  clear up.  When we get into Grand Central we sign-up for a double Decker bus tour.  It goes uptown and downtown and we can get off and back on at stops along the way.  What a great way to see the city and with a guide pointing out buildings and telling some history along the way.  We went downtown first because Dick wanted to eat lunch at a well known pizza restaurant in Soho that he had seen on the food channel called Lombardi's.  The place was busy and the pizza was great.  We got back on the bus and got off again at Rockerfeller Center.  We walked to Times Square and got onto the uptown bus were we went around Central Park on Central Park West and 5th Ave.  We got off at the Cathedral of St. John to look inside the ornate church.  On our trip around the city we saw all the different areas of New York from Greenwich Village, Little Italy, Financial District, China Town, Harlem, Garment District, Theater District and Upper East Side.  We would never have been able to walk to all these areas and had a great view from the top of the bus.  As night fell on the city and the lights came on, we got great view of New York after dark.  The crowd of people in Times Square increased and it was pretty much wall to wall people.  We walked back to Grand Central and got on the train for home. 

Rockerfeller Center skating rink



Times Square



Oct. 25

We were tired from our long day in the city so we did little projects around the motor home.  I did a weeks worth of laundry, not my favorite thing to do, but it has to be done.  Later in the afternoon we took a ride in the Jeep into the Catskill Mountains.  The colored trees formed a canopy over the road and we followed a wide creek with waterfalls flowing out of the rocks and into the creek.  It was again a beautiful drive. 

Oct. 26

Today we are going to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  We are driving the Jeep to Jersey City and catching the ferry to the two islands.  We have reservations to go into the pedestal which is 10 stories high.  If you don't have reservations you can't go into the pedestal, you can only walk around outside. Inside the pedestal there is a museum showing how the statue was constructed and the story behind it.  You can also look up into the interior of the statue and see the internal structure.   It was a beautiful sunny day and the views of the New York Harbor, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island and New Jersey were fantastic.  My dad's parents immigrated to the US through Ellis Island in the early 1900's.  They came from the Volga region in Russia but were Germans.  I have always wanted to visit Ellis Island.  The Immigration station opens at Ellis Island in 1892 and that original wooden  immigration station was destroyed by fire in 1897.  This present building was built in 1900 and between 1901 and 1910, 6 million immigrants arrived and were processed at Ellis.  The stories of how these people left everything, including family and friends, to come to America to start a new life is very emotional.  Defitinely happy travels, Barb




Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty

 

Statue of Liberty



 Our next stop in into Pennsylvania for the next 8 days.



Nova Scotia--West side, Maine and New Hampshire

Oct. 9

Today we moved West to the town of Maitland Nova Scotia.  Stopped at a visitors center and got information on what there is to see in the area.  We drove the Northern part of the Minas Basin along the coast to the Five Islands area.  Beautiful coastline.  There is such beauty here in the Maritime Provinces that it is hard to describe.  Stopped at a large market that sold everything.  They had food, clothing, ice cream cones, gift shop and even a liquor store.  Lots of local produce at a cheap price.  Since it was close to Canada's Thanksgiving holiday, the place was packed.

Oct. 10

It is sunny and nice out but a cold wind is blowing.  We drove down to the Halifax area to explore.  Went down to the harbor area and didn't find much open.  Took the coast drive to Peggys Cove.  Again beautiful scenery with the road going right along the shore.  Lots of beach house to look at.  Peggys Cove is  covered with large slab of rock.  There is a lighthouse out on the rocks.  Don't know if it was a working lighthouse or not.  Decided to have lunch in the restaurant there.  Had good fish and chips again.  On the way back to the motor home we again stopped at the visitors center to find out about the tides in the Bay of Fundy and when the tidal bore can be seen.










Lighthouse at Peggys Cove Nova Scotia



Oct. 11

Today is Thanksgiving holiday in Canada.  They always celebrate on a Monday even though the date is Oct. 12th, the same date as our Columbus Day.  Our plan for today is to see the low tide and the tidal bore and then the high tide.  To  start we drove to Burncoat Head at 10 A.M. to see low tide.  This area really shows the differences in the tides.  The Bay of Fundy is known for its extremely high tides, the highest in the world and for its tidal bores.  Burncoat Head is home to the highest tidal shift ever recorded on the planet at 17 meters which is over 55 feet.  The day we were there the low tide was 1.6 feet and the high was 47.9 feet.  The water was drained out and you could walk on the ocean floor.  Our next stop was the town of Walton where there is a lighthouse that was built in 1873 and used until the 1970's.  The lighthouses along the Minas Basin would signal a set number of flashes of their light.  That would tell the sailors which lighthouse they were by.  We climbed to the top.  The lighthouses are not very tall like they are on the coasts of the US.  Our next stop was the town of Summerville to a little Inn we had heard about.  The lady who runs the Inn and restaurant is know for home cooking.  We had a delicious turkey dinner and the best fish chowder.  We next drove back to Maitland to see the tidal bore.  A tidal bore is a natural phenomenon which is seen in very few parts of the world.  As the tide rises, the water literally piles up as it moves up the bay and enters the broad end of V shaped bays and inlets.  It creates a wave that advances up the inlet and up the river which empties into the bay.  Thus the phenomenon of a river changing its flow is created by the tidal wave, or bore, flowing in over the outgoing river water.  The water is a red color from the soil surrounding the bay.  Our day was not over yet.  We again drove back to Burncoat Head to see the high tide.  Couldn't believe the change.  The water was lapping the boardwalk to the edge of the bay.  We had a busy day but well worth the drives back and forth to the different places.












Low tide at Burncoat Head



High tide at Burncoat Head



Dick and I in front of Walton Lighthouse

Oct. 12

Today we go back into the United States.  We have been in Canada since Oct. 1st. and enjoyed our time in the Maritime Provinces.  The scenery is spectacular and the people very nice.  When we finally enter the US we needed fuel for the motor home.  Diesel was so expensive in Canada we didn't want to buy any more until we got back to the US.  We also stopped at a store and bought beer and wine.  That was also very expensive in Canada so we did without.  We stayed in the town of Robbinston Maine for one night.

Oct. 13

The next stop is Holden Maine just south of Bangor.  After getting settled in the campground we drove to Acadia National Park.  This is one of the most beautiful National Parks we have been to.   Stopped at a visitors center to get maps and plan our route.  Part of the road goes only one way and follows the coastline.  We drove up Cadillac Mountain where you  could see all directions.  The town of Bar Harbor could be seen from up there.  That was our next stop.  We planed on having dinner in Bar Harbor.  Lots of people in the town and lots of shops to go into.  We looked around a little and then walked to the harbor for dinner.  Found a little restaurant that looked good and had lobster dinners.  The waitress showed us how to clean the lobster meat out of the whole lobster.  My eyes popped when I saw our dinners come. 










Cruse ship in Bar Harbor taken from Acadis NP












Rocky shore and beautiful colored trees in Acadia NP



Oct. 14

Today we drove into Bangor and did some shopping.  Found a Mall where I found a new purse.  Ate lunch in town before going back to the motor home where we did some laundry. 

Oct. 15

Moved down the Maine Coast to Moody Beach.  We are in the middle of a Nor-easter.  The rain and wind came in the night.  It is raining and blowing pretty hard so we left at 7 in the morning.  We are on the interstate and toll road so it's a 4 lane divided highway.  Wanted to get down the state as soon as possible and get off the road and in a campground.  In the afternoon we drove into Portsmouth New Hampshire just across the border from where we are staying.  I called Margie at US Bank in Colfax to tell her we are in New Hampshire.  She grew up in Portsmouth and was surprised to hear from us.  We drove along the ocean and saw enormous homes.  We ended up in Hampton Beach area which is quite the summer vacation spot.  Many hotels and cottages along with large year around homes. 

Oct. 16

The weather is improved today with sunshine.  We did a little drive into New Hampshire and saw good size homes where the large rocks from the land had been stacked around the edge of the property to form short rock fences.  New Hampshire looks like I imagined New England to look like.  Quaint villages with narrow tree lined roads.  We ended up back in Portsmouth for lunch down by the harbor area.  We headed back to Maine and stopped at the Kittery Outlets.
It's an area of about a mile of outlet malls in clusters of buildings  every block.  Heading back to the motor home we drove north to Kennebunkport.  That is where former President Bush has a home.  The homes were really enormous along the shore.  We don't know if we saw his home but there was one that sat on a point with several buildings and a guard like structure at the road.  It was a fun day.  Definitely Happy Travels, Barb

Our next stop is Vermont for 2 days and then down to Massachusetts for 3 days. 

Maritime Provinces, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scocia

Oct. 3

Left Quebec area and followed the St. Lawrence River.  Beautiful scenery along the road with the changing leaf colors.  Turned South at Riviere du Loup towards New Brunswick.  The road follows the boarder of Maine for quite aways.  We also entered the Atlantic Time Zone.  That puts us 4 hours ahead of Colfax.  Camped for only night close to the town of Frederietion which is the capital of New Brunswick.




Tree covered hills on the way to New Brunswick



Oct. 4

Today we moved to the East Coast of New Brunswick to the town of Shediac.  Our campground in right on the Northumberland Strait.  Prince Edward Island is on the other side of this strait.  Shediac claim to be the lobster capital of the world.  The lobster season here is one more week.  We drove North on the Acadian Coastal Drive which follows the shore line.  A moose crossed the road about a block in front of us.  There are moose warning signs along most roads.  We stopped at Kouchibouguac National Park and the lady at the visitors center told us about maybe buying live lobster right off the boat.  We drove up the road to Loggiecroft where the fishermen were unloading lobster and bought 4 lobster for $20.  Went back to the motor home and boiled the lobster.





cooking lobster



Dick putting the BIG one in!



Oct. 5

Got an early start today and drove to Prince Edward Island in the Jeep.  We crossed the 7.8 mile Confederation Bridge to the island.  This bridge was built only 13 years ago and it costs $42.50 for a car to cross.  It is quite spectacular to see.  It's high so the large ships can pass under.  Before the bridge, the only way for cars to get to the island was by ferry.  We chose to do the Central Coastal Drive which is about 150 miles around.  Potatoes were being harvested out of the red colored soil.  We also saw cattle, corn and hay fields but potatoes seem to be the main crop.  The road took us through small towns and along the water.  We stopped at Prince Edward Island National Park along the Northern shore.  It was too cold and windy to walk on the red sandy beach or put our feet in the Atlantic Ocean.  We ate good fish and ships in the capital city of Charlottetown.  When we got back to the MH we had 4 lobster to clean.  We had lobster rolls for dinner which are served in many restaurants.  I found the recipe on the Internet.  Here is the recipe for Lobster Rolls.
4 cups lobster meat, rough chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
2 ribs celery, chopped small
1 bunch green onion, thinly sliced
2 T Dijon mustard
juice from 1 lemon
1 T flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 T basil, chopped
2 T basil, chopped
1 teas. salt
1/2 teas. black pepper
Toast rolls and fill with lobster mixture and top with shredded lettuce.
They were great and Dick said mine were better than he had had in a restaurant.





Bridge to PEI



Oct. 6

Today we moved down to Nova Scotia.  Stopped at a visitors center for maps and information.  We each bought Nova Scotia T-shirts and real maple syrup.  We crossed the Canco Causeway to Cape Breton Island.  Our campground is near the town of Baddeck which sits along the St. Patricks Channel.  Large cruse ships dock there and there are many hotels around.  For dinner we had waffles and sausage with real maple syrup we had bought earlier in the day. 

Oct. 7

Heavy rain and wind today so we changed our plans and decided to drive to the town of Sydney.  We took a loop drive along the coast to Glace Bay.  This is the furthest East we will get on land.  We had fish and chips for lunch in a little town along the way.  Nova Scotia is covered with a dense growth of  hardwood trees that cover the land everywhere you look.  The trees also line the highways and there are rolling hills which make the landscape interesting.  We saw very little farm land in Nova Scotia.  It is a beautiful Province with the miles of shoreline.  Tonight we finished the lobster with lobster rolls again, delicious!!

Oct. 8

The weather is better today but still some rain and wind with moments of sunshine.  Today we are taking the Cabot Trail.  It is said to be the most scenic drive in Canada.  It's a loop road that winds for 185 miles through the beautiful highlands and plateaus of Cape Breton.  Sometimes the road took us right along the Atlantic.  The strong wind caused white caps and crashing surf into the rocky cliffs.
The area has a strong Scottish heritage and called New Scotland, as many immigrants settled here between the 1780s and 1820s.  

Tomorrow we move to the West side of Nova Scotia and staying for 3 days.  It's Thanksgiving weekend in Canada.  Definitely Happy Travels, Barb




Along the Cabot Trail with rainbow in sky.



Ontario Canada, New York, Quebec

Sept. 26

Left Detroit area and crossed the border into Canada.  Stayed in a campground at Fort Erie, Ontario for the next three nights.  Great campground with a lake (old limestone quarry) and run by  really nice people.  We were backed-up to the lake. 

Sept. 27

Drove to Niagara Fall today.  Had to search for a place to park.  Dick wanted to park (illegally) at the police station.  We finally found a lot that only charged $7.  The falls are impressive from the Canadian side.  We watched the Maid of the Mist boats go up to the falls.  We drove the Jeep across to the American side to check out the view from there.  We couldn't park close so didn't even get out of the car.  Dick picked the restaurant for lunch and picked the Anchor Bar.  It is located in downtown Buffalo, NY.  That is where Buffalo Wings originated so that, of course,  is what Dick ordered and the food was very good. 



Sept. 28

Rain today so we were glad we had seen the falls yesterday.  Drove the Jeep up to Niagara on the Lake area.  Lots of fruit stands and just beautiful country.  Went into the little village of Niagara on the Lake were there were shops and lots of people, even though it was raining.  Didn't buy anything but it was a quaint area to see.

Sept. 29

Crossed the border again into the US and drove a 2 lane highway through small towns in New York.  Houses pretty much lined the highway with large yards and some farm land out behind.  The trees are turning beautiful colors.  We couldn't believe the many different hews of red, yellow and orange.  There is still some green intermixed.  Lots of places selling pumpkins out of their front yards.  We really enjoyed the drive where we could see the countryside.  We have avoided toll roads so far and pick primary highways instead.  We camped in the 1000 Island area of New York.  It is located along the St Lawrence Seaway where it enters Lake Ontario.  This is quite a tourist area with boat rides and lots of sightseeing. 

Sept. 30

Hard rain today so we decided to stay put another day.  It rained hard for 12 hours and a large puddle formed around our motor home.  We couldn't get out our door without getting our feet wet.  Went into town to do laundry because too much rain to do anything else.  We did shop in the resort town of Alexandra Bay and found rain jackets for 50% off.  Dick and I each bought jackets.  The news said 2 to 4 inches of rain fell in the area today. 

Oct. 1

Headed East today.  The sun was shining when we left in the morning.  We followed the St. Lawrence for about 100 miles before turning up into Canada again.  Saw another Amish buggy going along the highway.  That is something we would never see if we were traveling an interstate or toll road.  We traveled through Montreal with bumper to bumper traffic.  It took us an hour to travel through the town of Montreal.  We went through a tunnel that goes under the St. Lawrence Seaway.  Our next stop is the city of Quebec.  We are staying in a campground across the St. Lawrence in the little town of Levis.  Started raining again before we got here.  Lots of water everywhere. 

Oct. 2

We have been traveling for one month now and gone over 4000 miles.
Sunshine today, yea!!  Parked our car in the town of Levis and took the ferry over to Quebec.  That was easier than trying to find parking in Quebec.  We got off the ferry right in the old town of Quebec.  What a beautiful place.  A grand hotel, Chateau Frontenac, overlooks the St. Lawrence and is a focal point of the area.  We had a fun day going into the shops and seeing the old section of town.  We had lunch in one of the many restaurants in the area.  It is hard getting around the Provance of Quebec because highway signs are in French with very little English.  Tomorrow we go to the Maritime Provinces.
Definitely Happy Travels, Barb

Henry Ford Museum

Niagara Falls, Canada



Trees in fall colors



Chateau Frontenac, Quebec

Illinois, Indiana, Ohio & Michigan

Sept. 21

Arrived to a suburb of Chicago and found a campground.  We made plans to meet our nephew, David and his bride, Makeba on the boat where David is the captain.  It is docked in a boat basin by Soldier Field which is on the edge of downtown Chicago.  The view of the city from the boat was amazing.  We had a tour of the boat which has three levels and a crew of 5.  We sat around and visited and drank some wine.  We ended up ordering food to be brought  to the boat.  We had Italian Beef sandwiches which is a Chicago favorite.  The night view from the boat was even more beautiful with the many tall buildings of Chicago all lit up. 

Sept. 22

Our second day in Chicago was really great also.  We went into the city in the afternoon and met David at the boat.  He took us in our Jeep and dropped us off downtown to do a little exploring.  We went up in the John Hancock Building to the Observatory on the 91st floor.  What a view from up there!  They gave us headphones to hear about what we were looking at and points of interest.  I got some great pictures.  We walked about a mile to Navy Pier which is along Lake Michigan next.  There is an amusement park and shops along the pier.  When we were ready to go back to the boat, we called David to pick us up.   David and Makeba took us to a great little pizza restaurant and we had
Pot Pie Pizza and Mediterranean Bread.  We will always remember the great time we spent with David and Makeba in the beautiful city of Chicago.

Sept 23

Next stop is Indiana.  Dick is really tired of the strong winds we have been in.  It seems to blow every day and always hits the motor home from the side no matter what direction we are going.  I guess that is what you get in this flat country.  It's warm and humid to us.  The locals probably don't notice it.

Sept 24

 On Friday morning we went to the RV/MH Museum in Elkhart IN.  This year is the 100th anniversary of the manufacturing of RVs.  They had campers from the early 1900's to present.   We try to find hat pins from places we go, but they were out of pins at the RV museum.  We were lucky enough for buy one off of a man who worked there. 

We went across the top of Indiana and got into Amish country.  We were on a two lane secondary road and saw about 5 Amish buggies going down the side of the road.  They are small and I only saw one person in each.  The last one was driven by a woman.

 On the way to Michigan we were in Ohio for a few miles.  We try to go into any state we are near because we are trying to get into as many states as possible.  Tonight we are staying outside of Detroit Michigan.  The campground we are staying in is having a Woods of Horror each weekend until Halloween.  It's on a trail that go in back of the campground.  It was dark and lots of scary creatures came out of the bushes.  Dick and I screamed a lot along the trail but it was fun.  Tonight was also laundry night.  Oh how I miss my washer and dryer. 


Sept 25

We are still in the same campground for one more night.  Today we went into Detroit to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village.  We spent several hours in the Museum and Village and ate lunch at the Eagle Tavern.  They serve seasonal meals inspired by authentic 1850s recipes.  We had a good and hardy meal there.  The museum houses an enormous collection of everything from furniture, trains, planes, farm equipment and of course cars.   There was even a prototype aluminum house that was never put into production because the inventor could not raise the funds to produce it.  In Greenfield Village you are taken back in time.  There are some original houses such as the Wright Brothers family home and some reproductions.  Model T cars and other old pieces of transportation are giving people rides around the town.  There are eight workshops with artisans practicing authentic period carfts.  We both thoroughly enjoyed the day.  Definitely Happy Travels, Barb

Our next stop is going to be for 3 days in Niagara Falls Canada so maybe I can find time to get some pictures posted.

North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa & Wisconson

Sept. 13 and 14

Spent 2 nights in Medora N.D. in a nice wooded campground.  Our reason for being here is Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  Looks a lot like the Badlands in South Dakota but there are lots of wild animals in the park.  We saw a few buffalo and deer but I wanted to see the wild horses people told us about.  We took the loop road around the park and took any roads that took off from the main road.  We finally found the horses.  They didn't look too wild as they just stood and let everyone that came by take their picture.   Tried a new recipe on Dick tonight.  I call it Laundry Room Chicken.  It really has nothing to do with laundry but I got the recipe from a lady also doing her laundry.  Dick really liked it.

Sept. 15

Drove all the way across North Dakota today and spent the night in Fargo on the Eastern edge of N.D.
Again saw acres of feed corn and sunflowers waiting to be harvested.

Sept. 16

Dropped into Minnesota today and went down the Western edge to Pipestone National Monument.  That was an interesting place.   Pipestone was and still is quarried by Indians.  Even today they are the only ones allowed to quarry the pipestone.  They used the stone to carve pipe stems.  Today they carve many things out of the soft stone. 

Sept. 17

Our next stop is Iowa.  We wanted to go into Iowa to see where our friend Pat was raised.  She always said how beautiful the country is close to the Mississippi River.  Everything was surprisingly green for being September.  The corn again was waiting to be harvested.  The hardwood trees that  covered the hills were beautiful.  The tops are starting to turn and sometimes a whole tree is turned color.  They  said in a couple of weeks the fall colors will be there.  We found another National Monument, Effigy Mounds.  The mounds are found in the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys.  Many mounds were destroyed by settlers who turned the land into farmland.   The mounds origin and meaning remain a mystery.  We finally saw the Mississippi River after leaving the mounds area and traveled towards Lansing Iowa.  There are tree covered islands in the river so it doesn't look very wide.  We went up a hill to an overlook and could see the river valley and really see the river.  Before we left on Saturday morning an Amish woman had baked goods for sale in the campground.  I bought cinnamon rolls, rye bread and pickled beets.  We saw several Amish farmers markets along the way this morning.

Sept. 18 and 19

We are in Wisconsin and staying for 2 nights.  The campground is called Sky High and is on Cascade Mountain.  We had to laugh at that because it's more like a hill.   They ski on this hill and there are even ski lifts.  This campground is very large and caters to families.  They have planned activities every weekend.  This weekend was Halloween.  The kids in costumes came around to trick or treat.
We drove to the town of Elkhorn, 80 miles south, to eat dinner at Casa Maria.  For the followers from Colfax it is run by a former Colfax man, Able, who's parents own the Mexican restaurant in Colfax.  I also know Able from school.  

Sept. 20

Today we spent the day in a diesel repair shop in Madison Wisconsin.  Trouble with the compression break and they had trouble finding the part.  We need to take it back in the morning so we are camped in a KOA nearby.  I hope this is the last time we need to camp in a KOA because they are way overpriced.  This is the most expensive place we have stayed and it is just a grassy field with a few trees.  We hope to get on the road by mid morning to Chicago area.  We are going to stay outside of Chicago and use the Jeep to see the city.   We also have plans to meet up with my nephew and his bride.
Looking forward to seeing David and Makeba.

I will be able to add pictures to my blog as soon as I have time to figure out how to use the memory card reader I just bought.

Definitely Happy Travels,  Barb

Devils Tower and Custer St. Pk. South Dakota

Sept. 9
Arrived at Devils Tower and staying in Forest Service Campground inside the park.  We have a view of  Devils Tower from our motor home.  Lots of red rock around also.  Great place and you cannot imagine its size by just looking at a picture. 

Sept. 10
Traveled to Custer State Park to spend the next three days.  We need a break from traveling everyday and there is so much to see here.  Staying in the park with pine trees all around.  We do have electricity but that is all.  Visited Jewel Cave Nat. Mont.  We went on a tour down in the cave.  This is the second longest cave in the world.  We also had to go to Crazy Horse Memorial again.  We have been there two time before and it really amazes me the progress on the mountain.  The last time we were there was 2000. 

Sept. 11
Today we went to Wind Cave Nat. Park.  We took a tour of this cave also.  Took a trip to Badlands Nat. Park also today.  We did alot of driving in the Jeep today.  Badlands is 70 miles East of Rapid City.  Today there was a buffalo in the campground.   Everyone kept their distance and just let him roam.

Sept. 12
Today we drove the Needles Highway.  It's a beautiful, curvy highway through the Black Hills.  There are narrow and low height tunnels along this road so glad to have a Jeep.  We stopped in Hill City and Keystone to look at the shops.  That night we went back to Crazy Horse for a lase-light show on the mountain.  They only have the light show Memorial Day through Native American Day.  I don't know when NAD is.  We have had such good weather so far on this trip.  It has been windy through Wyoming but Dick survived the drive across Wyoming. 

Sept. 13
Tonight we are in Medora North Dakota and staying two nights.  We are here to see Theodore  Roosevelt Nat. Park.  We have heard there are lots of wildlife in the park.  I will let you know what we see.  The land around here looks a lot like the Badlands which is quite a surprise after coming by farm land growing sunflowers, corn and hay.  There are also lots of cattle.  More about the park later.  Definitely Happy Travels, Barb