YES, WE ARE STILL AROUND!

Oct.27th

Just to let y'all (thats Southern for you-all) know-we are still around-and having a GREAT time!! The computer was soo slow in Kentucky-and Larry says thats just how it is supposed to be there-slow- I was not able to do any successful blogging. We arrived in Nashville this afternoon-and the speed is MUCH better! I will be getting y'all caught up on the journey as soon as I have a minute. Kentucky was beautiful beyond belief-and I have a lot to say and many pics to show-so bear with me!!

CLARKSVILLE

Well, we were just going down the hwy-thru Clarksville-I looked to my left and out of the corner of my eye spied this "cool" sign down a street. Mike was a sweetie and went arount the corner so I could take a picture-Nolan this sign is for you!!
the other two-Clarksville all decked out for autumn-and a pretty little church and cemetery that I wanted to share with everyone.

MORE VIEWS FROM HANNIBAL

these are pics of the view from lovers leap-and "lovers leap"-and a memorial depicting the "lovers" that leaped-but those of you that have watched the program "King of the Hill"-well, I'm just putting it out there-check out the face of the the Indian Brave-

HANNIBAL MO AND MARK TWAIN

Oct. 18th

Today we had a side trip to the town of Hannibal,Mo-the boyhood home of Mark Twain.
The town was just a sleepy little river town-until mark Twain and his novels made it famous-like the author! We saw the house where Twain grew up-the law offices of his father-and the home of Becky-his first love. The buildings are preserved quite well,along with original furnishings-and a couple of museums with lots of interesting items also. We were there on the day when the town holds a big autumn festival-I was first excited about hearing this-then when we say the huge throngs of people and rather run of the mill crafts for sale everywhere-not so much. We were able to see what Mike really wanted to see-and get the feel of the cute old town. We ended up going out to the outskirts of town, saw the famous "lovers leap", the famous cave, and had a great lunch without all of the traffic on main street. On the way home-Mike took the more scenic Little Dixie Hwy-He remembered what you had said Ken! Well, it was a really beautiful trip back to our little redneck trailer park-we went thru several great old towns-including Clarksville-my favorite of all-and the scenery all the way was just beautiful. We went by some fabulous old farm houses-set way back from the hwy-green,green grass all around-like a park-very pretty and peaceful settings-makes one want to take up farming! So amazing how we can travel so many roads and see such quaint scenes-and so clean and tidy-no grafitti or trash on the roadway-no housing tracts or strip malls. Makes for a great drive-and relaxing scenery.
Tomorrow we will leave Illinois for Indiana-then Kentucky. Mike is happy to leave the city of St. Louis-we loved visiting the city-but not the crazy drivers and traffic! The pics are one of downtown Hannibal and of Mark Twain's boyhood home.

ST. LOUIS SCENES

Just some more pics from our day in the city

WE PLAY TOURISTS IN THE CITY

Oct.17th

This morning we got up and did the tourist/sightsee-er thing.
We went into the "big city" of St. Louis. We have either spent too much time in the woods, or have just forgotten how awful traffic in a city is-but wow-we don't like it at all! Anyway-beyond that-we had a great day and saw lots of neat and historical stuff.
We went to see the Gateway arch-the beautiful memorial to Thomas Jefferson. We did not take the tour to the top of the arch-but toured the extensive museum and grounds.
Mr. Obama is visiting the city tomorrow-the city is all in a state of preparation-barackades were going up all over the park, meetings with officials and police were going on, and very heavy security was in force-that is a good thing!
Next we took the Metrolink light rail to Union Station-had lunch at Landry's Seafood House-really good-and great atmosphere. We walked the plaza and did a little window shopping-and just enjoyed the pretty afternoon. Inside Union Station is a huge mall-they have a cool thing that involves trampolines and jumping harnesses-I took pics for you to see-it was pretty fun to watch. Next we took the train back to Laclede's Landing-this is a great historical district full of nightclubs and dining spots-cobblestone streets and lots of old cool architecture.
We had a great day exploring-and got home just in time for the raindrops to start falling. Tomorrow-Hannibal-stay tuned!!

MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS

Oct 17th

I am actually writing about-today-not yesterday or the day before. My computer is being so nice to me-and blogger is uploading pics like magic-so I figured I would take advantage of the situation. We have driven thru the awful traffic of St. Louis today and are in a rather sketchy park for the night. everyone is friendly enough-there is a group of linemen here working-somewhere close by-"hello AJ"!!
We are not sure if we will stay tomorrow and see the sights of the city-it is so close-by-10 miles back or so-will have to let you all know tomorrow!
we did take a side road today-we went to a darling little historic town-Blackwater.
The downtown was a block long-and the neatest buildings ever. They had just had their fall festival last weekend-so there were remnants of it in front of each store. they all had a "scary beautyshop" theme-it was a cute town and a fun place to stop for a driving break! the pics are a few of the town of Blackwater.

KANSAS CITY HERE WE COME!

Oct 15th
After another rather long day of driving-and the city traffic of Kansas City,Mo behind us-we pulled into a park for the night. Other than being right next to the hwy-it was a pretty enough place-and one tree that was sooo fallish just for me!
We were exhausted-put chicken pot pies in the oven-stayed up just late enough to watch the debate-will not even comment on it now-and hit the hay. Tomorrow we had another long drive to St. Louis. Enjoy my tree pic and the Kansas City skyline!

THE BIRTHPLACE OF ARBOR DAY-WHO KNEW??

Oct 12th
We drove all day-ending up in Nebraska City,Nebraska. This was another un-planned stop. We found a pretty little park-Victorian Acres RV Park. It looked relaxing-clean-and was just the place to stop for the evening. After checking in-we recieved info on the town-and came to find out that the city was the birthplace of the first Arbor day. It was again pouring rain-so we relaxed for the evening-and planned what to do the next day-I was very excited because it could include lots of fall folliage and PUMPKINS! Mike made a call to Seth-Coles brother who lives with his family in Clarinda,Iowa-just 60 miles or so away from where we were.We were hoping to meet up with them sometime the next day-hey we were in Iowa-and so close. well, it turned out that Seth and jen were having a wedding anniversary that day-so the phone call had to do. Seth did tell Mike about the Arbor Lodge-and what a great place it was to eat-so we made a reservation for lunch the next day. We want to that-you Seth- we had the best lunch-a table with a view of the Morton mansion-and if it had not been raining-again-we would have spent the day in the orchards and grounds of the park. Arbor day was started in honor of J.Sterling Morton. he and his wife were responsible for the planting of many new tree specimens and shrubs in the area-their influence is found everywhere in the town. The mansion as it stands today was donated by the Mortons' son-Joy in 1923. The State now takes care of the mansion and property-and it is a beautifully maintained state park. I hope we will someday return to tour the grounds on a rain-less fall day. I was sorry not to be able to walk the trails with Lilacs and climb the 50ft treehouse! We spent two days in Nebraska City and enjoyed everything it had to offer-

Oct 11th

We left the corn palace and headed down the road-it was a really cold and windy late-morning. We crossed the Iowa border-and well you guessed it-corn fileds everywhere.
The sky was dark and the wind was coming straight at us. We drove(that would be-Mike drove,I rode) until it just seemed silly to keep going. It was early afternoon-we pulled into a casino parking lot that had hook-ups. The town was Sloan. We were just on the edge of Iowa-and Nebraska. They do not allow gambling in Nebraska-and the land where the casino was extended out a ways into Iowa-the Indians built the casino there. We were so glad to be parked-and off of the windy hwy. We made a cocktail-and went in to the casino and had the best dinner. We met some people from Nebraska-a big group-the most friendly bunch. they gave us their player card to get a discount on our dinner-we played a little after we ate,then were happy to find our home again.
the wind just howled all night-and rocked our "home on the road"-by morning-we were refreshed and ready to tackle the hwy once again.

THE CURRENT CORN PALACE

here are a couple of pics of the corn palace 2008
the entire outside of the building is covered in corn-corn products and other grains grown in the area-kind of like a rose parade-without the floats and parade-and roses!

MITCHELL SOUTH DAKOTA AND THE CORN PALACE

Oct 10
We spent the night in Mitchell,SD-with big plans to see the "world's only corn palace" the next morning. so, that is what we did! The "palace" takes up a city block-and is really a unique place. the orginal palace was built in 1892 when the city of Mitchell was just 12 years old. It was built to showcase the crops grown in the area-and to attract immigrant farmers to settle there. after 100 years,the corn palace is "built' each year-and they have a festival in its honor. after the festival-then the birds get to feast on the buildings embellishments-how cool is that! The actual building houses the high school basketball team and conferences when the festival is not happening.We had fun taking the tour-and enjoyed meeting some of the cute people-all seniors-who volunteer at the palace each day.
We gor on the road again-where we will stop for the night will be a surprise! the pics are of the first corn palace.

WALL DRUG PICS

last night I tried to add a couple of pics to the blog-the computer did not want to play-so I will now try again! These are just silly displays that are in the "backyard" of the drugstore.I mainly took these for "my girls"-you know who you are!

BYE_BYE DEADWOOD AND THE BLACK HILLS

Oct.10
As we emailed to you all-we woke up to a beautiful snowy winter-wonderland! Mike had quite a job to dig out our "house" and truck-but all was fine and we did finally get on our way. The ride out of town was so pretty-it finally stopped snowing before we hit Rapid City-then for most of the trip it was just really gray and cold. Our stop for the day was the famous "WALL DRUG"-we had been seeing signs for the now famous store for miles and miles-we did not really know what we were going to see when we got there-but we saw signs for huge bunnies,free ice water, and a silver dollar collection-among many many other things. We pulled up in front of the store-it is really a whole block-several tour busses were there-and lots of people! It was a tourist attraction all the way. Inside it was really just a giant gift store-but with a twist. There was a station with fresh coffee and homemade donuts-one for homemade ice-cream(this was not open-too cold!) there was a line for lunch items-so we got a tray and had great open-faced roast beef sandwiches-and of course,the free icewater! We ate,watched the tour bus people line up all over the place-and then we took a tour of all of the shops rooms. Some areas were devoted to displays of lots of items-mostly western theme-but there were lots of cool old photos on all the walls-mostly there were tons of "touristy" stuff for sale. We looked out in the back-took a couple of pics of silly displays out there-then it was time to get on the road. Glad we stopped-but once in a lifetime is way enough!

A SNOW DAY!!

Oct.9th

So, here we are in Deadwood-we had planned to leave today on our way to Kentucky. Well, we got up this morning-and it was SNOWING!! So, instead of driving south-east toward Mitchell South dakota,we decided to stay here one more day and become legal residents of this beautiful state! ok, there is more than that to the story-Mike had been talking to the owner of the park we have been staying in- Mike had mentioned about our changing our status from calif. to Florida-and the work involved-so the owner stated that the process is so easy and quick here in South dakota-and even said we were welcome to use his adress here as our legal one-how nice is that! We will still have our mail forwarding from Florida thru Good Sam-but we can do everything else as legal residents of this state. so, in the snow we go-to Rapid City
to the "drivers License dept"- it is amazing-we are there for 10 minutes-thats right-10 minutes. We leave with our new South dakota licenses-for a fee of $8.00 each(those of you in Calif. know what a deal that is!)-not to mention the amount of time involved at a Calif. DMV-and get this-the people are SO nice-like they are happy to see us-and they even have a sense of humor-really!! From there we go back to Deadwood-to the Treasurers Dept. We give them the info to register our vehicles here-they fill out a few docs-and will call us when they are ready to mail us our plates-unbelievable-again! So, it was a day well spent-we are all licensed,registered,insured and happy-we may be back in the spring, as we have been offered the possibility of jobs here in Deadwood for the summer-life is good!
Tomorrow we will be on the road-heading for our next adventure on this great journey.
It is beginning to snow again-we hope it will not be too heavy for our departure in the morning-I am NOT allowed to do my famous snow-dance tonight!!

A BUFFALO ROUNDUP

here are a few pics of this most interesting thing that happens each year in Custer-hey, they plan parties around this here!!

WILDLIFE IN CUSTER

here are pics of our "buffalo escort" and some of the other wildlife in Custer
check on our Flickr site for more!

CUSTER STATE PARK

Oct.8th

Today we visited Custer state Park-it is about 30 miles from Deadwood-
It is a really clear,but cold morning-we have decided to take the really narrow and winding hwy-the scenic route if you will! We do not have the "house" behind us-so fifure we are ok. Well, we wind up,up,up and around quite a way-and before we even get to the entrance of the park-we encounter a very narrow tunnel-10ft wide-so we put in our mirrors(this is where the auto pull in of mirrors function on the dash is sooo cool!) in the tunnel we go-and it is neat-all rock and we made it just fine. The scenery is quite spectacular-towering rock spires and beautiful aspen, oak, and tall pines. There are lots of "switchback" curves, but I am with an expert driver-so again, we are good! a little way up the road-we come to another tunnel-this one is 8'7"-eek! We had stopped to take in the view before we go thru the tunnel-we find that the other tourists also stopped in this area are a little nervous about the tunnel-and they are in small cars-again-eek! we laugh, and they say we can go first-if we make it-they will come too- ok, Mike is good-but when we are just about half way thru the tunnel-he says-"Jan, you know we only have 3 1/2 inches on each side of clearance" it is really close-but we made it-I gave Mike "nucks" and we each could again breathe!! a little way again, another tunnel-well,this one is huge! a full 9'-easy! we finally get to the park entrance-pay our fee-and away we go. We are heading toward the wildlife loop. the park has been doing a "buffalo roundup"-we are in time to check it out. the park does this roundup each year-checks blood in each buffalo,tags and gives shots to the animals who need them. It is a huge operation-and quite a sight to see. These animals are huge-powerful-and really think they are in charge-they put them in huge pens-then wind them thru a series of gates-til finally they are ready for whatever procedure they are to get-be it just tagging or shots or blood drawing. Each "buffalo cowboy" has his or her job-and they all work as a close -perfectly times union to get the job done-it was great to see!
After we leave the buffalo-we head on down the road-soon we see we have a road block-a group of donkeys! They are heading down the road toward us-and are apparently looking to be fed-Ginger is looking out the window and is for sure wondering what these animals are-they are putting their heads right up to the windows and looking at us. Next, we are treated to an escort-of Buffalo! They are walking down the middlew of the road-quite slowly, and have no intention of moving to the side-either side. So, we just slow down and go with the flow! We are past the buffalo, and we come to a group of Whitetail deer-they are beautiful, and just want to cross the road-so of course, we let them. We have seen more wildlike today than in Glacier and Yellowstone Parks combined. We have really enjoyed all of the sights of the park today-and highly recommend it to everyone to check out. The area is expecting snow tomorrow-we will be leaving Deadwood-so we are ok-maybe!

HANGING OUT IN DEADWOOD

Oct 4
Today we are just playing close to home-it is Octoberfest here in Deadwood-weiner dog races-beer drinking competitions and all that stuff. We are just taking in some of the sights-and visiting some of the saloons and casinos that we missed the first day here. We started at the number 10-had a beer at the bar and watched the reinactment of Wild Bill getting shot. They do a good job of making the whole thing "family friendly" if that can be done. We met a couple of tourists too-one guy from Chicago-out here with a group of friends on a hunting trip-booo! One who is from Las vegas with a girlfriend who has moved here-I try my luck at one of the slots-and win! this is a place where when you put actual money in the machine-when you win-actual money comes back out-just like the good old days! I collect my winnings-and we walk on. We have dinner at the Silverado-this saloon is part owned by kevin Costner-he needs to speak to the cooks here-not so good food. It is time to get home to the campfire that Mike and Ken have started-it is getting cool and windy again. Tomorrow is sunday-and a down day. we are expecting rain and wind-we hope!! The pics here are of the number 10 saloon where "Bill" was shot- and around the campfire with our new friend Brad and Mike doing a little jammin'

BOOT HILL

Sept.3

After our trip thru the canyon-we headed up to check out "boot hill"
this is where-at the highest point above Deadwood-Wild Bill and Calamity Jane-among many others,of course, are resting. The cemetery is divided into several sections. there is a part devoted to children-those little ones who caught "the fever" while so young-there is a separate area for the jewish-and one for the chinese population of Deadwood also. There is potters field-many un-named dead were buried here. It is really a beautiful and peaceful place-and the views of the town below are spectacular! We have had quite a day of exploring-and Mike is grilling pork chops tonight-who could ask for a better day!

BEAUTIFUL SPEARFISH CANYON

Oct.3
We got up early-went to a great little cafe at Cheyenne Crossing-had the most wonderful breakfast- we were on the way to Spearfish Canyon. The newspaper the day before said the fall colors would most likely be at their peak today-so you know we had to be there! Wow-what a lovely place. Between the color of the trees and the tall rock spires and the rushing streams-it was Heaven. If fall goes away and winter comes right now-I will be ok-I have had fall in the best way possible! We walked along the stream-hiked up to the falls-Ginger had a drink in the cool water and chased a couple of other doggies-there was something beautiful to look at at every angle. The pics do not do this place justice-as is usually the case. This is one place we could stay forever-the pristine beauty of the canyon is well cared for-it is a place the people of this area love-and it shows. We have more pics of this stunning canyon on Flickr-so please check it out!!

MIKE & JAN INVADE DEADWOOD

WE explored Deadwood a bit-here are some pics for you!

CRAZY HORSE AND MT RUSHMORE

DEADWOOD HERE WE COME!

Sept. 30

We leave our camp at Garryowen and head out for South dakota.
The trip was about 6 hours-and it was really not so interesting country-just a lot of flat-oil and coal producing land-which is of course a good thing-but not much for the sightsee-er. When we finally got close to South dakota-we could see the Black Hills in the distance. Suddenly there was something great to see-and to look forward to getting closer to! We were getting excitied about getting to Deadwood-and really had no idea this part of the country was so pretty!
There is a lot of history here-and the buildings getting closer to town are pretty cool. The hills are covered in Aspens and really beautiful and golden. the sky is blue-again the best weather we could ever hope for. We wind thru the town-up the hill past great old homes and businesses and evidence of gold mining of the past years. We get to the top of a hill-we see our camp-and home for the next 8 days-Whistler Gulch. We are just on the outskirts of town-there is a trolley that runs every half hour to town-so we are set! We get the house all put back together and decide to go explore. The trolley comes and away we go to see the town-and all of the historical sights it has to offer-mainly the saloon where Wild Bill was shot.
Main street is just as it was originally-even thought the whole town burned in the 1800's-it was rebuilt in the early 1900's as it had been. The No.10 saloon has been rebuilt just the way it was-but it is now located down the street a bit. We walk in-sawdust on the floor and lots of antiques all over the walls-and the chair where Wild Bill was sitting when he was shot hangs on the wall. It is a pretty cool place-and one can feel all of the history that has gone on here. Then, of course, there are the slot machines-and the card tables-Miss Kitty is not here-but I think we met her cousin Lucy. We hang out in the No.10 for a bit-meet some nice visitors-then head on up the street to check out the rest of the town. Every building is a store-or a saloon with a casino-there are lots of places to eat-and spend money.
We decide to head back to camp and make some supper-we will explore town another day-
Oct.2nd
Today we are going to see Mt Rushmore,Crazy Horse-and the best thing-Ginger will get groomed. there is a petsmart in rapid City-so we will drop her off and go sightsee for the day.
We head first to the Crazyhorse monument-we see the film of its beginning-it is really pretty interesting how one man could devote most of his life to the making of this monument. I will not go into the history here-but it is a work in pregress-funded entirely by private contributions- that accounts for the long time it has been in the making-we will check on its pregress in a few years-on the internet!
from Crazyhorse-we head to Mt. Rushmore. No matter how many pictures one sees of this monument-when you see it in person-it is pretty fantastic. The detail in the faces is so good-and it does make one proud to be an American-really!
We leave Mt.Rushmore-head back toward petsmart and Ginger. We decide to bypass the reptile gardens(sorry,Kris) and also Bear Country USA-it has been a full day and we are anxious to get back to camp with a clean and less hairy doggy!
We get back home-the Cronics-Mike and Gayle-and their friends Ken and Sheryl-are camped next to us. we compare notes of the day-they did the same tour as we did-
The friends we have followed since Cody were leaving the next morning-so we all said goodbye and spent some time around the campfire with Brad-his guitar and harmonica.
He and Mike played a few songs and then it was time for bed. Tomorrow is another day of sights in these beautiful Black Hills.

VIEWS FROM OUR WYOMING CAMP

GARRYOWEN AND THE BATTLEFIELD

Sept 28th

We arrive at the 7th Ranch RV camp in GarryOwen Wyoming. The ride here was beautiful coming over the bighorn Mts.-I know it was a little hairy for Mike to drive our "house" over-but we both really respected and enjoyed the scenery and the history we saw. We settled into our spot-our friends that we had met in Cody were already camping above us-so they came down and said "hey" and we heard about their day and sights. Tonight we would just be home and have an early eve-it was a long drive here! The sun started to set-and we knew right away this would be no ordinary sunset-something about the sky-we did not know-but it was like there was some sort of illumination all around the the sun like nothing we have ever seen-it was fantastic! We made a cocktail and just sat and enjoyed it til it was totally gone-wow! below our camp runs the train-and the cows and horses too-the train sound was nice-just enough in the distance to be romantic and not loud-a large group of horses just ran accross the field below-it is really a nice place to be tonight!

Sept. 29

Today we went to see where the battle of Little BigHorn took place-actually the whole skyline of our camp is the battlefield-rather awe inspiring! we are camped right on the LittleBigHorn river-so much history is here. the actual battlefield is about 5 miles down the road-and we get there early to have the day to explore.
We first see the National cemetery-then we go up to the visitor center-and museum.
we can see some of the battlefield from here-we wait for the ranger to come outside and talk to us. It is a beautiful sunny,but cool morning-the ranger starts laying out the scenes for us-he is great1 pretty soon we can see the whole battle taking place before us. He points to land accross the river-and over the hills-we are in awe just knowing where we are sitting-we get the whole story of what happened at that famous battle-at least to the best of what history and evidence can tell us.
When the ranger is done with his lesson-we walk up to the area known as "last stand hill" there we see where Gen Custers body was recovered-they have made a mass grave of soldiers and civilians whose bodies were recovered in the area-but not officially identified. Custer and some of the officers were later moved-Custer being moved to WestPoint. It was a pretty cool day-I learned a lot-more than I took the time to listen to in school about the whole ordeal! Mike is a huge history fan-it is great hearing about some of these historical recounts from him!
Tomorrow we will be heading to South Dakota.