We left Albert Lea, MN this morning at 8:00 and arrived in Readstown around 1:00 p.m. We are at our friends, Ed and Marilyn Butler's house. We will be here for awhile. Not really sure how long they will put up with us. Marilyn is not home. She is at their daughter's house babysitting their granddaughter until tomorrow. Ed took us out to eat at the Kickapoo Inn tonight. These are some people we met over at Canyon Lake this past winter. Really excited to be here and get to spend some time with them. Then, in the winter, they will come back to Texas and we'll get to see them again. It's really interesting to meet people in all the different states and see the difference in how they live, what they like to eat, etc. We have met so many nice people. This has been quite the experience. I never, ever thought that we would get a chance to do something like this. We have been so blessed. Will write again later and send pictures. Love to you all.

Our friends, Ed and Marilyn Butler.

 

Marilyn and their grandson, Zach.

Beautiful birds. This is a gold-finch.

 

Grandad's Bluff

 

 

 

 Another beautiful sunset.

 Amish farmland. So beautiful.

Look What I Found!!!!

Is that cool or what??????

When we left Custer we drove approx. 260 miles to Chamberlain, SD. We got a campsite right on the Missouri River and spent the night there. We met 6 really nice people there, that we sat outside with around the campfire. They were actually from SD and came to the park for a week. It was really nice. Of course, we didn't see them this morning, because my husband thinks you have to leave before anyone else even gets out of bed. Soooooo, we were on the road by 7:00 a.m. again. We decided to stop in Albert Lea, Minnesota. So, we found a state park and are going to stay here for 2 nights. Then we will head to Readstown, WI, where we will meet up with some more friends that we met in Texas last winter. I am finally caught up with pictures. It's so exciting for me. We haven't had good internet service since we were in Washington. Been a long dry spell. I almost didn't remember where we have been since then. lol.   Will post again soon. Love You All.

 

 

 

Can you see them?

So we left Gillette on July 21 and drove to the Comanche Park in the Black Hills National Forest about 5 miles outside of Custer, SD. We didn't have reservations at Custer State Park until the 23rd. So we spent 2 nights dry camping in the forest. Then we moved to Custer State Park where we were meeting some friends who are camp-hosting there. They arranged the reservations for us in advance. Their 2 daughters and sons-in-law and 3 grandkids were also at the park for the week. It was really awesome to see Ray and Wendy again and get to meet part of their family. Not to mention how GREAT the park was. They have a wild-life loop that you can drive and see lots of game. We saw buffalo, deer, antelope,and prairie dogs. Of course, we had resident tour guides, which was great for us. Crazy Horse Monument/ Needles Highway, and Mt. Rushmore were all in close proximity to the park. Not to mention all the beautiful country. Wayne and I both enjoyed South Dakota so much. Here are a few pics. Hope to see these guys down the road again this winter in Texas, maybe?

Our park hosts and friends, Ray and Wendy.

Crazy Horse Monument.

This is what it will look like when it is finished.

 

 

Mt. Rushmore.

 

 

Beautiful wood carvings, supposedly with a chain saw. 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking at Mt. Rushmore from a distance.

Buffalo right outside the fence at the park. All the bulls sounded like a bunch of thunder.

We left Cody, WY and drove to Gillette, WY. We had to go all the way back up to Billings, MT to get around a really steep mountain range. The roads were too winding and steep to pull the trailer over. So we detoured. Got to Gillette and found a campsite called Crazy Woman RV Park. Wayne said they named it after me, so we decided to stay there. It was just for 1 night on our way to Custer, SD.

 

 

Beautiful moon over Gillette, WY

Okay, I called my sister-in-law today and I think I can load some pics now. Gonna test it.YES! Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park.

When we got here on the 17th, we got set up, and decided to go to the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum. We spent most of the afternoon there. Lots of exhibits of guns, dated all the way to the 1800's. Wayne was in hog heaven. Then we came back to the campground. A couple hours later we went out for pizza. Not that it matters to me, whether we eat at home or in a restaurant, because Wayne (the dear sweet soul that he is) does almost all of the cooking. Then yesterday Wayne went kinda crazy and went to Walmart and bought a bicycle. He got a pretty red one. Then, he decided I needed one, too. Which, by the way, we had talked about getting bikes when we first started our trip.) So, we went back to Walmart and bought one for me, too. It is 8 tenths of a mile to Walmart. So, he drove home and I rode my new bike. Then we went riding when I got back. We rode about a 1/2 mile and Wayne started having trouble with his bike. Something was definately wrong with it. So, then we rode back to Walmart and traded his in for one just like mine. Except, his is for a boy and mine for a girl. So now, we are TWINKIES!! And........Wayne bought a bell to put on his. He's such a dork. LOL. I sent a picture of our bikes to my oldest grandson. He texted me and said "You guys got bikes? That's so funny." I texted back and asked "Why is that so funny, we do know how to ride a bike." He again texted back and said. "It's just funny, cause I see you riding around the park, like the people we saw at Canyon Lake." I texted back and asked, "Do you mean the OLD people?" He texted back and said, "Haha,.....Maybe." I love that boy. Anyway, then we rode downtown Cody and looked around on our bikes. I was so sure I would be sore today, but nothing. So thankful. Today, we didn't ride our bikes at all. We just kinda hung around the camp this morning, and went into town and looked in all the shops this afternoon. Then we went to The Irma Hotel and Restaurant. This is a hotel that was built by Buffalo Bill in the early 1900's. He named it after his youngest daughter. The bar that is in the restaurant is the original bar that was in the saloon when the hotel was built. It was a gift to Buffalo Bill from Queen Victoria. It is made of Cherry Wood and is beautiful. After we went there, we came home and rested awhile and then got ready and went to a musical performance by a man named Dan Miller. He has a 15 year old daughter that is part of his show. She plays the fiddle and the mandolin and sings harmony with her dad. There is also another female singer that also plays the bass guitar and there was a lead guitarist that was awesome. We really enjoyed this show alot. They played alot of old cowboy songs and they all harmonized beautifully. It was great. We bought 2 of his CD's. Then.......we stopped at the DQ and got a milkshake. What a great day. We will be leaving Cody on Sunday and heading towards South Dakota. We will spend 1 night somewhere before we get there. Not sure where yet. Will keep in touch. Love You All.

Our new bikes

 

The Irma Hotel & Restaurant

 

 

 

Dan Miller. What a great show!

 

 

Is this cute or what???

 

 

Okay, so we decided to go to Cody, Wyoming yesterday. So, we entered the North gate of Yellowstone and drove all the way to the East gate through the park. We are planning on staying in Cody for a few days. So we thought we would go through  the park on the way there, and a different route on the way back to our campground to see which way would be better to pull the trailer. Well, it was no contest. The drive through the park was beautiful, but it is not a good way to pull the trailer. Lots of switchbacks and high peaks and straight drop-offs right beside the road. So, we will be leaving here on Wednesday morning and heading to Cody by way of Billings, Montana. We made reservations while we were there yesterday. We left our campground at 9:00 a.m. yesterday and got back at 10:00 p.m. last night. A really long day. So, today, we are staying at the campground and lazing around. We haven't had any phone service since we got here. Will have it at Cody, thank goodness. I don't like being without contact with family and friends. Love to all.

We decided yesterday to just stay at the park and rest. Wayne has some kind of stomach bug and was not feeling real well. So we stayed here and just took it easy (naps, naps, naps.) He was feeling better today, so we went back to Yellowstone. We took a different route today. We saw hundreds of buffalo in herds along the river. We also saw some antelope. And the scenery was awesome. The road we took today is called the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Some really beautiful waterfalls and rivers. We took a hike out in the forest and saw some really pretty meadows with the river running through it. It was about a 100 mile round trip. Came back to camp and Wayne grilled us a rib eye. Had baked potatoes, corn and a salad with it. Yum, Yum. Don't know what we will do tomorrow. Rest or Play? Decisions, Decisions. Love You All.

We got to Yellowstone RV Park around 11 a.m. yesterday. After we got set up, we decided to go ahead and go into the park. We left our campground around 1 p.m. and didn't get back until 9 p.m. We saw Old Faithful Geyser. I thought that was pretty neat. But then.....I got to see a real live grizzly bear in the wild. We stopped and took pictures. It was awesome. There were probably about 50 people stopped on the side of the road. We also saw buffalo and elk. It was a pretty exciting day. The horseback riding on Thursday was really awesome, too. We rode for a little over 2 hours. By the time we got back, my knees and calves and ankles, etc. etc. etc. were all killing me. I thought I was really gonna be sore the next day, but NOT. That, in itself, was pretty amazing. I couldn't even get on the horse by myself. I had to have a step up. That's really pretty sad. But the ride was beautiful, although, we didn't see any wildlife while we were riding. We will go back into the park today and do some more looking and picture taking. For my family....we don't have any phone service where we are. We are right on the Yellowstone River surrounded by mountains.  If there is an emergency, we are at Yellowstone RV Park in Gardiner, MT. Will post again soon. Love You All. Or you can e-mail me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday morning we left Turah Park and headed to Livingston. Mitch and Sue called around noon and they were only about 10 miles from us going the opposite direction. So we decided to meet in Bozeman, MT and have lunch together. We spent about an hour together and then headed out in our differrent directions. They are headed to Courte d' Alene, Idaho and we are going to Livingston. It was nice to see them again. They are the couple that we spent our first month on the road with. He was in the Marine Corps with Wayne. We met them in 1971 in San Diego, CA. We arrived in Livingston around 3:30 or so. We got everything set up and decided to take a ride down to Yellowstone and see if there were any campgrounds available that are closer to the park. The park where we are now is about 50 miles from the entrance to Yellowstone. We lucked out and found a park right on the Yellowstone River. So, we will leave here tomorrow and go to that park and stay there until next Wednesday. Wayne will be chomping at the bits to fish, being that close to the river. This afternoon we are going horse-back riding in the mountains over-looking Yellowstone. That should be fun, but I probably won't be able to walk for the next 3 or 4 days. Haven't been on a horse in about 5 yrs or so. We saw some elk yesterday when we went up to make our reservations for the ride. No bulls, just cows and calves. Maybe we will see some big ones this afternoon. Gotta go for now, doing laundry. Will post again soon. Love to you all.





 My Cowboy.

 

 

Some of the views where we rode.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a great day! Thanks, Lauren.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We left Moses Lake this morning about 7:15 a.m. We went through sooooooo many mountainous passes today. It was beautiful. Going up was slow, but coming down was the scary part. But, once again, God watched over us. Made it through with no problems. But, Wayne did have a couple of beers once we got to the park and got set up. LOL.  We are at Turah, Montana. It's about 100 miles west of Butte. This is a real nice park. Lots of grass and trees and the river is just across the road from the park. So this afternoon, we took a nice walk over there. Now, he's out walking in the woods and I'm in the AC. Imagine that, huh? It's alot hotter here in Montana than it was in Washington. I actually have on a short-sleeve shirt and NO JACKET! It was 59 this morning when we left Moses Lake, but it got up to mid-80s this afternoon. I like this alot better. Tomorrow morning we will get up and drive to Livingston, MT. That's where we will start our Yellowstone stay. The park is about 50 miles from Yellowstone. If we find something closer that we like better, then we can move. Thinking of  all of you at home. Love and Miss you, but still having a great time.