Alaska 2003 Week 1

Well, we are off. We spent Saturday packing the motorhome, slept in the coach Saturday night. Butter became the “lioness of the motorhome” during the night and into dawn. She was meowing and chasing things (which we assume weren’t really there) vehemently. She rearranged the scatter rug and dragged her litter box from one end of the motorhome to the other. Hope she calms down before we get to Alaska!

Were off first thing Sunday morning (see photo of Sandy in front of our motorhome). The day went pretty much as planned, 500 miles in eight hours of driving with a one hour lunch break. We spent the night at Evangola State Park on the shore of Lake Erie about 30 miles west of Buffalo. A pretty spot with lots of birds and no too many campers. Sandy prepared a wonderful scallop dinner (see photo) for our first night on the road.

Mostly more driving. We stopped at the Camping World store in Brunswick, OH to have a mask installed on the front of the coach to prevent gravel from chipping the paint. I had ordered the mask in advance and scheduled the installation. We’re learning it takes a lot of time and patience to get service on a motorhome. It took 2 ½ hours to find out the mask didn't fit and they do not (yet) make one to fit our coach. So, we just bought a bunch more stuff at Camping World (hard to believe there are still things we "need" for the motorhome) and ended up making what amounted to a two and a half hour lunch stop. Then on to Indiana Dunes State Park on the shore of Lake Michigan.

This was a non-driving, rest day to explore Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, part of the National Park system. We spent the morning at the visitor center and hiked 2 miles through the marsh checking out the birds. We then drove to the beach, the southern shore of Lake Michigan, and hiked along the beach for a while. It was hard not to think of it as the ocean except for the total lack of sea shells and the occasional deer tracks leading to the water. After the beach hike we went to Mount Baldy, a steep, 200 foot high sand dune. We hiked sloooooowly up the soft sand face of the dune to the top for a great view of the lake and the beach below. Back to the coach for lunch and we set off to explore the Indiana Dunes State Park. We visited the Nature Center then hiked through the marsh and across the ridge of the dune for about 5 miles all together, including about a mile and a half of soft sand trail (see photo). Tiring, but great fun. We saw a white tail deer along the trail on the way back (see photo).

When we arrived at Indiana Dunes State Park the electric steps on the motorhome began -acting up. This is a non-trivial accessory since it is about a 2 foot step into the coach. I tried to figure out what was wrong but it seemed to be in the motor. I called the emergency service number and was referred to a service center about 10 miles away. That was the good news. The bad news was they didn’t have the needed part – more time and patience. It took from 9:30am to 3:30pm for them to figure out what part they needed, then find and install it. We even drove to another RV place to get the part. That put us on the road from Michigan City, IN just in time to hit the peak of the Chicago area rush hour. C’est la Vie. We slogged about 160 miles through the traffic and construction for 4 hours, then found a nice campground in Illinois, just before the Wisconsin border. Looks like we will get to Badlands National Park a half day later than planned but, since we planned to spend several days in the area, it is no big deal.

Got a pretty early start and drove about 560 miles today. Very little traffic and no navigational challenges (I-90 West; drive 560 miles through Wisconsin and Minnesota, exit at campground in Mitchell, SD!). This campground has a phone line for campers to use for email so this was our first chance to send a trip report. Hope all is well. Please write back if you have any suggestions for places to visit from the Badlands through Glacier National Park then through the Canadian Rockies (Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper) or even just to say Hi.

An extraordinary day. We started in Mitchell, SD with a drive to Badlands National Park, 200 miles to the west. This 200 miles was more difficult than the 560 miles we drove yesterday. As we drove on to the prairie, we were greeted by 40 MPH winds from the south; a tricky, irregular crosswind that made the motorhome feel like it was continually being passed by a big truck! Stopped for gas midway on the trip and struck up a conversation with a motorcyclist who was getting gas at the same time. He was on the verge of stopping due to the cross-wind. It was a pretty short conversation though since he bought $2.75 worth of gas while I pumped $97 worth.

Badlands National Park was a wonderful surprise. Mile after mile of magnificent eroded colorful rock formations in intricate shapes (see photos) with the added bonus of Bison and prairie dogs (more photos). We did the Visitor Center and hiked several short trails and stopped at perhaps 15 scenic overlooks, each one more interesting than the last.

By mid-afternoon we had run out of overlooks so we headed to the famous “Wall Drug” in Wall, SD. Very touristy but the ice water was free and the ice cream was great. There was also a DeLorean parked out front with the license plate, “OUT A TME” (for you “Back to the Future” fans).

Back to the campground for dinner. The wind is now at least 50 mph so we decide to eat in and Sandy cooked the salmon in the microwave instead of my grilling it on the barbeque. Just before dinner we notice the lightning and went outside for a great light show as the Eastern sky is filled with cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning strikes off in the distance.

Today was the day for viewing mountain sculpture. We drove from Badlands to Mount Rushmore (see obligatory tourist photo) and then on to Crazy Horse Mountain, a remarkable complex of Native American culture dominated by the huge sculpture of Chief Crazy Horse. The sculpting has been underway since 1947 by a Polish Bostonian commissioned by the Lokata Indian tribe, and my estimate is that it is perhaps 20% complete. The original sculptor died in 1982, but his wife and 7 of his 10 children are working to continue the project. In addition to the sculpture, there are plans to build a university and medical school at the base of the mountain. All lofty goals and dreams. Then again, one of the themes of the Crazy Horse Foundation is “Keeping Dreams Alive”. As is often the case it’s the journey that matters far more than the destination.

Butter is back to normal, sleeping next to Sandy’s pillow and sitting where she can watch what’s going on (see photo).

So ends our first week on the road. 2060 miles, two state parks, three national parks and monuments. After another day here in Custer, SD we head northwest through Wyoming and Montana for three days in Glacier National Park. In 1977 we visited Glacier on our way back from Seattle. We loved it so much we promised ourselves we would get back there soon. Well, 26 years isn’t exactly “soon” but “Keeping Dreams Alive” applies to us as well.