O Canada!

 We left Great Falls today. The basic rules of caravanning is you can’t leave before the Wagonmaster.  They go out first & report any issues, plus they need to get to the campground first to arrange everyone’s sites.  You also have to leave before the Tailgunner.  They follow the caravan and look for stragglers or anyone who has mechanical issues.  They have some skills & resources to get you back up a moving (hopefully).  There is generally an hour or so between.

Today was a simple drive up I-15 through the Sweetgrass Canada Border crossing.  There was only one gate open when we got there so a little slow, but they open gate 2 short you, so only about a 30-minute delay.

We were antsy about what was going to happen as we crossed into Canada.  We left all my guns & ammo at home.  Ate all the fresh fruit.  Tried to get our alcohol down to the allowed amounts, didn’t quite make it.  No plants, no eggs, no raw chicken.  What’s going to happen???

Our turn at the gate….  Passports please.  I had removed my sunglasses, gave him our passports all opened to picture page.  Any guns, “no sir”. Any cannabis, “no sir”.  Any alcohol? “Some in our personal bar…..” OK, welcome to Canada! And we’re in, whew…..

All we need to do now is figure out this kilometer thing and we’ll be set.  The total drive for today was 196 miles.  We have a trip log, supplied by Adventure Caravans.  It has detailed instructions with mileage logs on when to turn, points of interest, grocery stores & fuel stops.  It worked to perfection!

The first campground was in Cardston, Alberta.  We got CC parked & hooked up and went on our first tour. Remington Carriage Center.  A guy named Remington has an EXTENSIVE collection of horse carriages.  From luxury carriages to buggies to “dump wagons”.  

After viewing a short film, we had a private tour through the Restoration Shop and the collection.

Hanson Cab, like the one Sherlock Holmes used.

Red River Cart.  Absolutely no metal any where!

Dump cart, used primarily for road building

 Then ended the day with a carriage ride. Walked back to the campground & called it a day.  A perfect star to the caravan!

The last leg before the Caravan!

We left Devil’s Tower heading towards the start of the caravan to Alaska.  Left Wyoming and entered Big Sky Country, Montana.  We were off the interstate most of the day, so it was a change of pace with lots of open vistas.

We stopped at the site of Custer’s Last Stand at Little Big Horn or as the Indians call it the Battle at Greasy Grass.  This is the site of the Indians biggest victory.  Basically the Indians combined a number of tribes and it is believed they had between 1,200 & 2,000 braves versus General Custer’s 7th Cavalry’s 700 troops.  The battle was in June 1876 and General Custer along with over 270 of his men were killed.  There is a nice national monument.  We visited the museum, sat through a presentation by a park ranger, of Indian descent.  It was very interesting how the battle unfolded.  

We then walked up to the hill where most of the soldiers died and then visited the Indian memorial site as well.  We’ve been to a number of civil war battlefields and this one had the same feeling, but out in the open fields of Montana.

These markers actually show where these men died, none of them are buried here.

We then headed to Billings, Montana to spend the night at a brewery, Canyon Creek to be specific.  Great brewery.  The parking laws packed by 6pm, very popular spot.  Around 8pm a thunderstorm rolled through town, and we got to ride out our third hailstorm in a week.  Fortunately, there was no damage from any of them.  At 7am we woke up to an empty parking lot but a steady rain.  Which we got to “enjoy” for the whole drive to Great Falls.  Driving CC in the rain is less than fun, she handles great, it’s just more potential for things going wrong.

Plus, we get the added pleasure of pulling into our campground & getting set up in a steady rain, yippee!

The good news is, we are at the starting point for the caravan, Great Falls, Montana. The next morning, we met our “Wagonmasters & Tailgunner”.  We got our orientation papers.  We had our pre trip inspection and of course passed with flying colors.

Sunday was a free day so we we went sightseeing.  Stopped by the Lewis & Clark Center and Mica got to learn about the Corps of Discovery.  The most impressive thing was the discussion about the portage here at Great Falls.  Lewis & Clark were anticipating the falls here, getting intel from local Indians.  They anticipated a one-day portage.  A portage is when they have to remove their canoes and all the gear from the Missouri River and haul it over land.  Unfortunately, it was going to be an 18-mile portage around five waterfalls and instead of taking one day it took 30!  To make it more challenging it was in an unusually hot June in 1805.  They too got caught in a hailstorm, but in the open prairies with no cover.  Brutal…

And these weren’t your little canoes.  They were carved out cottonwood trees.

We then drove down the river road to see some waterfalls and then a nice picnic in the park.

Then to round out the day what do you do in Montana? You go see a mermaid!  There is a hotel in town that has a lounge with mermaids swimming in a huge tank behind the bar, the Sip n Dip.  So, we went.  It was very 60’s feeling.  The mermaid was entertaining, even playing “rock, paper scissors” with Mica.

Finally, Monday at the campground we had our orientation meeting, learning the procedures of RV caravanning. Plus, some idea on what’s in store for us and an opportunity to sign up for some optional side tours we can do.  Wrapped it up with a nice dinner & travel briefing.

Tomorrow morning, we will cross the border, then the true journey begins!!!!!!!

Devil’s Tower Wyoming

Took our time leaving Rapid City, we only had a two hour drive to the Devil’s Tower KOA.  This is the perfect campground for seeing the Tower.  It’s literally at the main gate to Devil’s Tower, with a great view of the Tower from your camp site.

Main entrance to KOA & Devil’s Tower National Monument 

Our campsite

Plus the campground shows Close Encounters of The Third Kind every night @ 8pm.  It’s a classic Spielberg movie from 1977 with Richard Dreyfuss and the Tower playing a key role.  They show it on a monster TV outside with the actual Tower in the background, chairs supplied, but bring a blanket it got pretty cool by the end!

Wednesday morning we went into the park and took a leisurely hike around the base, a one & half mile paved trail.  There were ample opportunities for Mica to climb on the rocks.  As a matter of fact we shared pictures of Mica posing on the rocks and made it a “Find Mica” game.

This is an easy Find Mica

This is a little harder

Rita is easy to find, Mica tends to climb higher! See her?

Stopped to watch some people scaling the Tower, no use taking pictures they are so small even I couldn’t find them on my phone.  Finished the walk then headed down, stopping at the prairie dog town to watch for awhile.

Back to the campground to relax and get CC ready for the next leg of the trip.  Stopping by Little Big Horn tomorrow on our way to Billings, Montana.

Memorial Day 2023

 We were going to head to Deadwood, SD on Memorial Day, but the weather forecast was pretty bad for the afternoon and we didn’t want to drive over an hour to get there & be rained out.  So we decided to stay close to CC and enjoy the clear weather early.

The three of us decided to hike to the Stratobowl it’s a huge natural occurring “bowl” just outside Rapid City that was used by early “space travelers”.  The tour guide mentioned it on the bus & this morning’s weather was perfect.  It’s about a mile hike to the bowl.  The box canyon was an ideal place for a balloon launch, since the natural walls could allow the balloon to be shielded from wind until it was fully inflated. The first mission ended in near-disaster on July 28, 1934, when the hydrogen balloon carrying three crew members made it to 63,000 feet before a tear in the balloon sent the crew plummeting to the ground. All three were able to bail out safely – and later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross – before the remaining hydrogen burst into flame. They was undeterred.

On November 11, 1935, Captains Stevens and Orvil Anderson ascended from the canyon in a helium balloon known as Explorer II. The pair reached a new record of 72,395 feet — a record that would last for 20 years — and snapped the very first picture to show the curvature of the Earth.

We didn’t see any balloons, but we did watch a couple of woodpeckers.  The trail was gravel & not too hilly.  It was a great way to spend the morning.

We headed back to the Duffield’s and started to play Pickleball on their indoor Pickleball court.  It makes sense that they have an indoor one, it gets a bit chilly up here in South Dakota in the winter.  Rita & I have been talking about playing Pickleball but never have.  This was the perfect opportunity to learn.  John & Kaye were very patient.  We had a blast.  So after a bunch of games it was decided that we needed to head to Scheel’s Sporting Goods for the necessary equipment!

We decided to go to the Black Hills Caverns, locally owned by some fellow Country Coach owners.  It was a perfect way to spend the day out of rapidly approaching thunderstorms.  We had a great time with our guide Sophie, we were her third tour. I was smart enough to wear a ball cap because this was a tight cavern tour, no blood! 

By the time we came out of the cave the thunderstorm was over so we headed out to buy Pickleball paddles and then a pizza.  Back to the Duffield’s where we forced Mica to learn how to play Seven Spades, a card game.  Which she won by a lot.  Then to the Pickleball court to test out our new equipment.  Rita claimed her new paddle had a hole in it, but I just chocked it up to newbie skills.

We had a great time chatting with the Duffield’s, playing cards, playing Pickleball, eating (and eating and eating) and just catching up.  Another great perk of belonging to our Country Coach International club is finding like minded people to hang with, throw in RV parking with 59 amp, golden.  What great hosts & a great weekend!

Rapid City

We have driven in South Dakota a couple of times and it always seems to be windy.  And never the good kind, a tail wind.  This time it was the usual crosswind, ugh.  The forecast called for stronger crosswinds so we got to our friends house in Rapid City with minimal stops.

Kaye & John Duffield live on the edge of Rapid City on top of a hill with a great view.

We quickly set up on their lower driveway, 50 amp hook up!  Then settled down to catchup and have an absolutely delicious roast dinner!  Discussion turned to the forecast, which wasn’t necessarily favorable for vacationing. Thunderstorms everyday, bummer….  

Kaye mentioned a bus tour company nearby, Fort Hays bus tours, that offered tours of the big tourist stops with breakfast & a dinner show included.  We called & they had an opening for the three of us.  It’s the company’s 30th anniversary & the have a special dinner show so we invited the Duffield’s to join us for the show.

Bright & early we got to Fort Hays.  It’s the buildings used for the movie Dances With Wolves, all relocated to Rapid City.  We enjoyed a pancake , sausage, & biscuit & gravy breakfast.  Toured the “fort” then loaded the 34 passenger bus.

First stop Mt. Rushmore!

After that the bus headed for Iron Mountain Road a the first of five tunnels that they  shouldn’t be driving a bus through.  So this highway weaves around through the Black Hills & has a couple of tunnels that when you look through them they frame Mt. Rushmore. 

The crazy part is the bus clears the walls of the tunnel by about three inches.

There were five total tunnels with the last one at the Needles Eye.  There was only an inch & half clearance plus it wasn’t a straight tunnels, impressive driving!  To make things crazy our bus driver told “dad jokes” ALL DAY.  It was a riot.  I think he told at least 100- 200.  During this last tunnel he put a student driver sign in the windshield.  You should have seen all the people watching us come out, they were a freaking out.  We were laughing our butts off!

We toured the Needles Highway, Custer State Park and Sylvan Lake.  The tour took us to Crazy Horse.  I’ve been there in 1971, 2015 & 2023.  It always looks the same.  But we took some pictures and headed out. 

Mica standing in front of what Crazy Horse will look like when completed & actual sculpture in the background 

Took the bus back to the starting point, met up with the Duffield’s and enjoyed a Chuckwagon dinner and an awesome 70’s & 80’s concert.  Plus a free rocking thunderstorm with hail! (No damage to the Tahoe, whew.)

The Adventures of CC & Me, & Mica too!

 We are off!  The odometer is reset to zero.  CC is cleaned, serviced & fully loaded.

Me, Rita and our 13 year old granddaughter, Mica, left Belleville Wednesday morning on our way to our Alaskan caravan.  We need to be in Great Falls, Montana by June 5th to meet up with Adventure Caravans.  It’s an organized tour company that plans & “escorts” RVers on tours all over North America.  We are on a 61 day Alaska & Canadian Rockies tour.

The beauty of this type of tour is they organize everything.  Campsites, routes, some meals & lots of excursions.  We will be traveling with a Wagonmaster & Tailgunner.  Plus about 15 other RVing couples.  It should be quite a trip.

The plan is to have enough internet at our overnight stays to keep the blog current, so cross your fingers!

First overnight stop was a Walmart in St. Joseph, MO.  Easy access of I-29, actually pretty quiet spot.  

Then driving, to a campground in Salem, SD, it’s called Dakota Sunsets.  

We ran into Sioux Falls for a quick look at the falls, spent some time watching the fish try to navigate the falls.

Then on to mooch docking at some Country Coach friends driveway in Rapid City for a long weekend to see Mt. Rushmore & the sites around there…

Best part of this is the long driving is over, drove 993 mile in three days.  From now on no more than 200 a day…..

Blogging is hard!

 Ok, here’s my disclaimer.  Blogging is harder than you think.  You need time to think what you want to say.  You need time to organize you pictures.  You need to remember to TAKE pictures. And you can’t fall behind, if you do everything looks wonky.

The last time I posted was when we were RVing with the three Gustafson’s. We were in Arizona and about to get really busy, and it just slipped away from me.  Sorry.

But now it’s 2023 and we are beginning our next big adventure..stay tuned as we head to Alaska!