Fulltime RVing With Rick and Orinda

RC Flying at Old Mill Stream RV Resort

2012-01-25T16:08:00.000-08:00

Rick has flown Radio Control planes for many, many (over 35) years and has always enjoyed the challenge of building and flying the RC planes. One reason we choose the Old Mill Stream RV Resort was that they actually have an electric RC flying field right in the park! Here Rick is taking off his Slow Stick from the OMS runway.

The Slow Stick is a great flyer and uses electric power which is very quiet as well as very powerful. This plane has a 40" wingspan and weighs about 18 ounces. It is a great trainer, but still can be very aerobatic.

Radio systems have really advanced in the past few years and now offer training systems that make it much easier to learn to fly. Here Rick and Walt check out Walt's new plane prior to its initial flight.

Rick and Dick are flying Dick's plane on the Buddy Box system. The two radios are connected by a thin cord which allows Rick (the instructor) to flip a switch and give control to Dick. If Dick has a problem, Rick can quick regain control and right the plane to avoid a crash.

Here, Rick is helping Butch, who lost direction while setting up a landing. Rick has just re-taken control and is guiding the plane up and away from the flyers.

Butch and Rick are very happy that the plane has averted disaster and lives to fly another day. The new training system makes a huge difference in learning to fly radio control aircraft and greatly reduces the stress for the new pilot.

Rick is working with Jim, an advanced student, and is explaining how to correct flight from various positions such as inverted flight, banks, etc. Jim is doing a great job and is flying by himself after a successful solo flight.

We have a great little field to spend the afternoon at. A small sun shield, a couple tables and a gaggle of aircraft. This is also a great way to meet lots of folks who come by and watch us fly.

Wow - we are getting a nice sized group of flyers here in the RV park. What a great treat it is to be able to fly right where we are camping for the winter!

A Great Boat Trip on the Dora Canal in Florida

2012-01-07T17:08:00.000-08:00

Here is our 15' Gheenoe which we will be taking in the Dora Canal. This fiberglass boat is popular with the local fishermen because it is surprisingly stable, takes very little water to float, and is comfortable to use. This is Orinda's first trip in the boat, so we will see how she likes it.

Orinda and I took advantage of a beautiful day to launch our Gheenoe boat into Lake Eustis at the Tavares boat ramp -- which is a large, very nice public ramp. The Gheenoe looked a bit small compared to the 22' Bass Boats being launched and our 2.5hp outboard was a bit smaller than the 250hp motors they used, but we were ready to go!

A short boat ride from the ramp is the entrance, under this bridge, to the Dora Canal which connects Lake Eustis with Lake Dora. The Canal dates back over 100 years and was dug by hand to connect the lakes. Today, it is well know for its beauty and wildlife.

After passing under the HWY441 bridge, you immediately enter the canal and feel as if you have been transported back in time to the wilds. There are huge cypress trees growing along the banks with countless birds flying in the woods.

The Canal is about 1.25 miles long and about 5 feet deep, although that can change quickly. It is hard to believe that you are near any kind of civilization given the wilds next to the water, but in fact, we are only a mile or so from the town of Tavares.

Rick enjoys running the powerful 2.5 hp outboard, which excels in this shallow water. Our little boat is quiet and stable; perfect for observing the birdlife.

Even though it was cool a few days ago, the 75 degree weather today has brought the birds out. This great blue heron did not seem very concerned about our passage as he watched from this log.

Orinda had a hard time seeing the birds, but enjoyed the scenic boat ride. As you can see, the water was mirror smooth which made for a nice run.

This heron was fishing and did not seem happy to see us. In fact, right after this shot was taken, he flew off in somewhat an indignant fashion.

Success! Orinda's reward for braving the wilds of the Dora Canal is a cup of coffee and a small sundae from McDonalds! We had a nice time traveling the waterways of the Dora Canal and Lake Eustis.

Reflections on 4 years of Fulltime Motorhoming

2011-12-27T16:26:00.000-08:00

We started our fulltime life in the motorhome by first holding an auction to sell everything we had accumulated in 35 years of married life -- which was a lot of stuff! This was a big decision for us and took about 6 weeks of hard work to get everything organized and ready for the big auction. We engaged a great auctioneer who handled all the advertising, and pre-auction publicity.

The auction Saturday was clear, but cold -- unusually so for early fall in South Dakota, but we were pleased with the hundreds of folks eager to bid on our stuff. We sold furniture, wood working equipment, jewelry, kitchen pots and pans, and much more. The great thing about the auction was that everything was sold and removed in one very busy day! We were also pleased at the overall proceeds of the auction -- about 25% higher than we had hoped.

Rick had to finish working over the fall semester and as a result, we could not leave until Christmas 2007. We left South Dakota in clear, cold weather, but in Nebraska, hit heavy snow as you can see. Our 36' Itasca Meridian coach did a great job on the ice, but we were really pleased to finally pull off into the RV park for the night. What a start to fulltiming!

A foot of snow later, we were ready to continue. Fortunately, the RV park plowed the roads and our site so we could head out, but we wondered what kind of life we were embarking on.

We finally made it to Florida where we spent a wonderful winter and really got into the concept of fulltime living in our coach. In fact, we loved the lifestyle so much, that we ened up trading the 2004 36' Meridian for a 2008 Winnebago Tour 40' coach.

Moving day is always a thrill, even from one coach to another. Here, all the stuff from the 36' coach is stacked on our site while we awaited delivery of the new 40' rig. We were amazed at how much stuff we had on board.

The 40' coach arrives! Wow, what a difference. We loved the new Tour 40' and ended up fulltiming almost 3 years in this great coach, which took us over 35,000 miles around the country. We learned that the extra room and amenities were very well worth while.

The Tour took us all over the country and we saw things we had only dreamed about. Here, Rick is getting ready to crew in a hot air balloon at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta where we joined other RVers at a rally sponsored by the Escapees RV Club.

What a sight! Rick watched as hundreds of balloons lifted off to join him in the air. Wow -- we never dreamed we could do this.

The 40' Tour made its way to the Pacific coast twice over the three years that we had it and we greatly enjoyed the trips. What a great way to travel and to take in the sights such as this beach on the Oregon coast. We were fortunate to have our old Golden Retriever, Cody, with us for 3 years before he passed.

The 40' Tour was great, but then Winnebago came out with the 42' tag axle model and we were amazed at the extra space and features it offered. The king bed, stacked washer/dryer, dishwasher and 4 slides sold Orinda. Rick was taken with the large holding tanks and the 4 (FOUR!) big tvs helped seal the deal. This rig is great to drive and live in.

We took the new coach on a 9,000 mile trip over 6 months last summer/fall and had a great time. Here, we are at an Escapees Rally in Gillette, WY as a weather front blew through.

The new Tour takes a breather next to Yellowstone Lake. After 4 full years of fulltime living in a motorhome, we can say with certainty it is a great lifestyle. We have meet hundreds of great people, seen amazing things, and participated in events that we could only dream about. If you are interested in this life, be sure to fully check it out as it is a whole new world that awaits you.

A Very Merry Christmas to all!

2011-12-24T17:24:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas - 2011

We wish everyone a Merry Christmas
and a wonderful new year!

Spending the Winter at the Olde Mill Stream RV Resort

2011-12-20T16:45:00.000-08:00

After several months of traveling the country, we are settled into the Olde Mill Stream RV Resort in Umatilla, FL which seems to be a great spot. This is the first time we have spent the season here and so far, we are delighted with the park. This is the entrance which typifies the high maintenance standards seen throughout the park.

There is a very nice clubhouse for the many activities going on in the park and we have already been to a couple of events here. While not a huge place (I would guess there are about 300 sites), everyone if very friendly and outgoing.

One of the events that occurred during the Christmas season is the memory tree ceremony which allows residents of the park to trim the tree with memories of departed loved ones. There is also a very well done tribute to veterans which we found especially meaningful.

One of the pleasant surprises we found at the park, especially for Rick, is this electric RC flying field located right in the park -- indeed, only a couple streets from our lot! Cool! Rick is working on a model aircraft again and is looking forward to doing some flying.

This is our site. We opted for some extra concrete on our pad which really helps and gives a very nice patio area. We are also going to get a small shed for Rick's model workshop and storage which should be great. All in all, we think we will like staying at the Olde Mill Stream and will keep you posted as the winter progresses.

Tightening the show head wall attachment -- FINALLY!

2011-11-23T16:53:00.001-08:00

We have enjoyed our Tour motorhome, but I noticed that the shower head mount constantly loosened after a few days of use. I tried first to simply re-tighten the screws, but quickly found that the sheet metal screws used to hold the mount to the fiberglass enclosure had stripped the holes. Rats!

Rick tried first to shim the hole with filler, wood, etc., but after a couple weeks, the holes enlarged and the screws loosened up again.

Finally, while wandering in our local Ace Hardware Store, Rick found these rubber and brass compression inserts. When a bolt is threaded into the insert and tightened, the brass threads compress the rubber and expand the insert so that it holds tightly.

These are simple to install -- just drill a hole in the fiberglass enclosure just large enough for the insert to fit tightly.

I used a small expanding grinding bit to open the holes in the enclosure. Just go easy with this step and make sure the holes do not get too big to force fit the inserts in,

The inserts just slip in, no glue is needed.

Now, the new stainless steel machine screws are used to re-mount the shower head holder. I was delighted to find that the screws snugged down perfectly and held the mount firmly to the fiberglass. Plus, the rubber inserts eliminate any possible leaks behind the mount.

A simple repair and it worked great.

The Museum of Osteology in Oklahoma City -- LOTS of bones!

2011-11-06T17:00:00.000-08:00

We visited our son who is in the Air Force and based in Oklahoma City and had a great week. We stayed at the Roadrunnner RV park which is a pretty nice park and located close to most things in the city. As you can see, we had a nice site and everything worked well.

Located nearby, is the very unique Museum of Osteology -- which is literally a boneyard! This is a fascinating place where the skeletons of all manner of creatures are displayed.

Orinda was in her glory with the grandkids who really liked the museum -- and Grandma! To their right is a small glass display showing how the bones are cleaned for display. They actually use bugs that eat everything, right down to the bones.

When you enter the museum, you are greeted by this amazing display of all kinds of skeletons, including whales, giraffes, rhinos, and many, many more.

This killer whale is remarkable and is a swimming mode. It was interesting to see how these skeletons are put together and the museum does a great job in displaying them.

This hippopotamus was huge, even in the bone view. We were impressed by the size of the skull and the other bone structures.

This display of monkeys was very well done and showed the animals in all different poses. These displays are very challenging to create and must take many hours to prepare.

Our son and his boy loved the place. Our grandson is about 3 and was full of questions about every animal and bone. This turned out to be a great place to visit for all ages.

Orinda was impressed by this elephant skull -- it is almost the same size as she is! The tusks are several feet long and we would have hated to see one of these charging us in the wild!

The museum also has a hands-on area where kids of all ages can handle the various bones. Our son was amazed at the jaw size of this alligator and it is easy to see why these animals can do some serious damage with these jaws!

Here's trouble! Our grandson, Caleb, wondered how he would look if he had horns like many animals. Fortunately, the museum had some you could try on and this made for a very happy 3 year old! Equally happily, we were able to leave the horn in the museum when we left, so every one was happy.

The "Bone Museum" is a great place to visit and offers some unique displays that are well worth the time.

Installing Grease Fittings on the Dump Valves - smooth action!

2011-10-29T16:06:00.000-07:00

We have three dump valves on the 42' Tour -- two grey tanks (60 gallons each) and the black tank -- also 60 gallons. I really like the large size of these holding tanks and they have worked well. However, after a few months of daily use, the valves start to get sticky and work with difficulty. Time to add grease fittings!

I originally got this idea from Mark Nemeth, Escapees' technical director and first used it on our 2008 coach. The modified dump valves worked great and I had no problems over 2 years of fulltime use, so I decided to do the same modification on our new coach.

Here are the few tools needed. You will need to get one 1/4" zerk grease fitting for each dump valve (I got mine at Lowe's), a 1/4" x 28 thread thread tap, 3/16" drill, and of course, a grease gun with grease. The zerk fittings are only a buck or so and the tap is just a few dollars, so this is a very inexpensive modification.

First, drill the hole above the drain valve handle, being sure that the hole will be within the dump valve body cavity as shown above. Then, use the tap to create threads in the plastic valve housing. I did not have a regular tap handle, so simply used a 3/32 socket and ratchet to hold the tap -- worked great.

The threads are easily cut into the plastic. Make sure that the threads go all the way through the plastic housing (have the valve closed during this operation), and in a couple minutes, you will have a nice, threaded hole.

Screw in the zerk grease fitting as shown and gently tighten. I tightened them down until the shoulder of the fitting was secure on the dump valve, but be careful of tightening these too much as you are working with plastic. This completes the actual modification.

Finally, clip the grease gun on and start pumping. This will take a fair amount of grease as you are filling part of the valve assembly. During this filling process, I moved the valve in and out and after a few times, the action got much smoother and easier as the grease was distributed. If you fill the grease while the valve is open, you can actually see the valve begin to close as the grease is pumped in, pushing the valve body closes. This is a clear indication you have more than enough grease in the valve.

After repeating this procedure for all valves, enjoy the smooth opening and closing of the valves. I found that I did not need to re-grease the valves on our prior coach more than once a year to keep the valves working freely.

Amarillo and Cadillac Ranch

2011-10-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

Driving into Amarillo, TX, we passed Cadillac Ranch, on the old Route 66. This iconic sight consists of Cadillacs of different years (1949 - 1963) buried halfway into the ground.

This closeup of some of the cars shows Cadillacs from the late 50's, complete with fins. This is a remarkable sight of a real piece of Americana and is unlike anything else we have ever seen. Quite a welcome to Amarillo!

Amarillo is the site of the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, we arrived on a day that the museum was closed, but we still were able to view these amazing statues in bronze outside.

This sculpture portrays the original cowboy days of calf roping and range riding.

These lifesize bronze sculptures are very impressive and life-like. Amarillo was originally the real cow town and the site of thousands of cattle coming through. Must have been quite a sight.

We had already seen a couple of the painted horse statues in town and began to look for them as we traveled. Amarillo is also know for it's helium production and indeed we stayed at an RV park on Helium Road. Amarillo is a true American original and well worth a visit.

Amarillo, TX and the Big Texan Steakhouse

2011-10-15T17:20:00.000-07:00

We spent a couple days in Amarillo, TX and enjoyed touring around this Texas town. Amarillo is the home of the Quarter Horse Association and in recognition of this, we found a number of lifesize horse statues throughout the city that featured painted scenes on them. Interesting!

We had heard about the Big Texan Steakhouse and decided this was one place we had to check out. As we pulled into the parking lot, it was clear that this is no ordinary eating joint! Orinda was impressed with the big "whiteface" steer welcoming us as we approached.

The key word of the Big Texan is BIG! There are all kinds of displays to point the way and there is a definite fun atmosphere in the air.

Although we did not have a dog along, the Big Texan wanted to let you know that they were ready to welcome 'em! There is also parking for RVs, a motel, in fact, everything the tourist needs to have a great dinner!

Orinda had seen TV coverage of the Big Texan and it's Free Steak Challenge. Apparently, many years ago, a group of hungry cowboys came in and had a contest to see who could eat the most steaks. One guy ate 4 one pound steaks AND all the trimmings in under an hour. The owner of the Big Texan was duly impressed, and stated that henceforth, anyone who could eat that much in one hour would get it free -- and so it is to this day. In fact, here is the free meal, with a 48 ounce steak as the centerpiece.

Inside, the Big Texan is a classic steakhouse. There is a singing cowboy to serenade you at the table, excellent service and the food was great (and reasonably priced). In the picture above, you can see 6 timers under the steer skull that are set to 60 minutes -- yup, these are the timers for folks attempting to complete the free meal in an hour. Amazingly, as we entered, one guy had just finished the huge steak in 50 minutes -- he earned that free meal!

Finally, if you had a few too many, or if the huge steak is weighing you down, the Big Texan offers free limo service (for pickup too) to and from the steakhouse. Of course, the limos are complete with longhorn steer horns on the hood! Now that is how cool is that! Rick was wondering how a set of horns might look on the motorhome, but Orinda was not too keen on that idea.

By all means, go to the Big Texan if you are in Amarillo.

Durango & Silverton RR Museum in Durango, CO

2011-10-10T18:40:00.000-07:00

It is a beautiful day to explore the Durango & Silverton Railroad in downtown Durango. Just as we finished breakfast, the 9:15am locomotive whistled and steamed through town up toward Silverton. What a great experience to hear and feel this powerful engine begin its charge up the mountain. As part of the depot and railyard is a great museum that we had to take a look at.

In the front of the depot, and in several other locations around town, are beautiful sculptures focusing on the western heritage of the town. There is also a beautiful university in Durango (Fort Lewis College) which must be popular for all the students interested in skiing and trout fishing!

The museum was free and featured many great exhibits focusing on the Durango area. We learned quickly that the great roadbed seen on the current railroad (see picture above) was definitely not the case in the "old" days as can be seen above.

There were several classic locomotives on display which are in addition to the several steam engines used daily on the active trains. One common feature of all the Durango & Silverton locomotives are the small drivers or main wheels seen on Orinda's left. This is the "gear" ratio for a steam locomotive -- small drivers provide great torque, but like a car in low gear, they can only attain a rather low speed. That is just what these needed in the mountains.

The museum also featured a fabulous model railroad layout of the Durango area. Indeed, this roundhouse, seen above, is a direct model of the roundhouse still in use here by the railroad.

There are also many other displays of items from the 1900 era in Durango. For example, this steam car dates from 1900 and was used in town. Capable of 25 mph, this steamer burned kerosene and must have been pretty spiffy transportation in it's day.

Not to be outdone, apparently, the Durango Fire Department was also well equipped with this 1916 fire engine. Beautifully restored, this truck is still equipped with its solid rubber "tires" that, while never going flat, provided a VERY rough ride.

Here is the working roundhouse where the steam engines are serviced between runs. Look at the soot above the doors as well as the chimneys on the roof, both classic indications of a real, steam railroad.

Not surprisingly, the railroad keeps as many spare parts for their old engines and cars as they can find. These car trucks are available for replacement when needed and are stored on rails ready to be wheeled to the car when needed.

Just a couple blocks away from the railroad is the famous Strater Hotel, that dates from 1887 when it was built to house business and mining men coming into the town. The hotel (and Durango in general) have very colorful histories covering the last era of the wild west. We had a great time in Durango and will certainly plan to return.

Mesa Verde - Pithouse and Sun Temple

2011-10-07T18:33:00.000-07:00

We learned that most of the cliff dwellings dated from about 1100ad, but apparently, there were even earlier civilizations on the mesa as evidenced by the pithouses dating from 600ad.

These were much simpler dwellings and consisted of a pit dug in the earth which was then covered by relatively simple structures using branches and other materials.

While we probably will never really know for certain, the pit structure may have been used to provide some insulation from the hot sun when compared to a primitive structure set solely on top of the ground.

Compare the pithouse structure to the Square House cliff dwellings which are found in the same area. Rick notes these were built some 500 years after the pithouse--pretty amazing when you think the United States has been around for less than 300 years!

It seems pretty clear how this structure got its Squarehouse name -- no doubt due to the square structure seen above. Rick was very impressed with the construction of these dwellings -- multiple stories high, with square, straight walls.

This gives an idea as to where structures were built. In this case, the structures are located in the large cave area, a couple hundred feet below the cliff surfaces.

A closer shot shows that these are very difficult to approach and of course, would be very hard to bring construction materials to. Imagine trying to manually bring rocks, water and food up the cliff to these dwellings. These people also farmed several crops on top of the mesa -- getting to work sure took on a new meaning as you would climb up or down the cliff each way.

Our final stop in Mesa Verde was at the Sun Temple which is one of the very few structures built on top of the mesa. This gave us a great chance to see how the structures were built and to see how well it has weathered over 700 years of time and weather.

The temple was apparently never finished and why the entire civilization abandoned the area, we do not know, however, drought is thought to be a contributing factor. This shot shows how accurately the masonry was done on interior walls.

Mesa Verde is a fascinating place and very well worth a full day to explore it. It did make us wonder what folks 1,000 years from now will think of our civilization and what they might think of our motorhome!

The Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings - Cliff Palace

2011-10-05T17:25:00.000-07:00

Mesa Verde National Park allows us to visit a former, thriving civilization that flourished several hundred years ago. They built amazing houses and even cities in the cliffs of this canyon and mesa at about 7,000' in elevation.

One of the first visitation locations is at Cliff Palace -- which is a real palace built into the cliffs. We had a great viewing location on the canyon directly across from the palace as Orinda found. Even with her vision issues, she could use her binoculars to at least parts of the cliff dwelling.

This is a huge collection of structures with over 150 rooms. It is thought that well over 100 people lived here and were well protected from the weather as well as possible attackers. Built from about 1190 ad to 1300 ad, it was suddenly abandoned; perhaps due to crop failure or due to some other influence.

It is possible to take a tour of the ruins, but Orinda was not thrilled with the idea of walking near the edge of the cliffs and climbing ladders. Apparently the builders of the cliff dwellings were not afraid of heights.

The circular structures are called kivas and appeared to have been used for ceremonial functions. This palace contained 23 such kivas, each built with carefully fit stones forming a virtually perfect circle. When we thought about the fact that each stone had to be carried up the walls to this site, it is very impressive.

We were especially interested in the fine craftsmanship in building the walls and buildings.This must have been a huge effort in construction,while at the same time, making sure that everyone had food and defense.

This shot gives an idea as to the size of the dwellings when you compare the structures to the people touring the site. These buildings are huge and must have taken a terrific effort to build without benefit of power equipment of even horses. It is fun to consider how they lived and built these dwellings and then to think how future generations might look at the remains of one of our cities and wonder how we lived. We will continue our Mesa Verde visit in our next post.

Mesa Verde National Park - a Trip to the Past

2011-10-03T19:33:00.000-07:00

About 30 miles south west of Durango, CO is Mesa Verde National Park. This is a site of many of the famous cliff dwellings that were built by an early civilization that lived here from 1,400 to 700 years ago. This huge mesa is like a huge table in the sky.

One of our first stops was at Park Point, the highest spot on Mesa Verde at over 8,500'. We took a short stroll on this high spot, that was pretty narrow in spots.

Rick really felt as though he was on a small platform way up in the sky since you could see down on almost all sides. We were very fortunate to have a great day to visit.

Wow, can you see a long way from Park Point. These mountains were the same ones we saw on our way to Silverton -- probably 60 to 70 miles away. WE were pleased to be able to drive up here as it took us about 20 miles to just drive up to this point on the Mesa.

Today, the mesa is very much like it was when people first lived here 1,400 years ago, except that they did not have the opportunity to ride to the top in comfort! Actually, any climbing of the Mesa must have been very difficult as this picture hints at. The sides are very steep and the mesa stands a couple thousand feet above the rest of the terrain.

When we visited, the area was very dry and apparently, this has been a common state during the past years since we saw much evidence of fires that swept the mesa. There were miles of burned trees, such as these, that will take many years to re-grow, but the grasses and shrubs were already taking hold.

Soon, we came to the first cliff dwellings which are amazing. This smaller site is built well under the cliff overhang and has no easy access that we could see. Apparently, residents used ladders to climb to these houses -- without a ladder, it would be really hard to get to these, which make for excellent defense. Of course, it must have been pretty hard to bring provisions home as well.

Taking the Million Dollar Highway to Silverton and Ouray

2011-10-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

We left the Alpen Rose Rv Park and headed north on Highway 550 -- also called the Million Dollar Highway which would take us to Silverton, CO. This road starts off as a nice, 4 lane highway which is no problem to follow, however, it quickly turns into a VERY twisty two lane with many cutbacks, high passes and great views.

The first pass is Molas Pass, at 10,910 feet and is literally at the top of the world -- at least at this location!

Orinda wanted to make sure the sign at the pass was right and sure enough, our gps registered 10,900 -- pretty close to the advertised 10,910!

What an amazing view. We have climbed about 5,400' from the RV park and you can really feel the lack of oxygen at these altitudes. There is also snow on the surrounding mountains and I suspect it will not be long before more snow will be joining that already there.

After clearing the pass, we began the decline into Silverton, seen here in the valley. This old mining town is the terminus for the steam railroad that travels from Durango, about 50 miles and over a few thousand feet in elevation away. No wonder the train takes about 3 hours to get here!

Silverton was founded in 1874, well before the railroad was built. We could only imagine how the early miners got here with their pack horses and mules. Today, this is a tourist town, but still is very small.

We decided to travel the extra 20 miles north from Silverton to Ouray and were amazed that the already twisty road got even twistier! Here Rick is taking a look at the road as it bends back on itself. He was very glad to have the Buick instead of the Winnebago!

Of course, we had to go over another pass -- Red Mountain Pass, which is even higher than Molas Pass. In fact, I think this is the highest we have been for quite a while -- over 11,000'. This also serves as the continental divide. We were especially interested to learn that horse and mule drawn wagons crossed this very road way back in 1878. I will bet that was a tough journey.

Dropping down from the pass, we entered the classic Colorado mining area. Apparently, this area was crawling with miners 125 years ago and you can still feel the history of those events today.

In fact, here is a piece of that history in the town of Ouray. This is the Western Hotel, built way back in 1891 and still in operation today. Interestingly, Rick's mother actually came to visit the operators of the hotel back in the 1940's when miners still worked the area.

Rick's Mom described the hotel and bar to us including this face on the floor -- painted by an artist with more talent than money when he wanted a few beers!

This bar is still the same as Mom recalled it and according to the current owner is just like it was 100 years ago -- including the painted picture of the nude girl in the background.

We had a great visit to Silverton and especially to Ouray and highly recommend it and the Million Dollar Highway. This is a trip to real western history and it was not hard to imagine the minors and railroad workers crowding around the bar bragging about gold strikes and the like.

Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

2011-09-29T17:44:00.000-07:00

We drove into Durango, CO and settled in at the Alpen Rose RV Park located just north of the town of Durango. We were impressed with the beauty of the area as we drove into the park.

We initially figured we would stay here just a few days, but ended up staying a week, both because of the beauty of the area and for Rick to complete a few maintenance items on the coach. We had a good site and enjoyed the park.

The next morning, we stopped by the Durango McDonalds for coffee and Rick heard a steam train whistle! Whoa! There, right next door to the McDonalds, as seen above, is the Durango and Silverton railroad which runs steam trains to Silverton, CO about 50 miles to the north.

Rick is a big train fan, especially steam trains, which are very hard to find. He went outside to find locomotive 486 getting ready to head out of Durango. Wow! What a find.

The 486, a Baldwin Locomotive Works product dating from 1925, hauled a long train of some 14 cars filled with people. This is a real trip to the past.

Rick is in his glory. A real steam locomotive ready to roll AND he gets his coffee too. Things don't get much better than this.

A couple minutes later, the 486 whistled and chugged out of the station. Traffic on the cross street in front of the McDonald's was stopped and the train eased forward with a great display of smoke and steam.

The driving wheels on the 486 are very small, giving it a tremendous amount of low speed torque, which is just what it needs to climb the steep grades up the mountain. A round trip on the train to Silverton and back takes about 8 hours, so it is a full day.

The mountains are steep toward Silverton, as we found out later when we drove up there, and we thought about the train working its way north. This was a great opportunity to see trains in action.

Arches National Park - What an Amazing Place

2011-09-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

Arches National Park is located just a couple miles north of Moab, UT and just to the east of Canyonlands Park, yet the differences between them are dramatic. Arches, of course, features a number of stone arches, but offers much more in remarkable stone formations like this.

Orinda was really impressed with the balancing rocks that we saw all over the park, such as these. Apparently, the soil below the rocks erodes away,leaving the rock balanced above.

Rock towers such as these were throughout the park. We were surprised at the way the rocks stood by themselves - the Canyonlands rock formations seemed to be shoulder to shoulder with others.

As we drove into the park, we saw more of the balanced rocks which made for almost an alien environment. This is the sort of park that new views pop out around each turn.

About halfway into the park, we saw the first arches. These solid stone arches are eroded over many, many years, to create the arch form. The park features more natural arches than any other place on earth.

This is the most famous balanced rock in the park. The rock is huge and it is hard to believe that it is 55' high making for a total height of 128'. Not surprisingly, this is one of the most popular features in the park.

Close to balanced rock, we saw this rock column and at second glance, we saw rock climbers scaling the face. Look closely and you can see one person in blue near the bottom and another on the top right of the column. While it was interesting to watch, Orinda was not too excited about trying to climb it.

Rick was impressed with this large arch in the "Windows" area of the park. This arch is huge (it is about 1/2 mile away) with the sandstone being worn down over the years. Rick was also really happy that the weather was perfect! He was here a few years ago in the summer and WOW was it hot!

This is Double Arch which is shaped like a tripod. This is a huge formation and I wonder how long it took to create this remarkable shape.

Another famous arch is Delicate Arch - so named for its delicate look. However, this is no small arch formation -- indeed, you can get an idea as to the size by looking at the person in blue next to the rock on the right of the arch. This arch is over 50' high and is unique for its isolated presence.

Arches are found throughout the park and each one is different. This is another huge arch located near the back of the park. We really enjoyed our visit to the park and the amazing rock formations inside. If you are ever in the southern Utah area, Arches and Canyonlands are a must visit.

Canyon Lands National Park -- an Island in the Sky!

2011-09-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

Canyonlands National Park is located about 5 miles north of Moab, UT and almost directly across the street from Arches, National Park. These are both spectacular parks, but surprisingly different. As you enter Canyon Lands, you first travel past these two large mesas named the Monitor (right) and Merrimack, which were named after the Civil War ironclads. I guess, with some imagination, we could kind of see the two warships here, but in any case, these were beautiful rock formations.

The entrance to Canyonlands is about 20 miles to the south after turning off the main road from Moab. There are several interesting stops, including these cactus which are growing in one of the pot holes on top of solid rock as you can see above. These are the early stages of erosion that will eventually create new canyons of the future.

Driving along the entrance road, we came to the Canyonlands Visitor Center. Named Island in the Sky, we didn't realize at this time that we really were on a mesa way up in the sky -- and surrounded by deep canyons.

A few miles after the entrance, we figured out the Island in the Sky idea as we came upon these amazing canyons. These are a couple thousand feet deep and several miles in width.

Wow! these are very large canyons! We could see well over 50 miles and it was a great view to consider the floor of the canyon. In this case, the canyon houses the Colorado River, although it was so far below us, we could not see it from here.

Here, you can clearly see a small, dirt road that folks can drive with a Jeep or dirt bike. These are very popular activities, but we decided that our trusty Buick might be better off on the top of the mesa rather than down on the bottom!

There are all kinds of interesting rock spires, mesas and formations that stand in the canyon areas. This is the second main canyon, formed by the Green River and will eventually join the Colorado at the end of the Island in the Sky, a few miles south of us.

Rick really enjoyed looking at the rocks, drop-offs and canyons. Orinda, on the other hand, does not like heights -- and we had PLENTY of heights and dropoffs here. Needless to say, she was content to stay a bit back and take the occasional picture.

Here, we are approaching the union of the two canyon systems (Colorado and Green Rivers) and the canyons are getting very, very wide. The formations in the background are about 40 miles away.

This is part of the Grand View, where the canyons join. You can see three distinct levels in the canyons -- the top, where we are, then the next level where there are white deposits around the deeper canyon and then the very bottom of the canyon. Each level of about 1,000 feet deep, so the bottom is a good 2,000' below us.

Orinda was not delighted to be standing here, but wanted to get a good look at this huge canyon system. It did not take her long to get her fill of the canyon!

We had a great visit of several hours at Canyonlands Park. The scenery is unlike almost anywhere else we have been and is well worth the visit.

The La Sal Road near Moab, UT -- Great Drive

2011-09-23T18:04:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Moab, UT from Salt Lake City after dealing with lots of road construction which caused Rick to miss his morning coffee - and he was crabby. Fortunately, he was delighted when we got to Moab and saw the fabulous sites in the area. In fact, our first day there was spent traveling on the nearby La Sal Mountain Road. This great scenic drive starts just north of Moab and first follows the Colorado River in this spectacular canyon.

The canyon walls next to the river are amazing. Here, you can see a new stone arch in the making which is being carved right into the rock.

The road is cut right into the base of the rock wall as you can see here -- we felt a bit insecure as we drove under the wall, next to the river. Imagine the forces that are at play in carving this rock wall.

We eventually emerged from the deep canyon and saw these mesas and remarkable rock formations along the river's edge.

After a few miles, we turned south, away from the river and entered a very different type of terrain as typified by this huge mesa that seemed to grow vertically out of the ground.

The formations became ever more interesting, such as this stone spire seen here. This is probably familiar from a number of western movies and TV commercials (in fact, Chevrolet actually used a helicopter to hoist a car up to the top. Not sure how this helped sell Chevy's, but the rock is pretty cool.)

Soon, we began to climb on the La Sal mountain and soon got to see landmarks we had passed along the way. In fact, you can see rock spire formations we had just seen. This was a beautiful view as the skies cleared, so we headed up on the mountain.

The storm that went through the night before was exiting toward the east and was still over the La Sal Mountain. It was fun to see the top of the mountain at 12,750', covered in clouds. We also learned a bit later that it was pretty cold up there!

One of the amazing things of this drive is the different terrain we covered in only 60 miles. First, we drove through rock canyons and then remarkable rock formations. Then, we began to climb the mountain into forests and lush growth. This is clearly seen above where the forest suddenly changes into wild rock canyons and spires.

This sign kind of sums it up. The road climbs very steeply with sharp curves, but is no problem as long as you keep it slow and under control.

After an hour of hill climbing, the sun came out fully and we could see the results of the clouds on the mountains -- new snow! This is now mid September and we can tell that winter is on its way.

Working on the Coach

2011-09-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

This post will take a short look at some of the little projects Rick has been messing around with on the coach. Fulltime RVing means there is always something to putter around with!

Replacing Halogen bulbs with LEDs

Rick has been interested in replacing some of the halogen lights in the ceiling of the coach. The halogens are hot, use quite a bit of electricity and burn out quickly.

This LED light, on the other hand, is supposed to run cool, last a long time and give good light. We will see.

The installation is easy, but some LED lights must be installed with respect to polarity - if the socket is not wired with correct polarity (polarity does not matter with halogen bulbs), the LED light will not operate and you will need to reverse the wires to the socket. Fortunately, you can also buy bulbs with circuitry that eliminates this issue and Rick thought were well worth the extra couple dollars.

Anyway, after plugging it in, we tried it and success! Looks like nice illumination.

With the light cover screwed back in, we were delighted to find that the LED lights were actually brighter than the old halogens. I think we will move to replace all the commonly used bulbs in the coach, but at $10 to $14 a bulb, this will take a while!

New Plug on the Brake Buddy:

We have used a Brake Buddy for supplemental braking in our towed car with great success for several years. Lately, however, Rick noticed that the Brake Buddy was acting erratically and did some investigation. He found that the cigarette lighter plug used to connect the Brake Buddy had corroded and was overheating.

Rick did not like the cigarette plug since it seemed to be loose, so he bought some high amperage in-line plugs to simply replace the cigarette plug route. These are simply installed by soldering on the ends on the male/female ends.

Once soldered on, the ends just plug into the nylon socket and we were ready to go.

Success! The plugs work great and provide the Brake Buddy with consistent, strong and reliable 12 volt power. The Brake Buddy operated much better and this upgrade has totally solved the issues.

The Fabulous Collapsible Bucket!

While not seemingly an exciting little project, Rick found he was always dragging out a bucket to clean the windshield, or wash the coach. The bucket was always in the way when stored and, being round, did not fit the rectangular brush we used. But, when he saw this rectangular bucket he was impressed. Mad of a waterproof fabric, it is very light and easy to lift.

Hey, look at this! It folds up into a couple inches high instantly. Interesting.

Finally, the collapsed bucket fits into this handy cover. Wow, this thing stores anywhere, unfolds instantly, and works great. Rick is a much happier camper when cleaning the coach now.

2011-09-20T20:23:00.001-07:00

Just north of Salt Lake is the Golden Spike National Historic Site where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads completed the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. This was the completion of perhaps the most important project in that century.

This is a wonderful site and full of history. Just west of here is the site where the Central Pacific completed 10 miles of track in one day. Imagine, with no power tools, bulldozers, or the like, they were able to grade, place ties and rails for 10 miles in just one day.

Here, at Promontory Summit, the final spike was driven to connect the rails and literally connect the country east to west. Many historians consider this to the be the equivalent of the Apollo moon project of more recent days -- indeed, exactly 100 years later, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the site is these exact recreations of the very locomotives that took place at the last spike ceremony. These are true, working locomotives and are fired with wood and coal, just like the actual ones over 140 years ago.

Yes, there really is a Golden Spike! While this one is a replica, the actual is in Stanford University -- so named for Leland Stanford, a founder of both the Central Pacific Railroad as well as Stanford University.

Engine 119 represented the Union Pacific and uses coal. This 4-4-0 locomotive carried UP executives to the signing ceremony. These engines are actually used to recreate the meeting a couple of times a day and represent a rare chance to see live steam in action.

The Jupiter, from the Central Pacific, is a wood burner as evidenced by the large smoke stack which helped trap burning embers from the boiler fire. Rick loved these beautifully painted engines which are actually under fire. It is fun to hear them simmer and hiss getting ready for the next run.

Imagine how exciting this must have been to slowly pull the Jupiter forward, peering through the wood smoke, to meet an engine from the east. The Jupiter, as with all CP engines to this time, had to be sent by ship around Cape Horn at the bottom of South America to reach California.

While the current railroad now longer comes through Promontory, there are still many reminders of the past, including this actual piece of track from 1869. Rick is impressed!

While the locomotives were perhaps the stars of the site, there are many remarkable sites in the park area. Some of the most amazing are the grades that were created to carry the roadbed. This is the site of the Big Fill by the Central Pacific (the flat horizon in the center of the picture) which filled over 500' of ravine with up to 70' deep of fill. This was all done by 500 men using horses and was completed in 2 months.

This is the "Last Cut" made through solid rock and is about 15' deep. The rocks removed from this were removed from the cut (by hand) and then stacked in large piles next to the cut as can be seen above. The rocks were stacked largest rocks on the bottom of the pile with smaller ones on top to prevent them from dropping back in the dig. Seems that it worked pretty well -- they are still there today!

The original route was shown in the blue above and went to the north of the Great Salt Lake. This route faced many grades and curves due to the mountains, so many years later, another great project was undertaken to actually build the tracks over the lake itself on the Lucin Trestle, a 12 mile long wooden trestle. This amazing structure was completed in 1905 and since has been replaced by a causeway.

Hill Aerospace Museum on Hill AFB

2011-09-19T18:38:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Salt Lake City driving from West Yellowstone, Mt and spent a few days at the Pony Express RV Park (very nice spot) and had a bit of work done on the coach. Rick checked out the attractions in the area and lo and behold, there was an aircraft museum close by! Naturally, he wanted to visit the Hill Aerospace Museum located on Hill Air Force Base in Salt Lake. This turned out to be a great idea as this free museum was outstanding (even though Orinda choose to visit the local mall instead). There are aircraft everywhere, starting with this Wright aircraft of about 1910. This was a great exhibit and even displayed a reproduction of the engine used in the original 1903 Wright flyer (which was built by an Wright brothers bicycle shop employee!).

This P47 fighter was painted in the style of Glenn Eagleston, a famous WWII flying ace who came from Utah. Rick was drawn to this one immediately as he built a radio control model of this craft complete with the flying skull emblem.

The aircraft were in outstanding shape and restored for exhibit by the museum volunteers. As you can see from this picture of this B17G (a BIG plane), there were planes everywhere. There is also a PT 13 training from the ceiling.

Rick was in his glory here and greatly enjoyed learning about the planes. This B-24 shared a spot near the B-17 and allowed one to imagine how these huge bombers must have looked in the air almost 70 years ago.

Of course, not everything was from the distant past. This B1 bomber is a current model and is an amazing craft capable of delivering 75,000lbs of armaments at well over the speed of sound. That is like two of our motorhomes at once! Yikes.

Here is a rare B-29 from WWII fame. Interestingly, Hill AFB was used to repair battle damaged aircraft during WWII and saw hundreds of planes from all over. Today, the base is used for logistical support, AWACS operations and much more.

It is always interesting to see how these planes are put together. This is in the nose gear compartment of a B-47 from the early 1950's. I was amazed at the number of wires running through the area as well as the boxes (one of which is in the upper right) holding relays, and servos. There are literally hundreds of moving components and miles of wiring. No wonder maintenance was such a critical issue -- and remains even with today's more reliable components.

Speaking of large planes, take a look at this C-124 Globemaster with it's 175' wingspan. Used from 1950's until the mid '70's, this was a mainstream transport that moved gear world wide.

I was impressed with the excellent condition most of the aircraft were in -- not an easy thing to accomplish on 50 year old planes. Well, this is how it is done. A team of volunteers was working on this plane having already masked it and they were starting to paint it. It is nice to see this so folks in future years will be able to enjoy the planes as well.

Perhaps the best bomber of all time, this B52 has seen and done it all. Developed in the 50's, it still serves with distinction today. Commonly called BUFF -- Big Ugly Fat Fellow (although there are other variants for the last F), this is one of the great aircraft designs.

This is a great museum for anyone who is interested in aircraft. Well worth the time and trip.

West Yellowstone Historic Center and Museum

2011-09-18T17:45:00.000-07:00

The West Yellowstone Historic Center and Museum is a great stop to learn about the early days of Yellowstone as well as the town of West Yellowstone. Located close to our RV park, we were surprised at the many exhibits and the low, $5 cost of admission. Here, Orinda considers an early 1900s baggage cart that was actually used here by travelers getting ready to enter the park.

One very interesting exhibit focuses on the early aviation routes into West Yellowstone and the park. Since we are at about 6,000' in elevation, the summers are pretty short and the winter is pretty long. As a result, many of the aircraft first coming into the area had to use skis such as these Orinda is taking a look at.

These skis had an interesting story. These were actually used as shown int he picture of the monoplane above. After this time, the skis were stored in an airport employee's attic until recently when they were found and donated to the museum. These skis have some great stories to tell.

While aircraft were the coming thing in the late 1930's and beyond, the real transportation heroes of the early days were the railroads. Indeed, the museum is actually housed in the old Union Pacific depot for West Yellowstone. In the early days, hundreds of tourists arrived by train several times a day to stay in the town, and then tour the park over the next few days or weeks. This old photo shows that some of the early railroads were a bit tenuous in nature -- this trestle looks much like some of Rick's old Erector construction set projects.

Once you arrived at the park in, say 1905, there was the question of how you traveled from west Yellowstone to, say Old Faithful. Today, we think nothing of taking our car on the 30 mile trip, but imagine climbing up into this original stage to travel on the rutted dirt roads of the day for a long, bumpy ride into the park.

Are you on a budget? If so, the stage fare might be a bit steep, so perhaps you would prefer this more basic wagon for the trip. Remember, according to pictures of travelers of the day that we saw, you would be sure to ride the wagon, on the dusty road, in your coat and tie. So, you would likely take up the wagon driver's offer to rent a duster to keep your clothes at least semi clean. Hmmmm .... Orinda and Rick thought that our Buick looked pretty good to us and we enjoyed wearing our jeans.

WHOA! Look out Orinda! This huge grizzly looked pretty mean, but fortunately, in his current, stuffed condition, is not much of a threat now. Still, look at those claws. We have seen grizzlies on earlier trips into the park, but this fellow is the only bear we saw this time.

Rick is reflecting on the difference between this early railway freight cart and his 42' Tour motorhome. While this is certainly a bit simpler to maintain, Rick thinks he will stay with the motorcoach. The museum was a great visit and we enjoyed taking a look into the Yellowstone travel of an earlier time. We wondered if, in 100 years, folks will look back at our RV and wondering how we lived as we did thinking about the folks we saw in the pictures.

The Old Faithful Geyser Basin and a Rare Beehive Eruption

2011-09-17T18:12:00.000-07:00

The Old Faithful Geyser basin is an amazing place. With the Firehole river running right next to it, you can see scalding water run right into the cold river. There are a number of geysers, hot springs and bubbling pools along a walk of about 1.5miles.

The path crosses over the Firehole river and the contrast is remarkable between the cool river and the steaming geyser basin just a few feet away.

This is a typical bubbling geyser that is sending boiling water up in small spurts. The noise that these make sounds like a rapidly boiling pot on the stove.

This is the Beehive geyser, and it is pretty obvious how it gets its name. This geyser is said to be one of the most impressive in the area, but erupts infrequently, so we did not expect to see it in action. You could see steam and some water rise from the top, so we thought it would be neat to actually see it.

About 30 minutes later, we were walking back across the Firehole River toward Old Faithful, when all of a sudden, the Beehive let loose! This was a very impressive geyser and rose a couple hundred feet in the air. The geyser lasted several minutes and we were very fortunate to be able to see it. Indeed, we have been through this area several other times and this is the first time we have ever see it erupt.

This gives some idea as the size of the geyser basin. The wooden walkway is very nice and keeps folks off the fragile geyser crusts where you could fall through into the scalding water below. With that thought in mind, we made sure to stay on the path.

The Old Faithful lodge dates from 1903 and is magnificent. This huge, log structure is a great place to drop in for some coffee (be sure to try the special cookies as well!). I don't know of any other place in the world where you can stay in a first class inn and look out over active geysers -- as well as see buffalo wander in the front yard.

Of course, we had to get back to the Old Faithful geyser again to see it close up. Here, the geyser is just starting and is shooting water up about 40' feet of so. The eruption continues to build for several minutes.

Finally, the geyser is erupting and dominates the area. While I suspect the Beehive geyser erupted for a longer time and perhaps was somewhat higher, the reliability of Old Faithful is what makes this one very special.

On to Old Faithful Geyser and Lodge

2011-09-16T18:01:00.000-07:00

Driving from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful Lodge, we drove along the Firehole River and River Drive. This is a beautiful, short drive along the river and these falls which cut directly through lava flows from the old Yellowstone volcano.

After the falls area, we came to a large meadow and started to get an idea why the river is called the Firehole. This large hot spring emptied right into the river and was probably about boiling temperature. The river is a classic high mountain river and is very cold -- imagine catching your trout and then cooking it right in this hot spring.This is a story that came from the early trappers that told of this when going back east -- of course, no one believed them. After seeing this in person, we certainly can believe it (although you can no longer put anything in one of the hot springs).

The meadow was home to a herd of buffalo which we were happy to view from a distance after seeing the damage a buff did to another visitor's car. These are impressive animals and it is great to see them in the wild. You can see the calf to the extreme right of the herd.

This fellow was a bit closer than the rest of the herd and a number of people were getting pretty close to him.We did not think that was a very good idea at all since apparently the buffalo can run as fast as a horse for a short distance. Sure hate to be be in front of this guy when he came at me!

The head of the meadow was made up of a very active geyser area and it was very interesting to see the steam rising into the air next to the river.

We arrived at the Old Faithful Lodge about 45 minutes before the famous geyser was expected to erupt. As we waited, all of a sudden this buffalo decided to come by and watch the geyser too. He strode right up the walkway and as you can see, he was very close to people. The buffalo ambled through the area and walked out of the area.

We decided that a nice cup of coffee was in order and sat down on the second story porch of the lodge so we could watch the eruption in comfort. Orinda also made sure she had one of the excellent cookies served in the cafe!

Old Faithful now erupts about every 90 minutes and is certainly worth the wait. Even from the porch, which was several hundred feet away, the geyser is impressive. The geyser shoots a couple hundred feet in the air and apparently uses about 8,000 gallons per eruption.

We were very fortunate to have a beautiful day to explore the geyser basin and the Old Faithful geyser was just like in the postcards. The geyser lasts for a fairly long time (a couple minutes) and is fun to watch. We decided that the next eruption would find us in the closer viewing area.

Buffalos and Norris Geyser Basin

2011-09-14T18:57:00.000-07:00

Yellowstone is the home to many buffalo and these big creatures roam all over. These weigh over 2,000 pounds and are very unpredictable. The park suggests that you stay clear of these fellows with good reason.

As we parked in the Norris Geyser Basin, we talked to the owner of this minivan who filled us in on their tale of woe involving a buffalo. It turns out that as he was stuck in a "buffalo jam" on one of the roads, a large buffalo walked up the middle of the road next to his car. All of a sudden, the buff turned and rammed the front of the car! Caved in the front fender, door, and outside mirror. Given that this had happened just an hour before we saw the damage, the owner was pretty impressed with the whole situation - as were we!

The Norris Geyser basin is located in the middle of the park and is one of the largest geothermal areas, aside from the Old Faithful area. There are all kinds of activity here and we enjoyed a walk of about 1.5 miles checking it out.

This steaming vent was very large and made a loud hissing noise. the steam plumes were very high, and likely exceeded 50 to 75'

Orinda enjoyed looking at the many scalding springs in the area that was other wise devoid of any vegetation. If you look at this spring runoff, you can see the very green color caused by the algae that loves hot water.

Sure enough, a bit further on we found this sign that described the different color algae and their temperature zone. The brown algae loves really hot water - 122 to 140 degrees! The green algae likes "cool" water by comparison and lives in 100 to 130 degree water. It was amazing to see water that would scald us actually providing a living environment for this algae.

These steam vents blasted up from the earth and were very hot - above the boiling point. The earth crust surrounding these sorts of area can be very thin and could easily break through if folks tried to walk on it. As a result, we were very happy to stay on the wooden walkways.

The amazing thermal features in the Yellowstone area is the result of an active volcano. In fact, the entire Yellowstone basin is actually a crater of an old volcano that erupted over 600,000 years ago. The amount of rock, lava and ash that was blown out must have been huge as evidenced by these cliffs which were said to be made up of "TUFF" rock, which was super hot ash blown up by the volcano then settling back and welding itself back into solid rock. This is A LOT of ash!

Yellowstone - Mammoth Hot Springs

2011-09-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

As we headed toward Mammoth Hot Springs in the north side of the park, we passed one of the petrified trees. These are rather unique in Yellowstone since so many are vertical and indicate a sudden volcanic activity that resulted in the petrification.

A short distance later, we entered the Mammoth Hot Springs and stopped at the Visitor Center. Orinda was impressed with this buffalo head and figured this was way to close to be to one of these still on the hoof.

Mammoth was the site of Fort Yellowstone, which is why most of the beautiful buildings in the area were built. The Army was called in 10 years after the Park was established due to the many problems that beset the park by poachers, visitors, lack of funds, and poor management.

This is the current Visitor's Center, but was originally the Fort's Bachelor Office Quarters and was built back in 1909. The Army did a great job of administering Yellowstone for some 30 years.

These are some of the other original buildings from the Fort. We learned that this was a great post to be assigned to as an officer or enlisted man. The summer months must have been great, although the winters were more of a challenge. The troops used skis to get around in the heavy snow since horses could not move in the deep snow.

The namesake of Mammoth Hot Springs is located just outside the small town and is indeed a mammoth spring. This spring has built up over thousands of years and is still growing. We have been to the springs several times, but had not seen much water on top until this year. You can see the large pool of water falling down the terraces.

Rick enjoyed looking at the pools and watching the waters move. These are hot springs with plenty of steam coming out as well. The brown color of the spring is due to various algae that grows in this temperature. Other algae, such as the green type, grows in slightly cooler water.

When the springs emit enough water to build up a terrace, the water moves to another location, leaving the once brown/green algae high and dry. The result is that the terrace becomes white as shown here.

This growing terrace shows both the brown algae and the older, white surfaces. There was quite a bit of hot water flowing down the sides of this as it grows ever larger. This is really geology in action.

Yellowstone Park, Madison Junction to Norris.

2011-09-12T18:39:00.000-07:00

We stayed at West Yellowstone, MT to visit Yellowstone National Park,which is one of our favorite places. Our first stop coming into Yellowstone along the Madison River, was Terrace Spring, a small, but interesting thermal feature.

These springs are really interesting as shown here. The spring is very hot (that is steam rising above it), and crystal clear. Yellowstone lies in a very active geothermal area and in fact, is the site of an old, but still active volcano.

It was still pretty chilly here and we learned that West Yellowstone, MT was the coldest area in the lower 48 states the night before (27 degrees!). We are on a platform right above the main spring in the Terrace Spring area.

This is the main part of Terrace Spring and is it boiling! The steam and heat was rising here and really felt pretty nice to us. This is a great example of the power of Yellowstone Park.

Since we turned north at Madison Junction, our next stop was at Gibbon Falls. This 84' high falls on the Gibbon River is a beautiful waterfall and a very popular stop for folks. We were surprised at the number of folks that were in the park, we had thought that since we were here after Labor Day, there would be few folks around.

Orinda really liked the falls area and we were fortunate to have a beautiful day. The temperature was climbing into the high 70's, and the winds were light.

We traveled on north on the Grand Loop Drive to the Artist's Paintpots geyser area. There is a mile long walk through this area that lets you get up close to see the various thermal features. As you can see, there is no shortage of steam around here.

This is a rather large area that features all kinds of thermal pools. These pools are not the clear pools that we saw at the Terrace Spring, rather, there are all kinds muddy pools that bubble thickly in different colors.

One really interesting thing about this area is that it was heavily damaged by the huge fires in 1988. Indeed, many of the burned trees are still standing giving silent witness to the damages. We actually came to Yellowstone the first time in the summer of 1988, right before the fires, and can remember how dry the area was.

Thankfully, the park is well on the road to a full healing.These trees have all sprouted after the fire and are now up to 12 - 15' high. There are millions of trees of this size and on most hillsides, you can now again see green forests. We hope to be able to visit again in 10 more years and see the changes.

Beartooth Highway and Clark's Fork Gorge

2011-09-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

While in Cody, we stayed in the Absaroka Bay RV park located on the east side of Cody. We have stayed in this park several times over the years and have always enjoyed it and the location. Close to town, but reasonably priced.

Our site worked out just fine for us and was level with great hookups. We are pretty long at 42' plus the car, but this site worked fine.

The Beartooth Highway climbs very high in altitude and once we got above the tree line at some 9,800', things got pretty desolate as you can see here. While there are a few peaks higher than us, there were not many!

The Beartooth wraps between Montana and Wyoming, with the highest areas occurring right after we entered Wyoming, which fittingly, is where we started in the morning.

Rick was impressed with the snow and solitude up here. You can also see one of the snow poles near him and we heard that in not too many weeks, these poles will be in use!

Wow, can we see a long ways up here. There are no trees, shrubs, or anything else up here on the summit. This is classic tundra and we were very happy to have plenty of gas in the tank. Rick is in his short sleeve shirt, but was happy to get back in the car with the heated seats on!

We saw quite a bit of snow up here, and this is at the end of the summer. This snow will be here to greet the new stuff when if flies soon.

I guess seeing snow in September is always a novelty, but it is cold up here! there was also a pretty good wind blowing and Orinda refused to leave the car, so Rick had to use the camera self timer to capture this "great" shot.

No wonder it is cold! We are at almost 11,000' above sea level here. Heck, if we were in an aircraft, we would be on oxygen by now! We have climbed well over a mile since leaving Red Lodge, which is at 5,550 feet itself.

Leaving the Beartooth, we took the adjoining Chief Joseph Highway back toward Cody. As we zipped along, all of a sudden we crossed this bridge and deep gorge. We quickly stopped and took a close look at Clarks' Fork River Gorge, which we learned was over 1,000' deep. This is quite a surprise since you do not see any real indication of this until you cross the bridge.

All in all, this is a great day's drive and one of the best we have ever taken. Well worth the trip if you are in the Cody, WY area.

The Beartooth Highway - Part 1

2011-09-09T18:30:00.000-07:00

After leaving Red Lodge, we headed west to the Beartooth Scenic Highway which stretches over parts of Montana and Wyoming. This is one of the most amazing drives in North America and touches almost 11,000' in altitude. We had traveled this road one other time and really looked forward to a repeat trip.

This is magnificent territory and offers stunning vistas around each turn. Named for the Beartooth Mountains, the drive is considered to be one of the most scenic in the country and is the gateway to the north entrance of Yellowstone Park.

The town of Red Lodge is at about 5,500' in altitude, so there is quite a bit of climbing to do on the Beartooth. As we approached the top, we came to Vista Point which provided a fabulous view of the area.

Orinda enjoyed the narrow walkway out to the end of the point, but did not like looking down as the drop was very steep. We also noticed that at 9,100', the air was pretty thin.

Still, there were a few animals around even up here. This fellow was interested in the pine nuts at the top of the small trees on the vista. The trees were right at the tree line and only about 10' high.

This little guy was in the same tree and filling his cheeks as fast as he could with the pine nuts. He was fun to watch and seemed to enjoy the audience. I suspect that in a few weeks, it will be pretty cold up here and the squirrel will enjoy his cache of nuts.

We felt like we were at the top of the world up here and really enjoyed the view. The snow was still around in patches and we could imagine how deep it will become in the next couple months.

Sure enough, a couple miles later, we began to see these snow poles next to the side of the road. The tops of these had to be about 10' - yikes, no wonder they close the road in a few weeks. We also noticed that the road is not open during the night and after driving the hairpin curves, we could understand why.

Heart Mountain Relocatoin Center and Red Lodge, MT

2011-09-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Cody, WY from Gillette and looked forward to doing some exploring in the area before heading on to Yellowstone. Just north of Cody is a very interesting piece of US history - the Heart Mountain Japanese Relocation Center. Shortly after WWII began, President Roosevelt issued an executive order to isolate all people of Japanese descent in relocation camps. OF the three camps built in the United States, one was here in Wyoming.

The camp held some 10,000 Japanese Americans for a period of about 3 years and while there are differing opinions on the need for this act, it was very interesting to see how the forced residents adjusted to their new lives. There were many, many buildings here during the occupation, but most are now gone with only these couple remaining.

There is a new visitor's center that has just been opened, unfortunately, it was not open the day we came by. According to the Heart Mountain website, there are a number of interesting exhibits that would be nice to see.

As you can see, this site of the original administrative center, looks pretty much like a field today. Still, there are original structures (note those to Orinda's left in the background) and many foundations and other remnants to remind us of the past. We did enjoy the self-guided tour and would suggest the site if you are ever in the Cody, WY area.

Traveling north from the Heart Mountain site, we proceeded through a very large valley that was desolate, but beautiful. We imagined how hard this area was to get through on horseback or in a wagon.

We are at about 6,000 feet in elevation and there is little rainfall each year in the area. These are the classic high Wyoming plains and we did not see much in the way of other cars for many miles. We were really glad to have the Buick and a full tank of gas!

We were on our way to the Beartooth Highway (more on that in a later post) and headed toward Red Lodge, MT which is the gateway to the excellence scenic drive. On the way, we found this sign about the terrible Smith Mine disaster which claimed 74 lives in 1943.

After the mine tragedy, the mine was closed and abandoned with these buildings still standing today. This is a classic ghost town/mine and was very interesting, and a little spooky, to look at.

Red Lodge is located just a few miles further and is a great place to stop for a cup of coffee. This town features modern amenities, but still offers a historic western town feel. All this at well over a mile high in altitude.

The Main Street of Red Lodge reminded us of many small western towns we have seen with a vibrant commercial area and a family feel. We made sure to stop for a quick snack as we headed north to the Beartooth.

Gillette Energy Park

2011-09-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

Located next to the Cam-plex grounds is the Gillette Energy Park complete with a number of interesting exhibits showing how energy is mined and delivered to us throughout the nation. This large locomotive is typical of the engines used to pull the mile long coal trains east.

This Diesel engine was used at one of the surrounding oil fields, was installed in 1945, and was used for some 30 years. This engine of this generator system is a 4,000 cubic inch behemoth.

This engine is even larger and handled the power needs for another oil field. We don't realize how much effort is involved in drilling of oil and digging of coal. This exhibit made us much better appreciate the energy business when we filled up with Diesel fuel in the coach.

This huge drill is used to drill in the oilfields around Gillette. We saw a number of oil rigs as we traveled around -- wish we owned one of those rigs!

Wow -- now this is a scoop! This huge drag bucket was used to dig coal from a Gillette mine (there are several in the area). The coal in this area is of very high quality and burns very cleanly, so is in strong demand. As a result, the coal is loaded in unit trains of over a mile long and pulled to the eastern market.

This is a unit rig truck that could carry 170 tons of coal in one load. We learned that during the truck's operating lifetime, it carried a total of 10 million tons of coal. You can tell that this little puppy would not do too well on the highway -- it is 24' wide, 65 feet long, and weighs 235,000 pounds.

This little tire is from the unit rig above. The tire is 12' high and weighs 81,000 pounds is from a coal carrying truck. This is pretty amazing and impressed Orinda quite a bit. Glad we don't need tires this big on the coach.

Here is a sample oil rig of the type that is common in the Gillette area. The rig pumps the oil from the ground into the storage tanks. The oil is then delivered to the refinery and then, finally, to us in the form of Diesel or gasoline.

A Storm in Gillette and the Dog Agility Trials

2011-09-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

The weather on the high plains of Wyoming is a bit unpredictable as we were reminded one evening. After a hot day, this front blew through in impressive fashion. Here, Orinda is ready to go back to the coach as the wind and clouds move in.

The clouds were very interesting and we could see the heavy weather coming. When the lightning started in the distance, we figured it was high time to get in the coach. One thing we have routinely done in these sorts of weather events is to pull the slides in which protects the slide topper awnings. It only take a minute and tucks the coach into high wind mode.

It was really interesting to watch this front come in from the northwest. As you can see in this shot, the front was clearly visible as it moved into the clear air to the south. We ended up getting pretty high winds (60 mph) and quite a bit of rain, but no tornado activity (which was exactly what the weather radio forecast).

We stayed in Gillette for a few days after the rally to be sure and have a spot over Labor Day. While there, we learned that a dog agility trial was being held in the Cam-plex facility so went over to take a look. We had a great time watching all sizes of dogs zip around the course. This papillon was eager to get going and really blazed around the course.

Each dog size had their own jump height to even the field and while the handlers were able to review the course in advance, the dogs did not. As a result, the key to success was a dog/handler team that could communicate effectively. It was amazing to watch dogs, such as this shepherd, respond to voice commands to turn left, right or go straight while running full out.

This fellow was one of our favorites and approached the course with vigor. He seemed to really enjoy the trial and could not wait to get started.

Wow - look at the height this guy gets going over the jump, it looks like he clears it by tow body heights. As you might expect, he literally flew around the course and was one of the winners.

Here he is in stationary pose getting well deserved praise after the run. It was a lot of fun to watch the dogs and handlers in this event. We learned that the national championships are also held here during some years, so the folks in the area really work hard to get their dogs ready.

Working on the Coach in Gillette

2011-09-03T18:23:00.001-07:00

Our door awning failed on us when we were coming out to Gillette after Rick tried to retract it and the motor cam broke and the awning shot out to the extended position -- with a VERY loud bang! Rick removed the awning so we could travel (hard to drive with 3' of awning sticking out) and when we got to Gillette, contacted Carefree Awnings to see what could be done. They were very helpful and referred us to Eastside RVs here in Gillette who were very happy to help. Fortunately, they were able to fix the motor drive in only a couple days and Rick was ready to re-install it.

When Rick finished mounting the awning (and splicing the power wires he had to cut when removing it), he found that it would not fully retract as seen above. Fortunately, Carefree Awnings has a complete service manual available on the web and detailed the motor stop positioning switch which is adjusted by turning (a little at a time!) the red hex socket located in the upper left on the motor roller. This worked great, but Rick still had to adjust the left/right awning position by loosening the hex socket on the arm support brackets on both sides and move the awning roller a bit to the left.

Happy Rick! The motor works great, the awning goes in and out and fits perfectly with the housing. Success is sweet indeed.

Orinda worked hard on the awning job by holding the ladder (and even had to climb a couple steps up, which she does NOT like). Her reward is lunch at Pokey's Barbecue to use a gift certificate Rick won at the Star Gazing Party. Cool!

Pokey's looked interesting and was very busy for lunch. We soon figured out why as the food was terrific.

The Pokey's mascot welcomed us to a great lunch of barbecue, which made Rick happy he went to the star party to be able to win the door prize.

The last job for the day, after a great lunch, was to install the LED lights we bought at the Escapade vendor booth. We learned at a presentation on LED lights that there are many different lights now being sold with a wide variety of quality being offered. Some lights require a specific positive/negative polarity at the light socket and since normal halogen lights are not so fussy, you might need to re-wire the coach fixtures to get them to work with LEDs. Fortunately, you can also get LED "bulbs" with an electrical bridge installed meaning they will work regardless of polarity of the socket. Rick figured this was well worth the extra $4 per bulb.

The lights we got cost $14 each and have 120 lumins out of 6 LED pads. They just click in to directly replace the old halogens.

Wow! These LEDs are at least as bright as the halogen bulbs, do not heat up (the halogens run at a very hot temperature), Offer a whiter light color and last for many thousands of hours. Not only that, but they use almost no power. This must be the light source of the future. The only down side is that these cost $14 each, compared to $3 for the halogens, but the benefits are worth it. We noticed an immediate drop in temperature in the coach when using the LEDs. I suspect we will slowly convert more of the lights in the coach to LEDs, but will only do the most used ones now.

The Gillette WY Escapade Rally

2011-09-02T18:40:00.000-07:00

We made the short run from Deadwood to Gillette, WY to attend the Escapade Rally put on by the Escapees RV Club. This group of many thousands of RVers, focuses on fulltime RVers or long term users with many support services, RV parks and great ideas. As we entered the Gillette Cam-plex grounds, we saw the Escapees support truck that boded good things to come.

The Cam-plex is a wonderful facility that offers outstanding convention features, some 1,200 full hookup rv sites, and ease of access to Gillette. This hall is fairly new having been completed in the last 3 years or so.

You can sure tell we are in the real west here! Gillette Wy is a true western town and now is a major producer of energy in the form of coal and oil products. Of course, in the early times, these cowboys were common.

The base of the statue was covered by historic cattle brands which were interesting to see, including this one that looked like an apple core. Come pretty creative brands here.

One of the great things at many rallies are the interesting vendors that participate. The Escapade was no exception and we enjoyed checking out the many products. Rick was interested in replacing some of the RV lights inside with new LED lights, so we will see how that works out.

The other common feature of rallies are the entertainers that are available many evenings. We really liked the first night's show of music and comedy that started the rally off a bang.

There were about 680 RVs in attendance with some 1,2oo or so people, so we had our own small town. There were all kinds of RVs around including this semi tractor towing a huge fifth wheel trailer. Loaded on the back of the semi was a Smart car!

We also saw all kinds of motorhomes -- from the vintage GMC coach here on the end of the roa (considered a large coach in the 1970's) to the current models of 42' coaches like the one next to the GMC. Remarkably, these coaches are about even on the back -- you can really see how much longer the new coach is comparison!

Here is Orinda arriving at our "home" -- as we note to folks, we are houseless, but not homeless. It is pretty amazing that we can pull in somewhere, park and have all the comforts of home anywhere.

We have had nice weather so far, and the sunset was wonderful. Right after this sunset, there was a "Star Party" that Rick attended to take advantage of the high altitude and clear skies of Wyoming to do a bit of star gazing.

Cool Nights at Deadwood, SD

2011-09-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

We left Pierre and headed to Deadwood, SD in the Black Hills. Before we left, however, we retracted our door awning and all of a sudden there was a BAM then the awning shot out to the extended position. Looks like the motor failed and the spring loaded arms took over. Since we could not drive with 3' of awning sticking out, Rick removed the awning and stored it. We hope to get it repaired in Gillette, WY a bit later on.

We did not realize that Deadwood was hosting a huge classic car show called Cool Deadwood Nights until we got into town (we stayed in nearby Spearfish). Rick, however was delighted to see all the cars so we had to take a close look.

How about this 1960 Chevy? Rick is very pleased with this and all the cars. The workmanship on these are amazing spoke volumes about the effort that goes into a restoration.

Here is one of Rick's vintage -- an early 50's Chevy in perfect condition. There were literally thousands of vintage cars on display and just cruising around the streets of Deadwood.

Orinda thought this Chevelle looked pretty nice and reminded her of her college days. She still would look pretty sharp in this classic!

The main street of Deadwood was closed to accommodate a concert which was a bit later in the day. Orinda was amazed at the number of chairs folks had already set up to hold their place for the concert later on. There were thousands of chairs already set up covering several blocks of Main Street.

Of course, Deadwood is best know for it's rowdy frontier days and we can still see evidence of this today. Right next to the concert stage is this site where Wild Bill Hickok was shot in 1876. I wonder what he would have thought of all the commotion going on today?

Heading back to our trusty Buick, we saw many more cool cars, including this mild hot rod of a Ford Model A. We liked how the car continued the original look, however it was anything but original under the hood with a large V8 engine.

Here was Rick's favorite -- a classic Plymouth Roadrunner in that great bilious green color. They sure don't make them like that anymore!

Flood Damage in Pierre, SD - summer of 2011

2011-08-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

Our daughter lives in Pierre, SD and we were happy to go pay her a visit. Pierre has had a very trying summer (as have other areas downstream on the Missouri River) due to the unprecedented releases of water from Oahe Dam. Water levels on the normally tame river below the dam (which was built, ironically for flood control and power generation), rose many feet and as a result, homes and businesses in Pierre that were never thought to be flood prone were submerged.

There was very little warning of this calamity, only a few days, but the entire city worked together to build sandbag dykes along the river and around homes. Some of the big bags you see above weigh over 2,000 pounds!

Imagine the effort that it took to build these sand walls -- quickly! Water rose close to the top of these at the highest level, but unfortunately, these levels lasted several weeks. As a result, pumps had to be used to try and keep water from seeping behind the bags (you can see the gutter downspouts routed outside the dyke).

Most of these lovely homes are not yet re-occupied and I am afraid the damage will be severe. While you cannot see it in this shot, the road is totally destroyed as a result of being underwater for weeks.

Roads not flooded suffered serious damage due to sinkholes caused by water running underground. This one is about 6 feet deep and could swallow my car easily.

Pierre offered a number of beautiful parks on the river's edge. These structures in the middle of the water are part of a road and walkway next to the river. The structures are the roofs of gazebos that are about 8' tall on the sides with the floor (now under water) usually a couple feet above the water. That would make the current water about 8 to 10' above normal -- and if has already receded at least that much.

This road near downtown Pierre is protected by a barrier. There are miles of these dykes that were built in only a few days, which is amazing. Now, the clean up will begin.

One of the big problems that arose after the dykes were built were the storm drains that channeled rain water from the streets into the river. Naturally, when the river flooded, water backed up from the drains into the road! As a result, divers had to plug the river side of the pipes and pumps, such as this one, were installed to get rid of the seepage or any rainfall. What an effort!

This is the Ramkota Inn, a lovely conference hotel that Rick has been at many times. Fortunately, these sandbags saved the structure.

There has been little national coverage of this disaster, but it is really encouraging to see how South Dakota folks banded together to battle this flood. I am sure that in the near future this damage will be fully repaired and I look forward to visiting again to see the progress.

Pierre SD Flooding from Lake Oahe

2011-08-27T17:45:00.000-07:00

Lake Oahe is a huge lake resulting from one of the largest earthen dams in the world which backs up the Missouri River over 200 miles. Located just above Pierre, SD, the lake experienced terrific snow runoff last spring and as a result, filled to capacity -- and then some.

As a result, The Corps of Engineers had to release unprecedented amounts of water starting in May of 2011 and which caused terrible flooding of the Pierre area as well as further downstream. Rick wanted to check this area out in August after over 3 months of water releases.

This picture is directly below the dam at the powerhouse which generates huge amounts of water. The last time Rick was here, the water was several feet below its current level.

This looks downstream and you can see the trees are actually in the water. The trees are actually on a large levee which usually is several feet above the water. I would guess that the powerhouse river is at least three times as wide as it usually is.

This gives a better view of the powerhouse and you can just see a platform on the left side of the river that seems to be almost floating. This is actually a fishing pier and is usually about 8 to 10 feet above the water -- now it is literally at the water level.

The spillway is located at the other end of the 9,300' long dam with 5 outlets. This was truly impressive with vast volumes of water shooting out of the spillway gates and making large waves in the "stilling basin".

Wow! Prior to this spring, Oahe had released a maximum of about 55,000 cubic feet per minute of water. This spring, that reached a record 160,000 CFM. Now, this is being reduced, but is still at about 130,000 CFM. This was almost scary to stand next too as the roar was very loud and the ground literally shakes. You can get a good idea as to this in the video below.

Next post will focus on the damage done by the flooding and the remarkable preventative efforts that saved many structures.

The SPAM Museum - Austin, MN

2011-08-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

While we were getting service done on the motorhome in Forest City, IA, we decided to drive about 60 miles north to Austin, MN to the home of Hormel Foods and the SPAM Museum. We had visited the museum right after it opened in 2002 and recalled it was a fun stop. The museum is free and there is plenty of parking, even for motorhomes, which is great, since it is right off of I-90.

Appropriately, Orinda was met by this statue of a farmer driving hogs to market as we entered.

SPAM is perhaps the best known of Hormel's many products and you have to wonder what in the world would be in such a museum!

The museum is actually very well done and lots of fun to stroll through. The 16,500 sq. ft. is full of interesting displays on the the company and the history of the country as well. The first stop is this internet lunch counter were you can check out web information on SPAM and get recipes.

George Hormel founded the company way back in 1891, so the firm is now 110 years old. Some of the interesting history that we learned was how technological advances impacted the meat packing business, including refrigerated railcars, canned meat, such as canned hams and SPAM, and advertising. The fact that Hormel was an innovator in each of these areas contributed greatly to their success.

We really enjoyed the advertising history. Hormel used radio and TV from the start to publicize its products. SPAM was one of the real success storied and during WWII, was heavily used to feed the troops and other allied countries. Interestingly, this stemmed from Jay Hormel's experiences in WWI when the food sent to the troops in the trenches was almost inedible.

Hormel has had a somewhat troubled labor past, not unlike many food processing firms that experience significant cost competition. Still, I am not sure Orinda is ready to join the processing floor crew, although she is dressed for the occasion!

SPAM continues to be very popular and sales have climbed during the recession. There are now many varieties of SPAM which is really just canned ham product. We got to taste different varieties and found it to be very good. We also learned that the most SPAM per person is consumed in Hawaii.

This was a fun picture showing the famous SPAM can. However, on closer inspection:

we found that the large picture is really made up of thousands of smaller photos of Hormel and SPAM employees and processes. Pretty cool!

The SPAM Museum is a fun stop for folks of all ages. You can also get those unique gifts such as the ever popular SPAM flip-flops, SPAM t-shirts, SPAM you name it!

Out to the End of Door County

2011-08-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

Door County sticks out into Lake Michigan for about 70 miles and forms Green Bay (and looks like a thumb on the state of Wisconsin). We have been staying in Kewaunee, WI, which is right on the bottom of the peninsula and just south of Door County. We wanted to check out the northern part of Door County, so tooled north to see the sights. Right after we entered the county, we saw this beautiful field of sun flowers which put us in a good mood for our trip.

After traveling through Sturgeon Bay, which we had visited earlier, we stopped by this farm market to explore the offerings. They featured Door County cherries in the traditional tart, sweet and interestingly, a yellow variety. Rick really liked these (they were like a regular sweet cherry) ad we purchased a few (and some wonderful baked goods).

The Seaquist Market also offered the chance to see some restored tractors, such as this early '50s John Deere, which was in great shape. I suspect these folks have quite a bit of time to work on these during the frigid winter months.

The end of Door County is called, appropriately enough, "Land's End", which certainly makes sense when looking at it above. There is a ferry that will take you to the islands just north of Land's End, but this was far enough for us today. The small marina you can just see above is typical of the man-made marinas that provide some shelter from the big lake.

At Land's End, there was a number of boats, including this classic Lake Michigan commercial fishing boat. The enclosed cabin and rear steering area seemed typical of these steel-built craft of about 40' long.

In the same area, this fishing boat, of the same kind as the one in the water, was displayed to really give an idea of how the boat was designed. These are very utilitarian, seaworthy, and protect the crew from the cold and icy spray. Made us cold just to think about being out in one on a windy October day.

We traveled to Land's End up through the center of Door County and then took the road on the western side on the return. Close to Land's End, we came to Ephram, a beautiful small town right on the Bay.

Ephram had a number of attractions, including some beautiful flowers all around the town. These caught our eye, but, Wilson's Cafe provided a different attraction:

Lunch was served -- we split a great ice cream treat featuring real Wisconsin ice cream. Of course, Orinda was viewing this as a healthful dairy product and the fact that it tasted wonderful, had no influence on our decision to purchase. Really!

Two Rivers, WI and the Manitowoc Car show and Ferry

2011-08-19T17:23:00.000-07:00

We decided to head a bit south toward the lakeshore town of Manitowoc, WI. On the way, we passed through the city of Two Rivers, WI which is right on the shore of Lake Michigan. Driving by, we saw these seagulls - by the thousands! This is only a small portion of the vast flock which covered the beach. Wow!

Two Rivers was also the home of this huge factory, which had clearly seen better days in the past. This is the home of Hamilton Mfg, which made printer's furnishings for newspapers, printers, etc. They specialized in special cabinets to hold type and print plates -- some of the cases might be 20' long! Apparently, the company is still producing some various products, but it is clearly a mere shadow of its former self. To think that an Ipad can now do all the type setting that used to require many highly trained workers and expensive, dedicated equipment.

Two Rivers is still involved in some commercial fishing, although it must be a small fraction of years ago. Still, it was fun to see these lake fishing boats still in action.

We arrived in Manitowoc and as luck would have it (Rick said Yeah, Orinda said Oh brother!) we drove right by a great car show! Naturally, Rick had to stop. Fortunately, Orinda did not seem to mind too much and enjoyed seeing some of the excellent cars on display, such as this vintage Corvette.

Rick was enthralled with the old cars, such as these Ford Model A's. Dating from the early 1930's, these were quite the car in their day.

How about this 1951 Buick Special! Featuring the straight 8 engine and side-tilt hood, this was state or the art 60 years ago. This car is made of REAL metal!

We were very surprised to see the number and quality of true classics at this show, including this 1936 Plymouth that Orinda liked. There was quite a bit of effort involved in the restoration of this one and it looked like it just rolled out of the showroom.

Here is a very unusual car -- a 1925 Nash Speedster. This car was apparently built right here in Wisconsin (Kenosha) and is spectacular. This is the first one of these we have ever seen -- can't be many of these running around.

Orinda thought this was more like it -- a 1930 Chrysler Dual Cowl Phaeton. This car is magnificent and looked new. Imagine driving around in this car in 1930 -- you sure would not blend in with the common cars of the era!

We thought we had seem some amazing, old cars -- but, as they say, Wait -- there is more! How about this one -- an original 1910 De Dion Bouton! And it runs! In fact right after I snapped this picture, the owner came over and with a quick spring of the front crank, fired it right up. The one cylinder engine chugged nicely, the same as it did over 100 years ago when it was made. Pretty cool!

Here is one that Rick could identify with -- in fact, Rick and this Chevy are the same age as both were "built" in 1952. I am not sure who is in better shape, but they both appear to be using only original equipment.

Rick also liked the VW bugs as he has restored a couple of these from the floor pan up. It is alot of fun to rebuild something like this and then actually drive it down the road.

Finally, as we were leaving Manitowoc, we saw the car ferry Badger getting ready to dock after a trip from Luddington, MI across the lake. The 410' Badger is the only coal fired ship still in commercial service in the US and has been providing ferry service for over 50 years. It was fun to watch the Captain ease the ship backwards to dock so the cars could be off loaded.

The Door County Classic Boat show and Museum

2011-08-17T18:06:00.001-07:00

Well, I just found some great photos on the SD card in the camera from Door County, so we will take a quick trip back there! These shots are from Door County Maritime Museum Classic Boat festival in Sturgeon Bay, WI. We saw a poster for this and of course, Rick had to go. Fortunately, this turned out to be a great event!

Not only were there a number of individually owned classic boats of all kinds, but there were also some full size museum displays -- such as this Chicago fireboat that was still in use. Built in 1937, the boat is very low to the water (under 15') so it could get under the bridges on the Chicago River.

Here is an interesting boat -- no car -- actually, it is both! This is the famous amphicar. Built in the early 1960's, these cars could drive on the road in normal fashion, then go down the boat ramp and into the water. There are twin propellers in the rear (stern?) that the driver (captain?) could engage to chug across the lake. Just make sure that you don't open the door!

The museum was excellent and Rick learned quite a bit about the area and the shipping traditions that are ingrained in Sturgeon Bay. There were a number of ship yards that were developed and boat building was a big business in the early 1900's. In fact, a number of WWII warships were built in the area and transited the Great Lakes to get to the Atlantic Ocean.

Rick was very interested in the large propulsion display! This early Diesel was fully restored and as you can see, is a BIG engine.

Of course, Rick's favorites had to be the classic outboard motors. He has a couple of these and enjoyed the restoration process of getting them running again.

Orinda was reminded that while the lakes provide great transportation during the summer, but in the winter (which is long in northern Wisconsin), ice is the norm! So, these large ice boats, dating from the 1930's are the vehicles of choice. These boats really go and heel well up on two runners at speed.

This was a great classic outboard and was totally original with the motor, boat and trailer that was initially sold in the mid 1950's. The rig looks like new and would look right at home behind a '57 Chevy.

Finally, we took a tour on the deck of a real tugboat. This boat was used for several decades and was actually converted from steam power to Diesel in the later 1940's. This was done by removing the upper deck (that Rick is standing on), pulling out the large boilers and engine, and installing several WWII surplus Diesel engines. That is quite a project, to say the least!

We are back in Forest City, IA and area.

2011-08-16T17:48:00.000-07:00

After a fun rally at the FMCA in Madison, WI, we motored about 300 miles to Forest City, IA to have some work done on our motorhome. When the coach was in getting serviced, we had the chance to do some exploring. Our first stop was at Clear Lake where we had to stop for this sign "Life is Short -- Eat Cookies!"

The city of Clear Lake is right on the shore of -- surprise -- Clear Lake! This resort-oriented town of about 10,000 is very picturesque and is a nice place to take a walk next to the lake.

Rick was impressed with the number of public docks as seen above, and the nice walkway next to the lake. There were a number of sailboats on the lake and this would be a beautiful lake to sail on.

After our short trip to neighboring Clear Lake, we went downtown to Forest City. This is a classic small town and still shows the pride of its residents. One thing that many folks might not realize is that many residents from Forest City actually served in the Civil War. In fact, we learned that 151 citizens from Winnebago County were killed in the war. As a result, this commemorative fountain and soldier stature were erected to remember those who served.

The statue of the soldier was purchased by the local Women's Relief Corps in 1899 from a catalog dealer in New Jersey. Today, there are very few original statues remaining and I doubt if any are in better condition than this one.

The Town Square also hosts this Sherman Tank that was placed in 1957. This tank was also in excellent shape and looked like it had just rolled in from the front!

This plaque described the Sherman and the fact that in WWII, most Shermans were not up to the German heavy tanks. Nevertheless, Sherman tanks and their crews did outstanding duty in the war.

We also saw this stone on the square that announced that this is Forest City's time capsule. Put in place in 1955, it is slated to be opened in 2055. We thought about all the change that has taken place during the last 55 years -- imagine what the folks will be thinking in 2055.

Speaking of change, we stopped at the Forest City Depot and learned that history was made in 1879 when the first telegraph message was received in the town. This was right after the first train made the trip to Forest City and the telegraph was installed next to the tracks.

Soon, two trains a day were coming through Forest City and put the town on the map. Shortly thereafter, Forest City became the county seat. It was fun to think about the vast technology changes Forest City experienced in the last 100 years -- and that was not even considering that little motorhome company that was established in the late 50's!

On to the FMCA Rally in Madison, WI

2011-08-12T16:43:00.000-07:00

We headed out from the Door County area toward Madison, WI to the FMCA Rally that we were going to attend. Of course, we were running in some rain and we happened to drive past a cheese factory -- which is irresistible to Rick. Fortunately, the extra sharp cheddar cheese made up for the rainy conditions that Orinda experienced!

Speaking of cheese, you can really tell that we are in Green Bay Packers territory! Even the local Walmart had a full supply of cheese heads which looked very becoming on Orinda. She is ready for the big game - no wonder they call this area one of high fashion!

Of course, cheese is not the only dairy product Wisconsin is noted for. We decided that this hot fudge sundae was the perfect lunch after our challenging drive in the rain. The only saving note on this is that we did share it - see the two spoons?

We finally ate our way to Madison, WI (which was only 150 miles from Door County) and arrived at the Family Motor Coach Rally. We had attended another FMCA rally a couple years ago and enjoyed it, so are looking forward to this one as well. Orinda is getting into the spirit of things as we head out to look at the coaches on display.

One of the great things about the FMCA Rally is that a large number of vendors are on site to work on things and answer questions. Rick loves this and gets a real kick out of learning about things on his coach. This is the Freightliner Chassis that is under our new coach and was very interesting to see up close. Rick was especially impressed with the 9.0l Cummins Diesel engine.

We also like to look at the various motorhomes on display. This year, we were interested to see the first Newell coach -- that was bought by Mr. L.K.Newell from the Streamline Trailer Company in 1967. Apparently, after he owned it a few weeks, he went back to the Streamline Company and suggested a number of improvements to the owner of the company. The owner did not seem to see the humor in these ideas and told Newell that "If you are so damn smart, why don't you buy the firm and do it yourself!" Interestingly, Newell did just that!

The Streamline Trailer coach was the luxury coach of the day and featured all the modern features, as you can see here.

Of course, Mr. Newell was as good as his word on developing new ideas and coaches. Here is one of his latest models - a spectacular 45' long luxury coach. Many consider these motorhomes to be the finest in the world.

Even the interior is a bit more refined than the 1967 model! These new Newells as truly spectacular and even offer combined front and REAR wheel steering so that the coach will turn in less than it's length. Amazing. Still, we are very happy with our Winnebago Tour!

The National Railroad Museum in Green Bay - Con't.

2011-08-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

The railroad had a number of interesting pieces including this GM built Train of the Future - the AeroTrain. Looks pretty futuristic for sure, especially for the mid 1050's.

We strolled out toward the depot, located behind Orinda, when we saw these Model A Fords parked behind our Buick. These cars were part of the Model A tour that had quite a few Model A's from all over touring the area. These were from Ohio and according to one of the drivers, they rode "pretty rough"! While Rick loved the old cars, he appreciated his Buick a bit more.

This is the car that we were able to ride on as the Diesel switch engine on the front of the car chugged along. This was lots of fun and we enjoyed riding on the open car and enjoy the great weather.

This is the oldest engine in the collection is #24. This 2-8-0 engine was built in 1910 and is 101 years old! Imagine the stories that this old timer could tell about the past.

Speaking of unique items, these tank cars are quite old (made in the 1920's) and actually made of wood. You can see the steel rods on the outside that supported the tank portion; but the most interesting item to Rick was that they carried vinegar from the Richter Vinegar Company in Manitowoc, WI.

Rick and Orinda are in the upper deck of a Union Pacific Dome car. Wow - this would be a great way to ride in style as you enjoy a beverage and a light snack!

Speaking of snacks, Orinda is enjoying a quick tour of the galley! While this is very well equipped, Orinda thought she would rather have her kitchen in the motorhome.

The National Railroad Museum in Green Bay

2011-08-08T17:55:00.000-07:00

After we toured Lambeau Filed, we traveled about a mile to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay. We were very surprised to find that this was a first class museum and one of the best railroad museums we have been to (and Orinda will tell you that Rick has taken her to a bunch of them)!

First stop was this very cool model engine that Orinda was enthralled with. This is a model of the famous 20th Century Limited J3 locomotive on the New York Central. This whetted our appetite for the rest of the museum.

A very interesting exhibit showed the "drumheads" or logos of famous trains. These were back lit and beautiful such as this great Santa Fe Chief train. These were from the golden days of railroading.

There are several buildings housing exhibits, but the first building contained some spectacular locomotives. This one is an English locomotive of the type the made up Dwight Eisenhower's personal train while he was Supreme Commander for Allied Forces in WWII. There were also the actual rail cars used by Eisenhower during the war.

WOW! Rick is standing next to one of the very few Union Pacific "Big Boy"locomotives, which were the largest steam locomotive ever built. Weighing over 1 million pounds, and over 130' long, this is one BIG locomotive. Capable of hauling trains well over a mile long over the mountains, this is one of 25 ever built. It was great fun to see this rare locomotive and imagine the power it contained.

Not could Rick check out the exterior of the Big Boy, but he could get in and get the engineer's view of it. Look at all those valves and controls that had to be mastered to move this huge engine over the railroad.

There were many other great locomotives in this building, including this Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 electric powered locomotive. This powerful engine was built in the middle 1930's and the last GG1 was not retired until 1983! While this is a very large engine, it is interesting to note that it weighs about 1/3 of the Big Boy.

We moved to the very large exhibit area outside to see this early 1930's EMD 600 hp Diesel NW1 switcher. This engine is still in remarkable condition as are many of the engines in this collection. I will post additional pictures on the next post.

Hallowed Ground -- Lambeau Field Home of the Packers!

2011-08-06T17:59:00.000-07:00

We are staying in Kewaunee which is just a short trip away from Green Bay-- home of the Green Bay Packers! Of course, Rick was born not too far away in Neenah, WI, so we took a quick trip to check out the stadium and Rick's boyhood home.

The Green Bay Packers are the 2011 World Champs, after winning the Super Bowl last year. As a result, everyone has high hopes for a great 2012.

The Packers are a unique football franchise, since it is publicly held by stock holders (first chartered in 1923!). The stadium was refurbished in 2000 and is spectacular.

Today, Lambeau Field seats over 73,000 and tickets are hard to get -- which is pretty amazing considering the population of Green Bay is only 100,000. As you might expect folks are pretty excited about this season.

No trip here would be complete without a picture next to the Vince Lombardi statue. This legendary coach really launched the winning tradition in the "modern era" with a great string of victories in the 1960's. Rick has find memories of this time since famed quarterback Bart Starr came to a special Church dinner for youth and Rick got to meet him. He has been a staunch Packer fan ever since!

Close by, is the city of Neenah, so we had motored over to check it out. In years gone by, we could have taken this train to the Neenah station. Rick remembers taking the train (although a more modern one) as a kid to see his grandparents in Chicago.

This is the home where Rick lived as a kid, although there were no trees around back then (about 50 years ago!). The house looked pretty good and was just about how Rick recalled it.

This is another house that Rick recalls with great fondness in Neenah and is the home of his grandparents. Rick remembers coming to this house frequently and playing the back yard. Back then, the house was white, but otherwise, it looked the same. It was fun to come back to childhood haunts and see how things changed.

Sturgeon Bay, WI

2011-08-05T17:36:00.001-07:00

We traveled from Petoskey to Escanaba, MI for the night at Harris, MI. There is a nice RV park at the Island Resort in Harris, MI -- a small town just east of Escanaba. They have nice sites with water and electric although we were surprised that they were not busier than they were -- there were plenty of sites.

After leaving Harris, we drove down to Kewaunee, WI where we will stay while we explore the Door County area and Green Bay.

Yesterday, we tooled up to Sturgeon Bay, just a few miles north on the Door County Peninsula. Sturgeon Bay is the largest city in Door County. The large bay is situated off Green Bay and is connected to Lake Michigan by a large ship canal which Orinda is standing next to.

We were surprised to see several large freighters at the shipyard in Sturgeon Bay. Apparently, the deck officers serving on the ships were on strike and the ships were tied up awaiting the settlement. We counted 6 ships like these two tied up and inactive.

Rick enjoyed the ship yard and was interested to see these propeller blades in reserve. Apparently, these blades can be used to replace damaged blades on the large freighters.

The ship canal is a beautiful area with marinas, walking paths and lots of scenery. We didn't have a long time to explore, but hope to drop back by before we have to head further south.

While driving along the canal, we saw several of these machines and at first, we didn't know what they were. After watching them for a short time, however, we determined that these were cutting weeds from the canal bottom. They really cut through the weeds in a hurry and harvested them at the same time.

On our way back to Kewaunee, we dropped by this cheese factory -- of which they are quite a few in the area (Wisconsin has over 16,000 dairy farms!). We picked up some wonderful aged cheddar from this spot, but will be sure to stop at a few more while we are in Wisconsin!

The moods of Lake Michigan

2011-08-03T17:16:00.000-07:00

We woke up the other morning and noticed that the wind was blowing pretty hard out of the west - probably about 20+mph. While this is not a dramatically hard wind, we were interested to find out what the waves on the lake might be, so went out to the Petoskey breakwater. Sure enough, the waves were crashing on it pretty good! In fact, they were spraying above the top of the walkway and Orinda was worried about getting soaked.

The waves were about 5 to 6' or better and were crashing into the rock and spraying the walkway quite effectively. We enjoyed walking along and dodging the spray, but were very glad we were not out in the lake on a boat.

We were impressed at the power of these waves and wondered how amazing this must be in a real storm. In fact, we saw some pictures of storms which broke totally OVER the breakwater. Wow.

The next day was totally calm and we tooled down to Charelvoix and enjoyed walking down to the harbor inlet. It was amazing to note the difference in the lake -- one day it was very rough and the next, calm as a millpond.

While we walked past the marina, we watched this very nice cruiser come in to dock. The Captain of this craft did a great job docking it a very tight space. It appeared that many boats were coming in, so space was at a premium.

Rick was especially interested in this racing sailboat. This is one of the boats that had raced from Port Huron to Mackinac City. This was a very serious racing boat that was heading back out to the big lake.

Speaking of sailing races, on our way back to Petoskey, Rick noticed these large sailboats racing across the lake. The wind had picked up and these boats were really moving.

We were quite a distance away and Rick used his 300mm lens to photograph these, so it is hard to determine the size, but they seemed quite large when compared to other boats on the water.

Rick was impressed with the spinnakers powering these boats downwind. These boats were the icing on the cake for our Lake Michigan day!

Charlevoix Castle - an amazing stop

2011-07-30T16:01:00.000-07:00

We had heard about the Charlevoix Castle located a couple miles out of Charlevoix and wanted to pay it a visit, but we never expected the amazing tour that we found.

The Castle Farms were originally built by Albert Loeb, acting President of the Sears and Roebuck firm in 1918 as a demonstration farm using Sears farm equipment. The farms were initially some 6,000 acres and housed a full dairy, horse barn, as well as living quarters.

Unfortunately, in 1924, Albert Loeb passed away and the farm was closed down. The farm property was sold a couple times and suffered great deterioration. Eventually, Linda Mueller purchased the farm and totally restored it to better than new condition, which was a huge undertaking. Li

Today the Castle is spectacular and is used for weddings, receptions and other events. We were told that 5 weddings of up to 400 folks each can be held at the same time. All the old barns are now social halls and wonderfully decorated.

One of the great surprises at the castle was the wonderful garden model railroad that consists of 1,600' of track. Rick was very happy and insisted on checking this part out carefully! Orinda thought our grandson would love Thomas the Tank engine as he tooled around the tracks.

Rick loves model railroads and this one was great. Garden railroads are able to handle outdoor weather and the trains are large and easy to see. The railroad consists of two general sections -- this detailed, urban area and then a large, elevated area.

The trains move between the levels by using this spiral helix system where the train climbs round and round until it gets about 8' in the air. This is quite an engineering feat.

The tower area above Orinda and the landscaped railroad area is the viewing area for the upper section. There has been quite a bit of effort in constructing this and we enjoyed checking it out.

This is the upper area and is over a garden maze for kids. It was cool to walk through the maze area and watch the trains chug across overhead.

We had a great time exploring the many courtyards and water features at the Castle. In addition to the great buildings, the grounds were manicured and beautiful. We could understand why so many brides wanted to be married here at Castle Farms.

The restoration included some of the original buggies, such as this one which is still in use for special occasions.

The castle is a huge complex and takes a couple of hours to explore. We were delighted to have taken the tour and this turned out to be a highlight of our visits to Charlevoix.

Traverse Bay and Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes

2011-07-28T15:57:00.000-07:00

Traverse City and Great Traverse Bay is south of us at Petoskey and we wanted to tour the area to see what was there. Our first stop was on the Old Mission peninsula which forms part of the Bay. The peninsula runs about 16 miles north of Traverse City and at the end is the Old Mission Lighthouse, seen here. We also learned a remarkable thing -- we are at the exact site of the 45th parallel or exactly halfway between the equator and the north pole. Cool!

The lighthouse was built in 1879 and kept watch over these busy waters. In front of the house, is a beach area that is full of sand -- we found out later that there was lots of sand in the area.

Grand Traverse Bay is about 10 miles wide and 32 miles long (and over 600' deep) and this is a just bay in a very large lake! We were fortunate to have beautiful weather for our travels.

After driving back to Traverse City, we headed toward the western peninsula and then headed north on the coast road. Our first stop here was at Sutton's Bay, one of a number of small, pretty towns. Of course, Rick had to check out the marina which looks out over the north of Traverse Bay. What a beautiful view.

Orinda heard of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in the Traverse City area, so we headed a bit south to take a look. Frankly, we did not think that the dunes could be very big being next to the lake. Certainly, they could not be very large compared to the dunes we saw on the Pacific coast -- but we were in for a surprise. This sign pointed our way to the first dune.

The climbing dune was just what the name implied -- a huge dune to climb and lots of kids were having a blast. We enjoyed the view, but did not take part in climbing the dune. Whew!

Fortunately, there was a great scenic drive -- the Pierce Stocking drive which took us to several great vistas. We were surprised to see the vast dunes that stretched in front of us. In fact, you can just see an island well behind Orinda -- that is a big dune too!

This was the most dramatic view -- we are on top of a dune several hundred feet high and directly next to Lake Michigan. This is one VERY steep dune surface and we did not want to get too close to the edge.

Indeed, we were not the only ones concerned about this -- this sign showed that there have been issues before -- and if you are nutty enough to try and go down, you pay for the rescue to bring you back up.

Here is a side view of the dune -- those little specks are people! This dune is huge and we found out that we are 450' above Lake Michigan from this point.
This is a view directly below the overlook Rick is on. Now we can really understand the warning to be cautious about getting too close to the edge, although a number of folks were trying the daunting climb down and then up.

These dunes run for miles down the coast and we can fully appreciate why this was deemed a National Lakeshore. Sleeping Bear Dunes is well worth the trip if you are near the Traverse City area in Michigan.

Rogers City and Cheboygan, MI

2011-07-26T16:39:00.000-07:00

We took a road trip east from Petoskey, MI to Rogers City, about 40 miles away. Rogers City is located on Lake Huron and we were curious to take a look. Naturally, we cruised down to the city center and marina to see what was going on.

We have been experiencing some warm temperatures (in upper Michigan, that means in the high 80's), but here, it was very cool to say the least! A strong wind was blowing from the lake and Orinda was glad to have her jacket.

This is the entrance to the marina and is a man-made rock jetty. We have seen quite a few of these on the Great Lakes since there seem to be very few natural harbors. As a result, these manufactured harbors are very well designed and built.

Orinda made the walk out to the end of the jetty and the navigation light, although the waves were several feet high. Not surprisingly, there was no boat traffic today.

In fact, we were really surprised to see how empty the marina was. AS you can see, there were many open slips; I would guess at least 60% were not in use. This has been fairly common in many of the city marinas we have seen and we wondered where the boats were.

Further, the Lion's Club of Rogers City was holding a fishing tournament, but we saw very few entrants. Perhaps the weather was a problem with that.

Lake Huron is much smaller than Lake Superior, but it is still huge! In fact, Lake Huron is the fifth largest freshwater lake in the world. After leaving Rogers City, we headed north to the town of Cheboygan, about 25 miles away.

The Cheboygan River runs through town and empties into Lake Huron. We were especially interested in this city dock area that allows boats to tie up so folks can walk into the stores in town.

The river offers traditional marinas as well and there were some dandy boats around here. Orinda liked the boats, but after seeing the waves on the lakes, thinks she will stay in the motorhome.

Little Traverse Museum and Burger Boats

2011-07-24T16:29:00.000-07:00

Near the Petoskey marina is the old railroad depot which used to be the main entry point into the Petoskey area. Interesting, years ago, some 20 trains a day stopped in this small town during the tourist season (mostly in the summer). Apparently, the number of folks coming to summer here back in the early 1900's were actually higher than they are now.

Over the years, highway travel took over and the trains no longer came and as a result, the depot was not needed. After a number of years sitting vacant, the depot was turned into the Little Traverse History Museum.

The museum is full of many interesting artifacts of the area, including this buggy that was used by the local doctor on his rounds. Rick thought it would be fun to ride in the buggy in the summer -- but, I will bet it would be pretty sporting to use it in the winter! Makes me appreciate our Buick with air conditioning and heat!

Orinda was interested in this reproduction of a Victorian room that was typical in the early 1900's. According to the information on the display, these rooms were very popular in this area 100 years ago. These rooms were definitely not "living rooms", but rather very formal reception rooms that were designed to greet folks.

Today, bicycling is very popular in the area with the great cycling trails that pervade the town. However, we learned that cycling was very popular over 120 years ago as well! Back then, bikes were very different from our models today. This is an 1881 Star cycle that was revolutionary in its design as it had the large wheel in the back and the small wheel in the front. This allowed high speeds, but was safer since it was more stable. Notice that there is no chain driving the wheel; rather, the pedals were connected by leather straps to the rear wheel and could be pushed down individually or, for a burst of speed, both could be pushed together.

We did not know that Petoskey could also claim that Ernest Hemingway spent time in this area as a boy. Apparently he really loved this rustic environment and used it in stories in the future.

We also learned that Petoskey was one of the major Passenger Pigeon hunting areas. In 1878, this was the site of perhaps the last large nesting areas that was found. The museum reported that some 50,000 pigeons were harvested a day -- every day for several months! Unfortunately, such hunting practices and loss of habitat spelled doom for the bird and just 20 years later, this was one of the few left before they became extinct.

Rick also heard that some large yachts might show up in the Bay Harbor area. Indeed, these Burger Yachts were supposed to drop by the member's only Yacht Club, but we though maybe we could get a glimpse from the main, public area at the Bay Harbor Marina. Interestingly, it seemed that some of these "small boats" (under 50') had to make room for the biggies.

Sure enough, we saw some remarkable yachts. This tidy 85 footer was magnificent and we learned had recently been sold when the prior owner moved up to a 125' Burger.

We also saw this very nice sailboat that had just completed the Chicago to Mackinac race. This is the longest sail race in freshwater in the world and had over 350 sailboats with 3,500 crew members as entrants. Tragically, this year a severe thunderstorm hit the fleet late at night and caused a boat to capsize and two crew died. We were hit with the same storm as it came in from the lake and it really rocked the motorhome, but did no damage to us. Still, we would hate to have been on the water when that squall hit.

The Charlevoix Classic Car Show at the Marina!

2011-07-22T16:12:00.000-07:00

The city of Charlevoix, just south of Petoskey, seems to hold a number of special events and festivals. Many of these are held in the beautiful park area next to the marina and the Classic Car show was no exception.

As you can see behind this great early 60's Lincoln convertible is the marina. This is very cool -- nice cars and nice boats!

There were too many cars entered to fit in the large park area, so many of them are parked on the streets of Charlevoix. This 1937 Cadillac La Salle convertible was spectacular and has been owned by the same person for the last 51 years. Wow - what a cool car.

This 1934 Packard was also a wonderful car to see. Rick is very impressed with this one. This car looked like it had just come from the showroom and we really appreciate the hard work that it must take to restore it and to share it with folks like us.

We really like our Buick LaCrosse, so it was natural that we liked this 1938 Buick. Again, this car was perfect with an engine that looked brand new.

There were also hotrods and other recent cars, but Orinda liked the classics and there were plenty of those at the show. Speaking of Buick, here is a pristine 1931 Buick. It is interesting to see the major differences between this 1931 and the much more modern looking 1938 above. Quite a bit of change in just 7 years!

While we were looking at the cars, this cruiser idled by on its way to Lake Michigan. What a beautiful venue for a car show or just a nice stroll around the park and water.

Orinda liked this modified Ford roadster. The streets of Charlevoix are very picturesque and it is a pleasure to walk around this small town. They have done a great job in welcoming visitors.

Rick really enjoyed this -- a 1967 Mustang, very similar to the one he had in college. Hard to believe the car is that old (Rick can't be that old -- can he?). A great day checking out the cars and boats in Charlevoix.