Sioux Falls Visit

Week One - During the work day hours, we ran errands, cleaned the motorhome, and had service work done.  I spent part of two days going through cupboards and closets, purging once again many things that we had not used in the one year we had been gone.  We visited friends and family in the evenings, catching up with all of them.  We had lunch with Gary's sister, Jan, one day and on that Friday morning, went to his aunt's funeral.  (One negative about being gone - we have missed several funerals we would have been honored to attend)  Saturday, we went on our first bike ride together since I got my bike in Oregon.  Saturday night we went to Downtown Sioux Falls for supper, it was fun to see the changes there.  Sunday, we went home to the Cathedral for Mass.  It was so great to hear the big organ and the quality of music we were so spoiled to be part of all our years as choir members there.

Week Two - Labor Day, we spent with Katie and family.  We went with them to the Pavilion downtown and watched the boys as they and we all enjoyed the exhibits in the Science Discovery Center.  Then we spent time at the new Scheels store, watching the Ferris wheel and having lunch. The next day Gary went to his dentist appointment and in the afternoon, we rode all the way around the bike trail!  It was beautifully green, especially the parks along the way, I had never ridden it the whole way.  19.2 miles, I knew Mike was proud of me that day.  I have to admit I was really tired and sore by the time we were done, I was like little Russell in the movie "Up".  I told Gary several times, "I'm tired, my knees hurt, are we there yet?"  But I survived and amazingly, was not sore the next day.

Wednesday we kept the grandsons all day.  We played games, read books, and went to Sertoma Park and explored the Outdoor Campus.  Before we left that day, the boys had to release two Monarch butterflies that had changed from the caterpillars they had from the lake. Thursday I took the car and went shopping.  Spent several hours in the thrift shops - it was nice to be able to take my time looking and discovering the good buys.  I was looking specifically for cold weather clothing to keep us warm when working outdoors on our next workamper job.  Gary spent the day working on projects at home. Friday, Gary went to an appointment in the morning and I did laundry and ironing.  I met friends for lunch and then late afternoon we went to "Grandparents Day" at the boys' daycare.  So nice to be in town for that!  We took them home afterward and stayed for supper.  It was great to continue to see more friends in the evenings.

Boys lifting the car at the Pavillion

Exploring Outdoor Campus

Butterflies in abundance!

Week Three -  Sunday we were invited to join the choir on their first Sunday after the summer break. Two songs that we knew very well, but we could tell our voices were out of shape.  We had supper with friends.  Our friends from Mitchell arrived in our RV park that night.  

Monday we spent time with Wally & Jan - Jan and I went to a couple thrift stores and then home for naps.  She cooked supper and we spent the evening in their motorhome.

Tuesday we drove to Hartford and Humboldt to visit Gary's aunts and uncles.  We took new flowers for the cemetery vases and spent time there.  Reality again - although time has passed, it is still hard to "visit" our Michael there.  Afterward, we talked to Gary's brother Tom in Humboldt and then back to Sioux Falls.  We went out for supper with Wally & Jan and showed them a little more of Sioux Falls. Wednesday morning - we packed things up and Gary moved the motorhome to Newton Hills State Park to prepare for the camping time with the grandsons.  I ran errands and picked up groceries for our camping meals, then drove down to join him at the park.  After supper, Katie & Jordan brought the boys to us.  They were excited to come and camp with us, Riley told them they could go home.  

Thursday - cool weather, we played games and then drove in to Canton to renew our vehicle licenses and register to vote in our new county.  Back at the park, we went for a walk around our camp loop, picked up sticks and kicked pine cones.  After lunch and nap, we had a campfire and played at the playground.  Supper and a movie that night.

Friday - rain during the night, so too muddy to hike the park trails. We walked around another loop at the park, had lunch and then time to pack up and take them home. Gary drove the motorhome back and I took the boys home in the car.  Caught a rummage sale on my way back to the motorhome, one of my favorite annual church rummages.  That night we went to friend's for supper.

Saturday and Sunday - we watched the grandsons again, this time at their house. Katie and Jordan went up to Minneapolis for the Vikings football game, so they left early Saturday afternoon and returned Sunday night.  We stayed at the house Saturday, took them with us to 9:15 Mass at the Cathedral on Sunday.  They go to Bagel Boy on Sundays after Mass, so we took them there as well.

We really enjoyed watching them throughout the week, they have grown up so much and it was so entertaining to see how they interact with each other.  Sunday night we took them with us to a friend's for supper and then returned them home for bed.

Playtime at Newton Hills

Campfire fun

Breakfast at Bagel Boy

South Dakota - We have returned!

Saturday - Woke up in Broadus,MT to find the park sprinklers on, close enough to create a good puddle under the front of the motorhome.  Parked directly in front of us beside the park, was a semi that pulled in and spent the night too.  Packed up and headed out, continuing on Hwy 212, down through Wyoming and ending in Belle Fourche. We are home in South Dakota!  We parked and set up at the Riverside Campground and RV Park.  This park was along side the river, looked like a big greenway/park area.  The larger campsites did not have shade, but there was good space between the sites.  There were still a couple large rigs set up that had their Harley Davidson logos, those that stayed longer after the Sturgis Rally.  There were a few campers that looked like they were living there.  The sign at the office house said they would come find us for payment, we ended up knocking on the house door before we left to make sure they received our payment.  We drove around the Belle Fourche area, (it had been about 10 years since we had been there) and then drove south to Spearfish and found a bite to eat.  Home again.

Riverside Campground - Belle Fourche

Sunday - up early for a walk and then went to 10:30 Mass at St. Paul's in Belle Fourche.  After lunch, we took the road to see Spearfish Canyon.  Once there, we stopped at the Lodge and hiked down on the trails to the falls (which we did not know were there before) and went in and looked over the Lodge.  Very nice, now we know why people talk about staying there.  We explored more, driving to Lead and Deadwood - stopped long enough in Deadwood to lose our $20 and do a little wine tasting. Back home, Gary washed the motorhome, I did laundry, we took naps and enjoyed the evening.

Spearfish Falls

Spearfish Lodge lobby

View from Spearfish Lodge

Deadwood - Belle Joli Winery   

Monday - today we packed up and headed south.  We had reservations at Rushmore Shadows, the RV park close to my folks house.  We set up and then drove to Sylvan Lake near Custer.  We hiked on the trail around the lake and sat and enjoyed the view. We drove back through Hill City, it is interesting to see the changes and new businesses in the area each time we are back.  Back home, we cleaned up and then drove to Rockerville to the new Gaslight Restaurant to have supper with my folks and sister. We had a nice visit there and then went to their house for a little while.

Sylvan Lake

Trail behind Sylvan Lake

Tuesday - Went to my folks house to visit in the morning.  In the afternoon, we went and found Spokane Creek RV Park (they advertise for workampers) and then drove the Iron Mountain Road and saw the Presidents through the tunnels.  We drove through Keystone on the way back.  The last several times we have visited the Hills was on Thanksgiving visits - it was different to see all the shops open and the tourists filling the streets there.  Back to my folks, we helped with some projects in their yard and visited.

Wednesday -  Drove into town with my folks for errands and groceries.  After lunch, we drove back in, dropping Mom off for an appointment and then went to Sam's Club to replenish our larder.  Then we met my folks and sister for supper at Pizza Ranch.  The evening ended and we said our goodbyes to them.

Rapid City iconic view

Thursday -  up and ready to go.  We hooked up the car in Rapid and hit the road.  We drove the familiar I-90 eastward, destination Mitchell.  Gary commented on the way that it felt strange - every other time we have driven that direction, it was always to get home and go back to work at our jobs in Sioux Falls.  This time would be different.  In our one year+ of our fulltime RVing, we have been in 17 states and two other countries.  Every state west of the Missouri this time, except Utah and California.  (And we were really close to California, when we were near Death Valley)  We have seen many new areas and amazing views of all God created, from the main attractions we all have read about and in very unexpected places.  Exactly what we hoped for when we made the decision to live this lifestyle.  We have met wonderful people through the year from all over the country and look forward to keeping in touch with them and hopefully seeing them again.
We arrived in Mitchell mid afternoon and set up at the Lake Mitchell campground, next to our friends Wally and Jan, that we came to know in Arizona at the campground. They are from the Mitchell area and were back for the summer to visit family.  We enjoyed visiting with them the rest of the day.

Lake Mitchell Campground

Friday - Today we headed to the Lake Hendricks area, east of White, SD.  We were joining our daughter Katie, husband Jordan and two grandsons at Jordan's folks lake cabin there.  We arrived first, set up and anxiously awaited the arrival of our family. They were there shortly after and we were able to start hugging and squeezing our little boys!  Jim and Linda weren't too far behind.  We had a great visit, supper and lovely weather.
Saturday was a little cooler and overcast.  We went on a nature hike with the group, the little boys showed us all the berries and flowers they had discovered on their other hikes.  We also found frogs and collected eight Monarch butterfly caterpillars.  They had caught one a couple weeks before and were able to see the process of the chrysalis and then the butterfly hatching.  Now there were eight more to watch.  We went on a short boat ride in the afternoon - watched each of the boys take their turn driving the boat.   Back on shore, we played games in the afternoon and then Gary made Peppers & Shells for supper.

Sunday - we went in to nearby White, SD for Mass, afterward had a nice visit with Fr. Dickinson. After breakfast, we flew kites and then we had a picnic lunch on the boat. After lunch, Jordan waterskiied, the boys had not seen him do that before.  Back on shore, the boys had a waterfight with Jordan, as we sat and visited and laughed with them.  Then it was time to clean up, pack up and everyone headed home.  Finally back in Sioux Falls, we arrived at our site off Russell Street and got set up for a long stay!

Sam and Riley - almost 5

Katie, Jordan and Gary at the lake

Nature hike

Water fight boys

Riley flying kites

Montana Travels

Thursday, Aug. 14 - This morning we packed up and headed east, leaving Glacier Park behind.  We would now be traveling for miles across the ranch lands of Montana.  Down Hwy 89, part of the Lewis and Clark trail to Great Falls, then southeast on Hwy 87 to Lewistown, arriving early afternoon.  We found an RV park with full hookup and laundry, we needed to wash clothes from our Glacier Park stay - without hookups in Kalispell and Browning and the warm days, we had two hampers full.  After setting up, I took the hampers and headed to the laundry room.  Of course, I got there right after two other women, one of whom had her bedding to wash.  After looking to see there were just three washers and two of them were being used, I knew I needed Plan B.  Back at the motorhome, I put one load in our washer and then headed to a local laundremat to do the rest of it.  As I arrived there, it began to rain and rained the whole one and a half hours I was there.  As I started putting laundry in the washer, the attendant came over and apologized telling me the air conditioning was not working that day.  It was hot and humid in there.  I filled three washers and then went out to sit in the cooler car to read.  When the loads were done, I was able to use two big dryers and get things dried quickly.  Back home again, done with that job, just in time for supper.  We had cable TV hookup, so enjoyed watching shows and the news that night.

Mountain Acres RV Park, Lewistown, MT

Friday - Checking out that morning, we learned that the Cowboy Poet/Storyteller Event was beginning that day and realized the two campers parked by us had two of the participants.  The white hair, jeans, tooled belts and boots gave them away.  We continued south on Hwy 87 to Billings, then west on I-90 (with many big trucks) for 54 miles.  There we turned at Garryowen on to Hwy 212.  This area has the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, where Custer fought.  We considered driving in to see it, until we saw the sign that there were no truck turnarounds.  Heading east, our plan was to stay in Lame Deer at the casino, which listed free RV parking.  Arriving at the casino, we found that it was a small, three tiered level gravel parking lot, not much room for big rigs.  We went in and had burgers and fries for lunch.  Returning to our MH, we found two semi trucks had pulled in to the parking lot as well - pretty much filling up the lowest level of parking.  We decided to move on.  Continuing on Hwy 212, we decided to stay in Broadus for the night.  After driving around the town, we parked beside the large city park for the night.  We were able to find the Catholic Church in town and went to the 5:00 Holy Day Mass there.  A truck driver parked his semi down the block and joined us for Mass as well.  We stopped downtown afterward for a bite to eat.

City Park camping, Broadus, MT

Glacier Park 2014 - Continued

Wednesday - Happy Anniversary, Ben & Kelsey!  We packed a lunch and our hiking gear and went to Many Glacier for our boat tour.  The day before was overcast when we reached the park, but this day was bright and a very blue sky.  As we drove closer to the lodge, we came upon many cars parked along the road and people were looking way up on the slope, pointing and taking pictures.  We stopped and asked and found they were watching a black bear and her two cubs.  We each saw them for about three seconds before they went into the trees and brush.  An official bear sighting, but no pictures.  We boarded the Chief Two Guns taking us across Swiftcurrent Lake, then we had a short 400 yard walk to Lake Josephine and the Morning Eagle boat.  On each boat, the captains told us about the area and the history of the Many Glacier area.  They pointed out the glaciers around us and told us the names of the many mountain peaks surrounding the area.  After disembarking, we were at the trailhead for the Grinnell Lake trail and headed off.  It happened that this was prime berry season, so the captains had cautioned us to be on the look out for bears.  We followed another couple and felt safer that way, he was clapping often, we were visiting out loud and I had on our two bear bells, making noise. The roundtrip distance for this trail was 1.5 miles, all through berry bushes and forest.  We arrived at Grinnell Lake and the scenery was gorgeous.  We stopped and ate our power bars and headed back.  Now we were by ourselves and not quite as willing to see a bear as we thought we would.  We could have rode back on one or both of the boats, but it was a nice day and we needed to exercise, so we hiked the trails all the way back to the lodge, another 2.2 miles. We did not see a bear. Back at the lodge, we went in and bought a cold beverage and then drove the car over to the boat launch area at Swiftcurrent Lake.  We had a tailgate picnic and then assembled the kayak and went out on the water.  More incredible views and very refreshing to be on the water on the warm day.  We paddled around the entire lake, taking many pictures and watching others in the tour boat and rented canoes. As the afternoon ended, we docked the boat, dried it off and put it away.  What a treat for us to be able to be out on the water in this beautiful, grand setting!  As the sun moved across the sky from when we arrived in the morning until we left late that day, the sunlight lit up the different peaks and allowed us to see clearly the areas that were hid by shadows during the day.  As we left the lodge area, again there were people looking and pointing up on the mountain and we saw mountain sheep walking on a trail up above the road.  Leaving the park and driving back to Browning was a totally different terrain, more like high desert, bare and dry - much different from the towering mountains and valleys we had seen all day. Home again, the activity at the casino was quieter than the night before.

Summary - after finally seeing it, our advice would be that everyone should see Glacier National Park!   And, when there, spend at least 4-5 days, more would be better, to see the different parts of the park.  The $25 entrance fee is good for seven days, we wish we could have stayed longer.  We will go back someday and want to explore the Waterton area of the park, which reaches north in to Canada. I would also like to spend one night at the Many Glacier Lodge or one of the other east side lodges, we did not stay long enough either day to see the sunsets and the sunrises would be beautiful too.  The hiking opportunities are incredible, there are many campgrounds within the park and you can fish without a license once in the park.  This year, the Going to the Sun Road opened late June, was closed for a couple days the second week of July with a ten inch snowfall and was closed again the first week of September with snow.  We felt lucky we chose to be there early August.

View when entering Many Glacier in the morning with Lake Sherburne

View from inside Many Glacier Lodge

Chief Two Guns captain

Morning Eagle boat on Lake Josephine

View from boat window

Grinnell Lake trail

Grinnell Lake

Happy Hikers

Hidden Falls above Grinnell Lake Trail rope bridge

View from trail heading back to the Lodge

 View from kayak on Swiftcurrent Lake

Chief Two Guns tour boat

Grinnell Glacier view from water

Swiftcurrent Lake view

Our watercraft and Many Glacier Lodge

Mountain sheep late day parade

Many Glacier Lodge

Glacier Park Visit - Aug 2014

Saturday - off to explore the west side of Glacier Park.  We drove northeast to the park entrance and purchased our seven day pass.  We stopped at the Apgar Transit Center to find the check-in area for our tour the next day.  Then on to Lake McDonald and it's historic lodge.  We walked around the grounds and through the lodge - a lot of history.  The lake was beautiful and calm, we decided we would bring the kayak the next day to try it out.  We drove a little further on the "Going to the Sun Road", stopping here and there to see the river and rapids.  We saw the Sacred Cascades and found some young men diving in to one of the turquoise pools.  We drove to the Sprague Creek campground and day use area to find a launch spot for our kayak.  We drove back in to town, had lunch and went to 5:00 Mass in Kalispell.  Afterward we went to supper at the Mackenzie River Pizza.

Glacier silt colors the water

Stromatolite fossils found in Glacier Park

Lake McDonald Lodge

View from Lake McDonald Lodge dock

Glacier stream

Colorful glacier stream rocks

Water and rocks together

Sunset in Kalispell

Sunday - headed to West Glacier Park for our 9:30 Red Car Tour.  We drove north from the west entrance, the area that was destroyed by the forest fires in 2003.  Sad to see all the trees as sticks, but the underbrush is growing back and there is color.  At one of our stops, we found a huckleberry bush.  The Red Cars have been in Glacier Park since the early 1930s, the same type of cars are in Yellowstone - they are yellow.  Our car and driver, Jamie, (called "Jammers") arrived, we loaded up and headed up the "Going to the Sun Road".  We stopped at the Lake McDonald Lodge to pick up more tourists, at that point 'Jammer Jamie' rolled the roof cover back so we could see out the top of the car and stand up at the "Kodak" stops.  It was worth the money to hear the history of the park and road from her and to see the grandeur of the mountains as we proceeded up the road.  Gary thoroughly enjoyed being able to see everything and not driving the tight, winding road. Our turnaround point was at the top of the Continental Divide, the Logan Pass Visitor Center.  We had a half hour there to look around and walk up on the trails.  We saw mountain goats in the meadow up above the center and while we were there they munched their way down close to us.  Before we boarded the Red Car again, we also saw mountain sheep up on the slope above us.  With my camera, I was able to zoom in enough to get pictures.  Back in the car, we drove back down the road we had come up on.  It was amazing how we saw different things on the same route and even the position of the sun changes the look of the massive peaks.  After the tour was done, we drove up to the Sprague Creek Campground for our picnic lunch and boating.  On the lake, we enjoyed the views from the water, the expansive scenery and the clear, clear water.  It was a warm day too, so we beached the kayak and spent time in the water cooling off.  We enjoyed picking up and looking at the different colorful rocks from the water.  Gary wanted me to keep one or two, but one leads to another and I kept thinking about the Lucy/Desi movie about pulling a camper and her rock collection.  The afternoon passed and we landed and put away the boat.  While I was changing clothes at the bath house, Gary visited with the camp host there.  This was their 6th year hosting in the park, they work July and August each year, looks like a good job for us someday.  They had a full hookup, but the rest of the sites were primitive - no hookups.  We saw many tent campers at the parks, I could not do that, considering bears have been seen in those areas.

Fire damage in Glacier

Huckleberries

Blanket emblem on our tour

Red Car at Glacier Park

Roadside waterfall on Going to the Sun Road

Where we came from on the road

Tight corner

Going to the Sun Road

Historical road

 

Mountain goat family

Upper meadow at Logan Pass

Curly horn mountain sheep above Logan Pass

Glacier creek

Swimmers in West Glacier

Picnic in the park

Lake McDonald view from our kayak

Cooling off in the glacial waters

The blues were incredible

Glacier Park peaks

Late afternoon shadows from Apgar Village

Monday - Another hot day.  We ran errands and did laundry in the morning and then took the boat out on Flathead Lake, south of Kalispell.  The lake had many homes and parks around most of it.  We found a launching place at one of the day use parks and set sail.  We paddled around the area, seeing swimmers diving/jumping from the rocks and some of the marina resorts.  We kept hearing birds and saw that they were young eagles. They were really loud, almost obnoxious. As we watched, an adult bald eagle landed at the same tree, but would not turn to let me get a good picture.  We stopped for lunch, paddled some more and then dried the kayak off and went home.  We cleaned up for our supper date and headed to Whitefish.  We enjoyed our evening of good food and visiting with Giuseppe and Jamie at the Tupelo restaurant.

Young bald eagle

Rock divers at Flathead Lake

Oldest dude ranch resort along Flathead Lake

Tuesday - we packed up early and drove around the south side of Glacier Park and up the east side.  We arrived in Browning, MT about noon, to boondock camp there the next two nights at the Glacier Peak Casino.  After setting up, we drove to the park, first to the Saint Mary entrance, in to the Rising Sun Lodge and then further up to the Many Glacier entrance.  This entrance is the east end of the "Going to the Sun" road and this year was under construction.  The road was pretty rough and gravel sections at times, but the view of Lake Sherburne and the mountains and finally the Many Glacier Lodge and Swift Current Lake were worth it.  It was an overcast day, so we did not get great pictures.  We drove up to Logan Pass, a shorter route than the west side. We had seen people on the High Line Trail when we were on our Red Car tour and decided we wanted to try it.  We finally found a parking spot in the lot at the Visitors Center (it is a popular place for tourists and a lot of trail heads begin there).  We went out on the trail and hiked along the cliffs above the road and then on the meadows portion of the trail.  From the trail along the cliffs you can see the road and cars down below.  After hiking back, we went up by the visitor's center and again were very close to the mountain goat family. We drove back down to the Many Glacier Lodge and then bought tickets for the next day for the Grinnell Lake boat and hike tour.  Back to Browning and the motorhome, we spent the evening watching people come and go from the casino and watched the amazing sunset colors all around us.

High Line Trail at Logan Pass

Rock colors on High Line Trail

High Line Trail stop

Alpine meadow flowers

Narrow walkway on trail

Road below the High Line Trail

Meadow area of trail

You can see the corner turns on the trail

Going to the Sun Road traffic

Natural habitat

Many Glacier Lodge complex