Jun 23rd, 24th, & 25th: Concord and Home

No better way to end a cross country trip then checking in the grandkids.  We headed from Saratoga Springs straight for Concord NH.  They were having a nice street fair where we got some great ice cream.  Here is Elaine and I with Juliana and Luke.

On Saturday after two great days in Concord we headed home to Worcester.  Here is our trusty rig in our driveway.  It served us well, traveling just over 8600 miles getting an average of 8.4 miles per gallon.

 Here is our route from MA to San Diego

 And here is our route from San Diego back to MA.

Overall it was a good trip.  Very restful, sleeping in to almost 8am every morning and having great visits with old friends.
Lessons learned:  Don't pack the screen tent, carpet, and fancy lounge chairs next time.
Also did not get to read as much as I thought I would.
WiFi is pretty bad in all the sites we stayed at so count on using you cell as a wifi hotspot and have a lot of data on your plan.
Keep two hands on the wheel at all times especially when there is an on-coming tractor trailer on a two lane road.of
Visiting gyms along the way was great, like the JCC at Tucson and Buffalo, and the 24 Hour Fitness at San Dimas.  Working out at the campsite works well also even with no weights. Grit is just as hard.
Warn your wife if you are going to go vegan before starting the trip.
Bring warm cloths if you are starting out in May.
59 days left till school starts up.
And now for a word from Elaine:

Joe did a fantastic job taking pictures, editing them, and writing about our trip along the way.
He usually did not consult me before hitting "send" so I take no responsibility for grammar and typo errors.
We spent a good deal  the trip driving through "cattle country" and I had to stage a protest movement to get the newly minted vegan to take me out for a steak dinner!
Most of the country does not re-cycle, that was a surprise.
We were good travel companions EXCEPT when Joe tried to look up directions while driving--then I became a hysterical safety siren!

Stay tuned for our future adventures.

Jun 20, 21 & 22: Buffalo & Saratoga Springs

It was a straight drive from Maumee Bay State park just east of Toledo Ohio too Buffalo, NY.  We visited for two days with Elaine's brother Gary and his wife Molly, who have lived there for 45 years. Here is Gary and Elaine.

 

 For much of our trip, severe weather has arrived just after we leave a region.  Monday evening as we were talking on the outside porch after a great meal prepared by Molly, a severe thunderstorm blew through rather quickly.   There was only one large gust of wind, but it was enough to knock down a tree across the street from their house.  The tree landed on the neighbors roof.  Here is a view the next morning as the tree service tour into the fallen tree.

 Molly, Gary and Elaine watching the action.

 I am always amazed at how precise and skilled tree trimmers are.

 Gary, Molly and Elaine posing for me.

 Another grandmother came by with twins and of course the two other grandmothers had to have a peek.

 Much of the tree is gone but a portion still lays on the roof.

 Of course we spent the whole day observing.  We even brought in pizza and had lunch on the front lawn!  All in all a very relaxing  two days in Buffalo.  It was good sitting around and talking.

The next day we headed for Saratoga Springs, a 5 hour drive from Buffalo.  We arrive early evening and had a nice dinner in downtown Saratoga Springs.  We then drove north about 10 miles to Moreau Lake State Park.  There we had a very nice, quiet campsite with the lake within view.  We reaffirmed our lesson that state parks are nicer than private campsites.

Jun 16, 17, 18, & 19: Wisconsin, Michigan, & Ohio

The next four days were spent driving towards Buffalo, spending some down time one of those days.  Here is Elaine updating our map showing others where we have traveled.  It is surprising to us how many folks who walk by our RV notice this map.

 After Fr Cash's grave in Onamia MN, we traveled east through Wisconsin stopping for the night at Lake Chippewa at a very nice private rv campsite lakeside.

 The next day we continued east through the upper Michigan peninsula and landed at Mackinaw City right over the bridge between the peninsulas. Here is a view going over the 5 mile long suspension bridge.

And here is our not to pretty but very quiet campsite. at Mackinaw Bay, MI.

 The next day was a down day. I spent about an hour in the hardware store getting screws, etc. A nd Elaine and I spent about an hour at the laundromat.  Yes laundry day!  We just broke out the chairs and set them up in front of the laundromat.

 Not far from our not too pretty campsite was a very pretty lakeside view of Lake Huron.

 A nice view of early evening on the lake.  See my bug zapper in my right hand?

 The next day we traveled south on I-75 down the mitt of Michigan to just outside of Toledo Ohio where we camped at Maumee State Park.  The state parks always trump the private campgrounds.  Much less crowded and inexpensive.

Jun 13,14,15, & 16; Wyoming, South Dakota, and Minnesota

Monday Jun 13, we drove from Rock Springs, Wyoming to just north of Custer, South Dakota.  We camped at Horse Thief Campground just south of Rapid City and Mount Rushmore. It was a pure driving day only broken up with some grocery shopping in Casper, Wy.  The next morning, Jun 14 we visited Mt Rushmore.

 The last time we were here was with our good friends the Ryans from MA 25 years ago.  The entrance and stone viewing terrace were all new since then.

 The obligatory couple pose.

 I liked this quote I saw from Thomas Jefferson, especially when he says:"Education for all".  Can you feel the Bern?

 From Mount Rushmore and Rapid City we headed east on I-90 and stopped at Wall, South Dakota for a revisit to the Wall Drug Store where I saw this interesting sweat shirt.

We ended up in Murdo SD for the night.  We had a nice dinner out at the Rusty Spur.  The next morning, Jun 15 we headed for MN. On the way we visited a nice rest stop dedicated to Lewis and Clark in Chamberlain SD on the Missouri River 

We ended up in Sibley State Park in MN traveling up Route 23 towards St Cloud.  We found a very nice state park built by the CCC during the 1930's.  It was right on the lake. 

 The next morning Jun 16 we continued northeast through MN on Route 23 heading for Onamia MN.  There we paid our respects to the grave site of Father Jim Cashman, a Crosier priest who married us and was a good friend. Fr Cashman ran the theater program at Stepinac HS in White Plains.  Elaine and I met doing summer theater there.   Father Cashman had retired back to MN and spent his last years at the Crosier Priory in Onamia MN. We used to call him Cash.  His favorite scotch was Grants.

June 12: Salt Lake City and east on I-80

We have visited Utah before but have never seen Salt lake City.  So we decided to visit it and the heart of the city: Temple Square.  Here is a nice elevated view of temple square showing the Mormon headquarters on teh left and teh Mormon Temple of the right.

 The Mormons have volunteers who show you the buildings that are open to the public.  We are standing on the roof of the Mormon convention center looking out at Temple Square. Our Mormon volunteer guide took our photo.

 Here is a close up of the front of the Mormon Temple.

 We were able to get into the Salt Lake Tabernacle and listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearse.

We left Salt Lake shortly after noon and head east on I-80 for Rock Springs, Wyoming.  Here is a funny sign we saw at our KOA site for the night.

Jun 11: Continuing on Scenic Route 12 and North to Nephi, UT

Woke up and before getting going I took this picture of a bumper sticker on another rig in the rv park in Escalante.

 We continued on down scenic route 12 to Torrey Ut. The next four pictures are some highlights of the dramatic geography we saw along the way.

 At Torrey we turned East and drove into the Great Reef National Park but were unable to get a spot for the night so we turned around and headed north for Nephi UT and camped at a nice rv park about 6 miles into the mountains from Nephi.
Going to the Capitol Reef National Park we saw this funny picture of some accommodations.

 An interesting rock formation in Capitol Reef.

 At night Elaine and I usually do a bannanagrams game while listening to Peter,Paul & Mary or John Denver.  Here is Elaine at the end of one of our games.