DAY NINE-LIFE IS GOOD

Today was a wonderful travel day as with sunshine and NO WIND.  We traveled through the Rocky Mountains  and there is still six to seven feet of snow pack at higher elevations.  Locals are worried about additional flooding when the melted snow adds to the already swollen rivers.  I spoke with a farmer who lives at 5,500 feet about 80 miles southeast of Great Falls and he said they had heavy snow last night.  However, it's now a very pleasant 64 at 7:30 p.m. (Central Time). We arrived in Great Falls, Montana at about 4 p.m. and plan to travel to Shelby, MT tomorrow to provision for entry into Canada.

ROCK FORMATIONS BESIDE I-15

MINING OPERATION ON THE MOUNTAIN

HERE'S A SIGN YOU DON'T SEE IN THE EAST

LUNCH BESIDE THE ROAD IN THE ROCKIES

FLOODING IN MONTANA

OUR TIRE COVER SAYS IT ALL

DAY EIGHT-MEMORIAL DAY IN WYOMING & INTO MONTANA

We traveled 397 miles today after leaving Rapid City at 9 a.m.   I-90 through the corner of  Wyoming was very windy making driving challenging at times.  After lunch it started to rain and the rain and wind was with us until we arrived in Laurel, Montana at about 5 p.m.  The highest temperature we saw all day was 50 and believe it or not, there is a winter weather advisory in effect tonight.

MONTANA-SNOW ON MOUNTAIN ON MEMORIAL DAY

WYOMING HILLS ON HIGH PLAINS

WYOMING SNOW BRAKES ON I-90

MONTANA SNOW ON MOUNTAINS

DAY SEVEN-A RAINY SUNDAY IN SOUTH DAKOTA

The rain started before midnight last night and continues today; the National Weather Service reported rainfall of 1 1/2 inches with another inch predicted for Rapid City and surrounding counties. They've issued flood warnings which don't expire until 3 p.m. tomorrow.  Depending on the situation tomorrow morning we may hit-the-road or hold-up for another day and wait for the weather to improve.  Just a few days ago 70 miles of I-90 was closed due to flooding, however it supposed to be open now with some areas of standing water.  Highs were only in the 40's today and with the rain, it feels C.O.L.D.

We worshiped this morning with the congregation of the First Wesleyan Church in Rapid City.  The Pastor gave an inspirational message "Defeating the Enemy" based upon Ephesians 6:13-18 "Putting on the Armor of God."

We didn't do much today because of the rain, so here are some pictures from earlier this week.

THE CORN PALACE IN MITCHELL, SD, THE DESIGNS ARE
 MADE  USING  8 DIFFERENT COLORS OF EAR CORN 

BONNIE AND BEN AT MOUNT RUSHMORE

NANCY AND DON AT MOUNT RUSHMORE

DAY SIX-A DOWN DAY

This morning Nancy did laundry and I did chores.  After lunch we drove to Sturgis to see the town which hosts  one of the largest motorcycle events in the world.  Sturgis is just a small town where it seems most all the businesses cater to the motorcycle crowd.  A young clerk at the Harley dealership described the annual event to us this way: "If you catch every light in town on red, you can still cross town in five minutes, but last year during the bike thing it took me a hour and half to cross town; there were 600,000 bikers in town.  My Dad owns a bar and we love it, because it allows us to go on vacations."

This evening we attended the "Flying T Chuckwagon Supper and Show" where we ate Barbecued Buffalo dinners "cowboy style" from tin plates.  The cowboys who served the meal then entertained us with an excellent musical show of cowboy and country swing  music.

We've decided to stay an extra night in Rapid City and now plan to hit-the-road again Monday morning.

DAY FIVE-HAVING FUN IN SOUTH DAKOTA

Yesterday we attended the evening program at Mount Rushmore and it was very inspiring.  The Ranger gave a  patriotic presentation followed by a film about the four Presidents depicted on the mountain.  All veterans in attendance we invited onto the stage for the flag lowering ceremony and special recognition was given to us Viet Nam Vets.

This morning we visited Custer State Park and got to see Antelope, Deer, Bison and Big Horn Sheep.

                                      
                                       

Later we visited the Crazy Horse Monument where the mountain sculpture is many times larger than Mount Rushmore and is being build entirely with private funds.  We also got to see Native American Dancers perform tribal dances.  At about 2:30 p.m. the temperature dropped and it started blowing snow; of course we were at 6,000 feet elevation.

IT WAS A GREAT DAY

DAY FOUR-SOUTH DAKOTA

The weather was fair and sunny today and it was a wonderful travel day.  Before we left Mitchell we visited the "Worlds Only Corn Palace"  which opened in 1892 and the exterior of the building is decorated each year with a new design using 8 different colors of ear corn.  Early settlers displayed their agriculture bounty on the buildings exterior to prove the fertility of the soil and to attract immigrant farmers to settle in Mitchell.

Later in the day we stopped at "Wall Drug" in Wall, South Dakota and explored for a while and then had pie for lunch.  Today we entered the Mountain Time Zone and are now two hours earlier than in Virginia.  We traveled only 287 mules today and arrived in Rapid City, SD early this afternoon where we're spending three nights and two days in a campground.

NANCY AT WALL DRUG

THE BAD LANDS OF SOUTH DAKOTA

DAY THREE-1,379 MILES FROM HOME

We're now in Mitchell, South Dakota and again we're overnighting in a Walmart lot.  Yesterday morning we left Kentucky and drove 460 miles through Indiana, Illinois and into Iowa where we stayed at the Walmart lot in Davenport.  It was a good travel day with clouds in the morning and sunny in the afternoon with a high in the 80's.  We stopped at Camping World in Greenwood, Indiana where Ben and Bonnie purchased a new water pump. The remainder of the day was uneventful and just as we were eating dinner it started to rain.  At about 3:15 a.m. we experienced high winds, heavy rain and lightning; it was really odd  to see the black-out it when the electricity went out and all the businesses and street/parking lot lights went dark.

Today we started driving in the rain and drove in and out of rain most of the day.  It was extremely windy much of the time and the winds blowing out of the north from across the huge praire fields hit us broadside most of the day.  Combined with the wind and rain the work zones and very rough roads made driving dicey at times. It was a long day today as we drove 510 miles.  So far our diesel fuel cost has been under $4.00/gallon, so-far-so-good.

Day One

Today is the first day of our great adventure to explore Alaska and as things stand now we plan for the trip to last approximately three months.  We met our friends Ben and Bonnie near Charleston at the WV Turnpike Morton Service Plaza (Mile 72) and began our trip in earnest.  Both couples are traveling in their respective Foretravel motor homes and both are towing Jeep Wranglers.  We traveled 400+ miles today and we're overnighting in the Walmart parking lot in Louisville, KY.  I'll glad we're off the road as we're experiencing a very strong thunderstorm with high winds, driving rain and even some hail.