On the run with Jack

The road through southern Wyoming (I 80) is strark and beuatiful. Like Arizona with green grass.

Here our buddy Jack checks in on us as we fly by some great scenery.

We saw a sign in Montana that said: "Where regulation grows, freedom dies" Unless you want clean water, safe food, cars, workplaces...

God bless America - Long may she wave...

Greatest BBQ on trip (so far),,,

A few blocks from the lame gun fight we saw this BBQ wagon. Run and staffed by African Americans - the only ones we saw in Cheyenne. (People of color don't seem to RV - that's at least what I've noticed). I had a sloppy hawg and Kimberly had pulled pork - so worth the stop in Cheyenne.

Lame Gunfight in Cheyenne

We stopped in Cheyenne for Frontier Days and saw a very lame gunfight re-en-embarrasment...

The MC talked for ever and after about twenty minutes he said: "Yesterday we had a gentleman - 80 years old, one of our orgininals and he was out here dieing with all of us."

And I'm thinking if you all don't start shooting each other I'm gonna shoot some one - or leave! So he talked for about another ten minutes and we left...

View of the RV camp from the mine

The Land Ship is further down the hill out of sight but the countryside is just beautiful. The Black Hills are beautiful and truly Historic! (Like everything advertizes itself to be out here).

For a brief period of time, Lead and Deadwood were as far from America as you could be and still be in America.

They are sill worth visiting!

Mine at Whistler's Gulch

The RV camp we stayed in (at Deadwood) was in a gulch and on top of it was a mine closed in the mid 1900's.

The hills are covered with little and big abandoned mines.

The laundry bulding has a sign: "No mining clothes."

There was a trolley bus that takes you all over Deadwood - all the way out to the rodeo!

Truffle Vending Machine

Just outside of Deadwood. $2.25 a piece. More are in the store, but 24 hours a day - really really really good truffles are available by refrigerated machine.

See - the Black Hills really are magic!

Homestake mine at Lead

Lead is the twin city of Deadwood and this is the world's second most productive gold mine - closed in the early 90's cause gold tanked and the government made the company cleanup the over 100 years of shitting on rapping the earth. Now that gold is up again it could be used but the equipment would be too expensive and the regulations... yeah - blame government.

Joe meets Gunslinger - with witness!

This is in the Wall Drug store.

I'm not sure what the kid thought but I know he talked about it over his ice cream...

Wall Drug is worth the journey - about an hour east of Grand Rapids.

That makes the "city" of Wall the further place EAST we went on our 26 night run...

Big Sky - Big Rain - Lil Landship

Here we are tonight in Wheatland.

Tomorrow we spend the day in Cheyenne - its Frontier Days and we may see another rodeo or a fake gun fight - what the heck - partner...

World's largest Jackalope?

Kim was a wittness - they ARE Real!

(at Wall Drug store in - where else? Wall SD)

Support CrazyHorse!

This is my favorite place of the entire trip...

But it'll never be done.

Supported entirely from admission and donations.

What a committment to a dream, six of his nine kids have continued to follow thier father's obsession (dream).

Mt Rushmore

I saw this with jerry thirty years ago and wow have they upped the whole experience - a great parking structure - and flags and an outdoor lecture theater and a gift shop and icecream...

Check my web page later for close ups of all the dudes...

Clamity Jane's Grave on "Boot Hill"

The cemetary up the hill - which was moved higher up the hill later- is unreal. Everyone is burried about a foot deep and the paupers field has unmarked graves that they can't cut the grass for fear it will let loose a storm of bodies (They just reburied someone who fell down the hill - they knew from his dna he was either Chinese or an Indian - not a white guy - so Indians and Chinese priests were involved)

This was totally worth the seven bucks for the bus trip up the hill.

This is the mainstreet of Deadwood. Wild Bill Hickok gets shot every day at 2, 4, 6 (except Monday).

Gaming has saved this place and no big Harrahs or anything -the whole town - every house, building etc is an historical landmark and can only be rebuilt to its former appearance. Big n Rich are taking a mine and redoing it to a casino and convenvention center, but it has to be a tin covered mine building. Most of the shops and places in downtown have triving businessness in them.

When (my brother) Jerry drove me through Deadwood in 1981 it was nearly a ghost town. Now its a national treasure.

The place is really very cool - I suggest you go there some day. You don't have to gamble or shoot anyone.

Our Fans demand more info...

We have left Deadwood alive and arrived in Wheatland WY in the same manner.

I'm down loading pictures right now - Weatland is one and a half blocks from I25 (north of Cheyenne) but you can't hear or see the interstate. It's half full so we have a great little site. More later...

Resting with Buffalo Bill in Cody

Yesterday we mostly rested and did some "house-keeping." we did go out for a great BBQ. I had baby back ribs and spare ribs combo - ain't it all just pork with sauce? It was great. (FYI - Wisconsin needs America to "eat more pork.")

Today we had a low stress day visiting the five museums of the Buffalo Billy Cody Center. The one on him, on the plains indians, on the art of the west, on yellowstone and fire arms (which we all have a right to a flintlock or a match-lock...)

Tomorrow we clear the Big Horn Mountians on the way east to the black hills of SD. We plan on picking up a rental car in Grand Rapids for the four day stay in Deadwood. I bet there wil be another lame fake gun fight, and of course there are casinos so I will do at least one breakfast and one diner buffet. We will keep up informed...

PS so tonite as we ate out super in the Land Ship - there was the Paul Newman movie with him as Buffalo Bill! Encore westerns rocks!!!!

Yellowstone Thermal Pools - part 3

See the paw prints?

The animals like a spa too, and then hang out on the boardwalk to get cool.

(The pools have wooden board walks so you ca get close to them and not ruin them.)

Yellowstone Thermal Pools - part 2

Is this an underwater volcano?

Yellowstone Thermal Pools - part 1

Here's one of the colorful and otherworldly pools that are all over the park.

What an unimanginable place!

What would the cowboys have thought of this? Hey we can take a bath and cook dinner at the same time...

Traffic Jam in Yellowstone

Why did the Buffalo cross the road?

To give us all something to take pictures of...

Buffalos on the loose

Here is one of the small herds we saw wandering around the park. They eat for free, pay no camping fees, what a life (except in the snow).

Yellowstone - Buffalo Near Miss - Part 3

Just to prove we didn't make this up...

This is from my camera and that's Kimberly's head and that brown mass is the Buffalo going past us.

I was so worried he would just flick his head and our airbags would go off.

(FYI - we are in a rental car.)

Yellowstone - Buffalo Near Miss - Part 2

This like the preceding picture, Kimberly took this.

The Buffalo is right out her passenger-side window.

Yellowstone - Buffalo Near Miss - Part 1

We had just gotten inside the gate and the traffic was stopped as this buffalo came out of the woods and started walking down the road towards us.

We stopped with all the other cars as we meandered up to us...

He got right in front of our car, started to go accross the road, but instead kept walking right at us...

Cody Night Rodeo

This is from Kimberly's camera - we had a great time at a real two hour rodeo with bulls and brocs and lil five year olds on horse back ropin' and don't forget the worst MC job in showbuznizz... the rodeo clown. That clown needs to find a new line of work!

Gunfight at Cody!

Like I said - every night at 6pm in front of the Irma Hotel (built by Cody named after his daughter) there is a gunfight re-creation in the streets with real blanks - smell the blackpowder - feel the bad acting.

And they all signed the poster I bought to help the gunfighters raise money for local charities - each year they raise over $60 grand - not a lot but hey - they are fake gunfighters for gods' sake - give em a break.

At Chehalis in the deep woods...

See how deep in the woods we are???? What a beautiful Land Ship!

Kim and Reiley in the surf

So how about that? Here's another pic of that beautiful Oregon coast... See the mist?

Kim and Ruby on the beach at Whaler's Rest

Hey-

I think I got this photot thing figured out...

At Cody, WY

We got here to Cody (about an hour east of the park) yesterday afternoon and the RV park (Yellowstone Valley Inn) is really just a parking lot. Our gps wanted us to go through the park (8500 feet pass) but we took an extra half hour and went on the I90 past Bozeman and then took a great more or less flat senic highway south to Cody - hey gps - you do what I say -- not the other way around, buddy...

This place has a pool, hot tub, resturant/bar with Kareoke and shitty food - or is it shitty kareoke and food? Anyway, we are surrounded by some of the most beautiful country you can imagine. The peaks in the distance still have snow on them. We got a renatal car. They picked us up and took us to the airport and let us have a great Subaru all wheel drive. Today we are going into Cody for the fun, the gunfight at 6pm and the rodeo at 8pm - who could ask for more? (I had a beer last night, so I could have more...)

Tomorrow we are planning a hike and picnic in Yellowstone. I hope to get that picture thing worked out here to show you want you are missing, so to speak...

Little Diamond

Just north of Spokane is a great TT camp and we made it after a pretty easy and beautiful ride.

This place is very heavily wooded and at first we did not get TV but then I thought about the first humans to cross this land - our paleo-indian ancestors and what would they do... they had great knowldge of the land and trees and a general understanding of the direction south and I too applied that knowledge and found a place trough the trees to get the cosmic hook up.

This place is like Chehalis or Yosemite of even that lava forrest place (Hat Creek), its about 10 degrees cooler than in Spokane and I could stay here for a while but we must be on the run.

Tomorrow we go to Anaconda, MT after going through the skinny part of Idaho. The next night we will be in Cody Wy - about an hour outside of Yellowstone. We stay there for six days. Then on to Deadwood, SD for five days.

Soon, if we go east enough, we will be out west!

Thanks to those who have signed up as friends - tell all your virtual friends to join us.

Crescent Bar WA

So we drove from Chehalis and stopped in two outlet malls and in one had Mongolian BBQ - in the middle of Washington - what a country!

Crescent Bar looks like Arizona - and not the coool sendona part but the butt hot high cliffs, mad made river scrub brush desert and all.

Hot winds, really shittttttttyyyyyy pizza - but it was the only place - litterally - except for the esspresso place which sold drip coffee...

No wifi there but we got TV baby -

Chehalis, WA

Just south of the town of the same name there is a thousand trails camp that was our desination. We stopped on the way at the Tillamook cheese factory (in the town of that name) and had grilled cheese and bought enough cheese and cheese related items for the entire trip.

Then we spent an entire hour geting through Portland on their freeway with two lanes - hey what century was that bridge built? Get us outta here...

The Camp is so lush, green, on a hill covered with those tall tress they fill up thier trucks with - there were so many tall trees we could not get satelight. Hey buddy, why haven't you logged that tree in my way????????

This place was one of the original TT camps - inagine in the eighties - no cell phones, no gps, no sat TV... wow...Just like us in Chehalis.

Whaler's Rest

So gentle reader last you heard from us we were in Whaler's Rest. We liked it so much we only blogged once. There was mist, fog along the coast and it looked like smog but smelled better. The place is so lush and green, the trails are thru woods and thick green stuff - not like hiking in California which means walking on hot barren rocks...

We took a bus to Newport and walked the Deco district and historic Bay Street - we had Yaquima(sp?) clams - that's the bay there whatever its name...We saw people claming and guys flash steaming clams and cleaning fish caught by the tourist boat that morning.

We loved Whaler's rest - each site was seperated by beatuiful trees with a little trail behind and we had a fire pit and burned a log - all over here and northern cal - even in yosemite, there are empty and full logging trucks - they seemed to go every way full and empty - what is a log worth do you think? How long to grow to the lebgth of a semi trailer? Just keep logging - send them to some country where they make stuff out of wood...

Night Three - Part Two

So I have learned we only get one picture for each post - so this picture is of me setting up at Hat Creek, you can see the majesty of The Land Ship!

But today we drove about eight hours and have arrived on the O Coast - a Thousand Trails place called Whaler's Rest - across the 101 from the ocean. Hey, its cold here. Wow - a big change from Cali, baby... (and I mean you, baby!)

We'll tell you more about this place as we get to know it - we are here for three nights. We need to not be rattled around for a day or so.

So we have learned a few things about GPS: 1., if it wants you to turn around, just keep driving. It will come up with a new plan. 2., our GPS likes to find the smalled, skinniest, least like a road road and send us on it (especially if it is on a mountain top with cliffs and no shoulder or guard rails...yeah, its the shortest route. 3., GPS doesn't know, or won't tell us, if the "road" is in fact a road or something that may be a road if it doesn't rain or an actual interstate. To our GPS, it is all just a line we are supposed to drive on, the GPS doesn't care how good of a road it is - its just a line on a map - to the GPS.

Here's something I noticed while sitting at a small fire I built last night. It doesn't matter if I build a fire, everyone else has already built one so I'm gonna smell like a campfire no matter what. Like going to a bar in the eighties and not smoking. Why bother to deny yourself?

You, know, I still have flashbacks from Disco. I was my generation's Viet Nam. (I have the scars and nightmares, man)

So our dogs don't really like to travel in our RV. I think it shakes too much, makes too much noise and the widows are too high to see out of. Whoever doesn't drive has at least one of them on our lap. Ruby's vet gave us doggie anti anxiety meds for her, just a quarter pill does it. (Again, like disco days, who's got the Quaaludes?????) We went for a walk before sunset and found a fenced in dog run in the middle of the woods...and a golfing net. We're set for three days!!! Oh yeah, the pacific is across the street, too...

Its Night Three

First we want to thank all those who are following our adventure. The first night we spent at a Thousand Trails campground called Lake Minden, just north of Sacramento. It was late and we were tired... but in the moring the sun shone down on little (human made) Lake Minden. So calm, peaceful and oh so ... what's that? sounds like...Jet Ski races!!!!!!

We drove about five hours to our next stop. It was a park near Lassen Park - plenty of lava rock in the forrest. Its called Hat Creek and its near Old Station - yeah that Hat Creek. There was plenty of forrest and frankly too much nature for our little dogs, they would get easily eaten by an preditor... The place was remote, no cell service, but of course our sat dish worked great. We got an automatic thing...

Reiley, Ruby and me walked along Hat Creek and we did not see one hat (and many of you are aware of my fondness for hats). That is some big tree area up there in that lava strewn forrest of pines et al (No, Al wasn't there). This is the view from our site.

Ready to Launch!!!

We are now loading up the Landship Itasca, the HMS Cambria, or as we have come to call it Bubs on the Run actual. We are ready for an early morning launch (around 9 or so...not that early...)Anyway, they got a new frig for us and put it in today - wow -all that in one day- after only waiting eight days for that one day.

But I love it when stuff works...

We are excited and a little nervous. We just realized we have never been on vaction, traveling, for more than 25 nites at a time. And alone together that long, too...

Whatever adventure awaits, I hope it's more fun than anything else...

And I hope to show Ruby and Reiley how they did it in the Old West! (I'm not sure what it is...)

A one day delay but will it be cool?

So right after I posted that last blog the RV repair guy called to say a new frig will come tomorrow and they can install it, but want to keep it over the weekend to make sure its cool.

I said you have one day to put it in and we leave, if it doesn't work - you do it again when we get back.

There is no competition for these bastards. They are the only RV repair in the valley and this is a warrenty job so they are in no rush... blah, blah, blah, bullshit. They have had it for a week and did nothing untill yesterday. Now they are shocked that we were serious when we told them we are leaving. I hate idiots who have power over my frig!

Anyway - we are skipping our first night's camp and going just north of Sacramento for our first night at a place that was scheduled to be our second night. It's about 8 hour drive but we can do it!!!

More details as they become available...

Is it cool yet?

Tomorrow the Land Ship Launches foe Our Adventure!

We have decided to go forward with our adventure even though the frig in the RV is not working. It will take weeks to fix it and we don't have that kind of time.

We are off and running... We've camped before and used coolers... how hard can it be?

Our house will be lived in by a friend of Kimberly's brother, so bring on the robbers, Brian is ready!

So far, we have stops booked up the coast, out east accross Wahington, Wyoming and South Dakato and then back in Wyoming and Nevada before we coast on home to Cali...

We're staying three nights on the coast of Oregon. Five nights at Cody (east of Yellowstone) and four nights in Deadwood. Look out Wild Wild West, Ruby and Reiley are a'commin.... Ye Haw!