Day 68- Home

 August 18

Our last day.   

We didn't want the trip to end, but we also wanted to get home.  Well the kids wanted to get home.  I could have kept on doing this forever.  

We had our traditional last day of camping breakfast of smashed cinnamon rolls and then slowly got packed up.  I really wanted to get the black tanks flushed out well so that took some time.

We left the campground around 11:30 so not bad considering all we did to get ready to go.  

Our first stop was the Corn Palace.  It was just up the road from the campsite.  The original corn palace was constructed in 1892 for the city's annual festival.  They out grew it 3 times before it was built in its current location.   

Each year the exterior is changed with a new mural.  Made entirely out of corn and other grains and grasses.  It's pretty impressive.  The current version is more of small arena.  It's a fun driving break if you happen to be driving by.  

The rest of the trip home was uneventful.  We finally pulled in about 8pm.  The dog was excited to see us.  The cat didn't care of course.  We unpacked the dirty clothes and started laundry.  Got the fridge and freezer emptied because I know I was super low on propane.  I'm surprised I didn't run out.  Also the girls had to unpack the souvenirs as their friend from across the street came over so they had to show all the stuff we got.  

The rest of the night we just hung out and relaxed.  

I'll probably post once more with a recap of our trip.  It might be a few days as there is a lot to unpack and the truck and camper need a top to bottom scrub, inside and out.

Day 67- Mitchell, SD

 August 17

Lake Mitchell Campground

I set my alarm for 7:30. I got up by 8.  Libby was awake like usual  but the other two were still sleeping.  I tired to get summer up but all I got was grunting and to go away.  I was just about to lay down for a bit when she comes out of her room yelling at me to not go back to bed.  We all worked together to get packed up and were ready to go by 9:30.  Libby and Davan didn't want to go back to Rushmore so they left with Heidi and we were going to meet up at Wall Drug.  

Instead of going thought the windy east side of the park I decided to go out the west side though Custer.  it was double the milage, but the same travel time as it was all freeway.  A much easier path with the camper in tow.  

Since Summer is into rocks right now she has been asking me to stop and any one of the many rock shops.  I figured it was a Daddy/Summer day so I pulled over.  We looked around at everything.  Surprisingly she did not ask to get anything.  I did let her get a piece of rose quartz.  

Since we had the camper I was able to drive through a special bus/rv lane and got right into the Mt Rushmore lot.  My parking ticket is good for a year so we didn't have to pay again.  Summer was really excited to see it in the daylight.  We didn't intend to stay for more than a few minutes but there was a program going on. It w as a guy that looked just like Abraham Lincoln talking about the lead up to the Civil War and slavery.  It was a very interesting talk and he reenacted one of Lincoln's speech.  Later in the day he was going to reenact the Gettysburg address so I was a bit bummed we wouldn't be around for that.  On the way out the fresh squeezed lemonade stand had just opened so we of course had to get some.  I'm really glad we made the decision to stop back out.  

We met the other girls at Wall Drug.  I've been there twice in my life and it didn't really seem it was anything like it was both times I was there.  The entire area is built up and it was surrounded by competing souvenir shops.  Overall it just seemed like another junk shop.  

I didn't really have any plans for our stop tonight.  I had thought about one of several KOA's just for a pool for the girls.  But with the distance we would have covered, plus loosing an hour for crossing a time change it didn't seem worth the money I would spend.  

For no real reason I was thinking about stopping in Mitchell.  On the way I called some campgrounds and they were all full.  There was a city owned campsite that was first come, first served and thought I would try that.  Luckily they had several spots open.  It's a really nice campground.  Sites are a bit tight but it's surrounded by woods and it's quiet.  Except for all the frogs and insects of course. 

I had some steaks left so Heidi, Summer and I had those while Libby and Davan had orange chicken.  

Since tomorrow is our last day the girls have requested our traditional last day breakfast.  Smashed cinnamon rolls on the Blackstone.  

Day 66- Casper

 August 16

Woke up to another beautiful day.  

Custer Park has various programs thought the day.  The only one we could really attend was the Bison Olympics.  

We got to the learning center early so we checked it out.  They had a mock mine entrance, a sand pit, some music things and another outdoor play area.  

On the way to the center we came across a bison on the side of the road having a little grass snack.

We were the only ones for the program.  It was fun with safety tips and fun facts about bison.  I knew would have thought they could run 35 mph or jump 6 ft high or 15 ft long from a stand still or 30 ft from a run.

After went decided to drive the wildlife loop.  This is where the majority of the bison heard is.  We of course saw the bison but we also saw prong horned antelope.

After we headed back to the camper for lunch.  We then headed to the Crazy Horse Monument.  They have a very nice museum of Native American items.  We also watched a short video on the creation of the monument.  It's pretty cool that the people responsible for carving are on the third generation.  There is an observation deck as well as the original scale model that was used to design it.  They also have cultural programs but they were done for the day by the time we got there.

After we left I wanted to drive the Needles Highway.  Needles Hwy is a 14 mile winding drive through forest, prairie and mountains.  It also had a few tunnels carved though the mountain that I was barely able to fit the truck though.  I had to fold in the mirrors or they would have hit the walls.  

Once we got done we needed to figure out dinner.  Our goal was to eat and get out to Mt. Rushmore in time to see it in daylight and then stay for the lighting ceremony.  We found out that there were several restaurants right in the park.  The one that we all found something we liked at was right at the campground we were staying at.  

It was fairly busy for the size.  The food was really good except there was only one waiter so the service was a tad slow.  He did pretty good for being alone though.

But the time we got done eating it was about 7:30.  WE were going to have to rush to see the lighting ceremony.  I was trying to follow Google Maps and the GPS navigation in the truck.  For some reason it put us on the Iron Mountain Road which was as slow and scenic as the Needles Hwy.  Normally it would have been a great road but not when your in a rush.  We also saw a lot of deer so we had to be careful of them as well.  A lot of doe's with baby's still with spots.  Although we did come across 5 bucks standing on the road.  

I read that the lighting ceremony started at 9 and the lights are turned on at 9:30.  However, I realized that I read it wrong.  That time is for the middle of summer and starting last week it starts an hour early.  So just as we were driving up they turned on the lights.   I guess the only good thing about that is the park pretty much emptied out so we did not have to fight with the crowd.  

Things have changed alot since I was there 30 years ago when I was in high school.   There are not 4 parking garages, and everything is paved.  I guess it did make it easier to park and get to the monument.  I recall having to fight for a space and walking a fair distance up hill.  

The gift shop closed at 9:30 so of course we had to go buy overpriced stuff.  Then we went ack out to get some photo's.

This was a specific stop for Summer.  When I first started the serious planning she made it very clear she wanted to "see the faces carved in the mountain".  Of course I had to make that happen for her.  She was very excited to see it.  However she did mention that she really wished she could have seen it during the day.   I told her that if we all went to bed right when we got bak to the camper and got up early we could maybe go on the way out of town.  

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Day 65- Custer, SD

 August 15

Custer State Park, Legion Lake

A shorter travel day today.  Only about 3.5 hours of driving today.  

Since we didn't have far to go we took our time getting ready to leave.  Davan and Summer wanted to ride with Heidi so it was just Libby and I in the truck.  

It was another uneventful drive.  Nothing but pasture land.  I did see a few herds of antelope.  

Just outside of Custer we saw a sign for Jewel Cave.  We decided to stop and check it out, maybe go for a tour.  Unfortunately all the tours were full for the day.  Grabbed some info and headed out.  

We beat the other girls to the park and got all set up.  They arrived shortly after.  Custer park has many campgrounds.  Just circle drives without about 20 slots.   I'm not sure of the others but this one has a lake across the street with a walking path around it, swimming and kayak rentals.  The camping spots are large and paved.  Really nice after tracking in gravel and dirt for the last 2 months.  It could be more level though.  The front of the camper is practically on the ground and I had to drive up on blocks to get it high enough so the door would shut with the stairs out.  It's a really nice, quiet place to camp though.

I was tired and ended up falling asleep on the couch.  Heidi made dinner.  We had taco's.  Summer wanted chicken nuggets.  Normally I wouldn't make two meals but the more we use up, the less we unpack at home.

We had talked about going to Mt. Rushmore to see the nightly lighting ceremony.  Not a lot of interest in doing it tonight.  Normally I would have been annoyed but I was kind of in the mood to just veg out so I didn't push it.  

The lake has a little snack shop and store so Heidi went and checked it out.  That's how we found out about the path.  I took the hint when she came back and told us about it.  Surprisingly the girls gave no push back when I said we were going.  I'm glad she mentioned it as we all had a great time and it was a quick little hike around the lake.  We talked about going for a drive on the wildlife trail, but it was getting dark by the time we got back.  We would not have seen much unless it was just standing on the road.  

The girls have been wanting a fire for a while now so I made one and we roasted s'more's.   

Day 64- Casper, WY

 August 14

Casper KOA

Travel day.  It was going to be a 6.5 hour drive without stops so I wanted to hopefully get moving at a decent time.  

We left a bit after 10 which was great except I had to get gas first.  Since we were in Idaho of course there was a baked potato cut out for photo's and they sold baked potato's.  

I had to bribe the girls to take a photo so I got them a treat and we all had a baked potato.   I didn't have anything for breakfast so it really hit the spot.  And now I can say I have eaten a gas station baked potato. 

We were there longer than I wanted but we were finally on the road.  

The scenery was unlike any we have seen on this trip.  The mountains and rock formations had a lot of browns and reds and everything was very dry.  

We had to drive through the Teton mountains so it was about 5 miles of 10% grade going up and the same going down.  To make it more complicated there were plenty of switchbacks.  Made it fun having little to no trailer brakes.

We finally got to the campground about 6:30.  It has an indoor pool so we hurried and got set-up.  Only Summer wanted to swim.  So I hung out with her while Heidi got dinner going.  

Pretty much the entire Northwest part of the states are under a fire ban and here is no different so we just hung out and watched some tv.

 

Day 63- Yellowstone

 August 13

Today was the lower loop and all the stinky, bubbly hydrothermal and geysers we could handle. 

We woke up to a pretty strong rain.  I was hoping it wouldn't have been over the park but looking at the radar it was moving in a north east direction.  I figured since we got to the park at 2 the first time we did the lower loop and not going up a portion of the North loop I figured we would have plenty of time to see all we wanted even if we left a bit late.

We got to the park about 11.  It was an on and off sprinkling.  

We stopped at all the same spots from the first day plus the ones we skipped.  Even though we saw the same features they were totally different with the change in weather.  With the rain and cooler weather it was a lot more steam.  Also not sure if it was the weather or the timing but everything was a lot more active today.  Geysers that had low or no activity were very active today.  The only downside was all the extra steam sometimes blocked the feature.

The big draw of the day of course was Old Faithful.  Using the app and the latest geyser info before I lost cell connection I figured we would be close to an eruption so we left the previous feature early so we wouldn't have to sit around waiting fro the next eruption.

While we drove up I could see that the eruption has started.  I told the girls to get out and check it out while I parked.  Since we were forced to sit for an hour and a half we checked out the visitors center.  The girls wanted to watch the movies again.  By the time the video's were done we had enough time to grab some ice cream and find a good spot to watch Old Faithfull.  

After the eruption we checked out the gift shop.  Each girl got a little something.  

Summer was saying she was not feeling the best again.  It was now about 6 pm and we could either continue the loop and take another 2 plus hours or we could go back and take about an hour and a half.  

The rest of the loop was mainly scenic so I decided to continue on.  We did stop a few times but mainly just drove.  We did come across some male elk with full antlers.  I of course had to stop for some pictures. 

 

The sun was setting behind the mountains and it was giving some good colors so we stopped for a bit to watch that as well.  

By the time we exited the park it was just before 10.  Since it was another 30-40 minute drive to the camper we decided on McDonalds.  

Day 62- Yellowstone

 August 12

We got going a lot earlier today.  Not as early as I would have liked but it was fine.  We got to the park around 11.  There was a line to get in but they had one set up for people that already had passes so we got in that line and bypassed everyone.

Except for the 5 entrances the park is set up like a figure 8.  Or two loops.  I gave everyone the choice of doing the upper or the lower loop today.  Everyone voted for the upper loop.  

The majority of the lower loop is in the caldera, Yellowstone is a very large volcano or those that didn't know, so all the thermals are there.  The upper loop is more mountainous.   

Our rules for stops are, one yes overrules 4 no's.  Anyone was able to ask to stop and look at whatever they felt like looking at.  

Our first stop was Gibbon Falls.  It was right off the road so it was a must stop.  Everyone loves a waterfall.  

Next was Artists' Paintpot Trail.  It was a one mile trail through a hydrothermal area containing hot springs, mud pots and geysers.  There was a warning to watch for flying mud.  

There is one large thermal area though just north of the west side of the upper loop called the Norris Geyser Basin.  It's a large area filled with various types of thermals and geyser's.  It's very popular with a blockade saying the lot was full and car's lining the road in all directions several hundred feet.  However there was a steady stream of cars leaving so I knew there would be open spaces. I had to circle around twice to get an open space from the exiting cars but I was finally able to get around the barricade.  There were a few cars waiting in from of me but within 10 minutes we were parked.  

Norris is one of the hottest and most acidic hydrothermal.  It sits outside of the current caldera but is still within the original.  It lies over three faults so there are earthquakes and this can disturb the active geysers and thermals.  They can become dormant, or stop for awhile, while new ones might form.  

Here we learned that thermals have living thermometers.  Some of the different colors are dependent on what mineral is in the water but green and red coloring will more often than not be a type of Thermophile.  Microorganisms that thrive in heat.  Green are a type that can live in water 100-133 degrees and red is 122-140 degrees.

Next was Roaring Mountain.  This is a large collection of Fumaroles.  Basically just steam exiting from vents in the ground.

We then continued on tho Mammoth Hot Springs.  This was a major stopping point on the upper loop.  It has a visitors center, restaurant, grocery, gas station and hotels and cabins.  

First we walked the large boardwalk through the Upper Terrace Overlook.  Taking from its name the area is full of hot springs.  Relatively larger bodies of water where hot water rises, cools and sinks.  This does not allow the water to become hot enough to boil and form a geyser.  This area is full of silica and you could see it as it is a bright white substance.  Native American's used to collect it for white face paint.  

We decided to take a little break as it was now late afternoon.  Summer claims she was not feeling 100%.  I think she was getting a little altitude sickness.  Most of Yellowstone is 7000-9000 feet above sea level.  Plus the roads are windy and she's stuck in the middle of the seat.  

We checked out the gift shop and got some ice cream and just hung out for a bit.  

After we were done we got back on the road.  It was mainly just scenery after Mammoth.  We did make a side quest on a gravel road called The Cut.  This lead us off the main road into back country.  I figured it would not be well traveled and we would get a good chance at seeing some wildlife.  Unfortunately we did meet up with a few other cars and we did not see any animals.  

Our next stop was Tower Falls.  It was a pretty impressive falls that emptied out into the Yellowstone river.  There was also a dirt path that lead down to the riverbank.  Heidi and Summer went back to the truck while Davan, Libby and Myself hiked.  Once down there we saw a few people fishing for trout.  The girls started walking downriver and I tried to walk up to the base of the falls.  I got a few hundred yards before the stream was nothing but boulders.  If I had a backpack for my camera and a few hours I could have maybe made it.  I figured I better get back before the girls walked too far. On the way back I discovered a really nice Gerber knife.  It is easily $175.  It was in great shape so I was pretty excited to find it.  Just as the three of us got back to the truck it started to sprinkle. 

We wanted to stop and see if we could see a big horned sheep at the place we hiked last night but the rain was really coming down, plus Summer had lost interest and wanted to get back to the camper.  

Just before we got back to the west entrance we saw a group of elk.  Some were young and still had their spots.  We stopped for some photo's and to observe them.

Back at the camper I made smash burgers.  This has become our favorite way to make burgers.