DAY 81: WE'RE HOME

At the rest area east of the the second I-64 toll plaza in WV we said our goodbyes to Bonnie and Ben; from there they would take I-77 home and it seemed strange to be traveling alone for the first time in more than 80 days.  We arrived home about four this afternoon after an uneventful trip from Lexington, KY.  Tomorrow we start the tasks of unloading and clean-up, and we're not looking forward to the several days hard work.  Luckily though, when we got home it was in the low 80's and the forecast is for the 80's again tomorrow before the heavy rain this weekend.

In a week or so I plan to post a trip summary and stats such as MPG, fuel cost, etc.  It was a great trip and we all want to do it again.

GOD BLESS AMERICA WHERE WE HAVE THE FREEDOM TO EXPLORE THE WORLD HE MADE

DAY 80: THE KENTUCKY HORSE PARK

Today was a beautiful day in Kentucky and we took advantage of the sunshine by visiting the Kentucky Horse Park.  The Horse Park is a huge complex with large barns, museums, show rings, famous horses, mares w/foals, etc.  Below are some of what we enjoyed:

RIDER DRESSED AS ANNIE OAKLEY ON AN AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE

COWGIRL ON A BEAUTIFUL PALOMINO

IRISH PONY

THE SPANISH-NORMAN HORSE IS THE RE-CREATION OF THE MEDIEVAL KNIGHT'S CHARGER

DID YOU KNOW THE LEGEND OF A HORSESHOE OVER THE DOOR?

BONNIE TAKING PICTURE OF MINIATURE HARNESS RACING HORSE

RETIRED RACE HORSE

FAMOUS BAY HORSE "CIGAR" HAD A 16-RACE WIN STREAK IN 1994-96 AND IN HIS CAREER HE WON ALMOST $10 MILLION.  IN 1997 HE WAS SYNDICATED FOR $25 MILLION AND RETIRED TO STUD IN KENTUCKY.  AS IT TURNED OUT NONE OF THE MARES HE SERVICED GOT WITH FOAL, AND AN INSURANCE COMPANY IN ITALY PAID A $25 MILLION INSURANCE CLAIM.

DAY 79: INDIANA & TO THE KENTUCKY HORSE PARK

We didn't have but about 165 miles to travel today and were in no hurry to leave the campground at Lynnville; so we didn't get-on-the-road until 11 a.m.  We traveled east on I-64 through Louisville, KY and the traffic was heavy, but we had no problem.  We arrived at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington by mid-afternoon and got settled in their campground.  Bonnie, Ben, Nancy and I had a nice dinner at O'Charlies Restaurant.  We're planning to visit the Horse Park tomorrow and the weather is supposed to be nice again as it was today.

THE KENTUCKY HORSE PARK CAMPGROUND IS REALLY NICE, WITH LARGE SITES AND MANICURED GRASS JUST LIKE THE HORSES ENJOY

BEN, BONNIE (W/RYDER ON HER LAP) & NANCY RELAX IN THE SHADE

DAY 78: MISSOURI , ILLINOIS & INDIANA

This morning it was overcast when we left the campground and fueled at the Pilot Truck Stop in Higgensville, MO.  As we headed east on I-70 toward St. Louis it remained cloudy; my favorite kind of travel day.  The traffic was heavy as we passed through St. Louis and saw the "Arch."  On the eastern side of St. Louis we picked-up I-64 and soon after we stopped at a rest area and ate lunch.  After we crossed into Illinois we were surprised when we saw a wild turkey beside the interstate, and the turkey didn't seem at all concerned by the traffic.  At 3 p.m. we stopped for the day and we're spending the night at a small government RV Park & Fish Camp in Lynnville, Indiana. 

MARTIN LUTHER KING BRIDGE ACROSS THE MISSOURI RIVER IN ST. LOUIS

LYNNVILLE LAKE BOAT RAMP

THERE MUST BE SOME LARGE BASS IN THE LAKE

DAY 77: A DAY OF REST IN MISSOURI

On Sunday after four days of hard travel we decided to stay put in Higginsville, MO and rest-up.  Nancy and I attended services at the First Baptist Church of Higginsville this morning where we were warmly welcomed. After church we drove to Warrensburg where we had a nice lunch at a little restaurant downtown.  We returned to the campground and Nancy was doing laundry and I was just "chill'n" when at about 3 p.m. a violent thunderstorm hit the area.  First there were very ominous looking black clouds and then strong winds (later reported to be up to 95 mph) and finally the rain.  The wind and "sideways" rain continued for more than an hour before the storm moved off.  Other than some downed tree limbs and some erosion there didn't seem to be much damage, at least not in the campground.

THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF HIGGINSVILLE

DAY 76: NEBRASKA, KANSAS & INTO MISSOURI

Today was another travel day and we left north Platte, Nebraska at 8 a.m. and headed east on I-80.  At 10 a.m. when we stopped for fuel at the Pilot Truck Center in Wood River, NE and it was already a hot 86 degrees.  We exited I-80 onto NE-77, then NE-2 planning to turn onto KS-29 but found the route closed because of flooding of the Missouri River.  We had to detour onto NE-75 which took us quite a distance out-of-our-way in order to connect with Rt 36 and eventually Rt 29 further east.  We finally found a grocery store lot in Auburn, NE where we could stop for a late lunch.  The traffic through Kansas City was very heavy and we were grateful that it wasn't a work day during rush hour.  It was almost 6 p.m. and 95 degrees when we arrived at the Great Escape RV Park in Higginsville, MO.  We traveled 483 miles today and a total of 1,775 miles in the last four days.

I-80 PASSES UNDER THE GREAT PLATTE RIVER ROAD ARCHWAY MONUMENT

DAY 75: WYOMING & INTO NEBRASKA

It was a warm 69 degrees at 6:30 a.m. and reached the mid 90's by afternoon.  We left Buffalo, MT at 8 a.m. and  drove south on I-25 to the Flying-J at Casper, Wyoming where fueled-up.  We saw lots of Antelope along both sides of I-25 and a buck deer with a huge rack.  After lunch at the rest area at the junction of I-25 and Rt 26, we took 26-East.  Rt 26 follows the route of the old "Oregon Trail" and passes through ranch land and some very small towns.  One of the towns we passed through was Fort Laramie, with a population of only 243.  We encountered some short construction delays, but weren't held-up very long.  After entering Nebraska we continued to I-80 East and we're spending the night at the WalMart in North Platte.

IT'S NO BIG SURPRISE THAT THE SPORTS TEAMS IN THIS CITY ARE KNOWN AS THE "GHOSTS"

THIS ROCK FORMATION IS NAMED "CHIMNEY ROCK"

 NEBRASKA TOWN ALONG THE OLD "OREGON TRAIL"

THERE WAS JUST THIS ONE LONE TREE AND THESE CATTLE WERE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF IT'S SHADE WHILE THE TEMPERATURE WAS IN THE MID-90'S

THIS SMALL TOWN IS OBVIOUSLY PROUD OF IT'S COWBOY HERITAGE

DAYS 73 & 74: LITTLE BIGHORN BATTLEFIELD & INTO WYOMING

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 03, 2011:  Nancy and I had breakfast at the local cafe before we departed the St. Mary's, MT campground at 8:20 a.m.  It was a cool 54 degrees and sunny when we stopped for fuel in Shelby where we purchased our cheapest diesel so far on the trip at 3.829/gal.  By the time we reached Helena it had started to drizzle rain; soon the sky got dark and we experienced several rain storms and once it even hailed.  By 4:30 p.m. we were all ready to stop for the day so we're spending the night at the Bozeman, MT WalMart.

YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'LL SEE ON THE HIGHWAY

BLACKFEET INDIAN RESERVATION MONUMENT (I ALWAYS HEARD "BLACKFOOT" BUT "BLACKFEET" IS CORRECT, THEY WERE SO NAMED BECAUSE THEIR MOCCASINS  WERE BLACKENED BY CAMPFIRES)

THURSDAY AUGUST 04, 2011:  When we left Bozeman, MT it was a sunny 60 degrees.  When we arrived at the Little Bighorn National Park at about 11:30 a.m. we were surprised when we found the few RV parking spots full.  By that time we had no choice but to continue through the entire five mile tour loop with motor homes and tow vehicles still attached.  After we made the loop and exited the park we parked the motor homes at a nearby casino and returned to the park via the jeeps.  

We enjoyed a very informative "Ranger Talk" about the history prior to and during the battle infamously called "Custer's Last Stand."  I found that much of what I'd been taught about the battle was false and that Custer was unfairly blamed for the defeat. The Indian Tribes had agreed to treaties which gave them a reservation with lands including the Black Hills which were sacred to them. When gold was discovered in the Black Hills the government redrew reservation boundaries to exclude the area so the "white man" could access the gold.  Further, they had been promised food which didn't materialize and they were forced to leave the reservation to hunt for food.  The Army was ordered to return the Indians to the reservation, and if they wouldn't return, they were to be considered hostiles and eliminated.   Custer's 7th Calvary was only one of three units committed to the battle and Custer had no way of knowing that the other two units had met heavy resistance and weren't in place to support his position.  He and his men were all alone and were vastly outnumbered by angry Indians who had been betrayed by the US Government. Custer and his men had little cover and we even forced to kill their horses so they could take position behind their bodies.  Once the men of the 7th ran out of ammunition they were over run and killed.

By the time we returned to the motor homes it was 97 degrees, so we decided to overnight at a campground about 100 miles away in Buffalo, Wyoming.  The campground is very nice and we're running both air conditioners and hope to enjoy a restful night before we hit-the-road again at 8 in the morning.

IF YOU LOOK CLOSE YOU CAN SEE WHITE MARKERS ON THE BATTLEFIELD.  THESE MARKERS HAVE THE NAME OF SOLDERS KILLED ON THAT SPOT.   THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE IN THE US AND ONE OF ONLY THREE IN THE WORLD WHICH MARKS THE PLACES WHERE INDIVIDUAL SOLDERS DIED.  IN 2009 "RED" MARKERS WITH THE INDIAN'S NAMES WERE PLACED TO MARK WHERE THEY DIED.

THE DAY AFTER THE BATTLE THE INDIANS HAD WITHDRAWN AND THE OTHER ARMY UNITS HASTILY BURIED THE DEAD IN SHALLOW GRAVES.  YEARS LATER THE BODIES OF THE OFFICERS WERE RETURNED TO THEIR FAMILIES.  THE BODIES OF THE ENLISTED SOLDERS, 47% OF WHOM WERE IMMIGRANTS, WERE REBURIED IN A MASS GRAVE MARKED BY THIS MONUMENT.

  

DAY 72: EXPLORING THE "MANY GLACIER" AREA

Today was another beautiful sunny day even though it was a cool 63 degrees at 10 a.m.  However, by late afternoon the temperature was 82. We explored another area of Glacier National Park named "Many Glacier." According to a roadside information marker, in 1850 there were 150 Glaciers in what is now Glacier National Park, but if current melting trends continue there will be none remaining by 2030.  If that happens it will be a dramatic change to the landscape and habitat of the park.

VIEW FROM OUR CAMPSITE LOOKING TOWARD GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

ON OUR WAY TO "MANY GLACIER" WE HAD TO STOP FOR THESE HORSES WALKING ON RT. 89, THE MAIN ROAD IN AND OUT OF ST. MARY'S, MT

MOUNTAINS IN THE "MANY GLACIER" AREA

WILD "CHOKE" BERRIES

THE HISTORIC "GLACIER LODGE"

THERE ARE MANY WATER FALLS IN THE PARK

DAY 71: GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

When we were on our way to Alaska this Spring our plan was to visit Glacier National Park.  However, we found out that there was still 20 feet of snow there and the Park was still closed.  So on our return trip we routed south specifically through this area of Montana to the east side of Glacier so we could visit Park.  After arriving we found out that the road through the park wasn't open until July 13th and even then it took dozers to clear the snow. We wanted to travel the "Going-To-The-Sun Highway" which crosses the Park east to west.  This morning Nancy and I rode a park shuttle bus as far a Logan Pass and decided that wasn't the way to do the trip; so we rode the bus back to the Visitor's Center and got our jeep.   We had a great trip and drove the entire 50 mile length of the "Going-To-The-Sun Highway" and back. As the name suggests the highway climbs high into the mountains with beautiful vistas everywhere you look.  There was quite a bit of traffic and some road construction delays, however it was warm and sunny and we had a spectacular day.   

VIEW FROM THE GOING-TO-THE-SUN HIGHWAAY

A TURN AHEAD OF US ON GOING-TO-THE-SUN HIGHWAY

SNOW BESIDE THE ROAD ON AUGUST 1ST

THIS MOUNTAIN GOAT WAS HARD TO SEE UNTIL HE WALKED OUT OF THE SNOW AND ONTO THE GRASS

WATER FROM MELTING SNOW AND ICE

AS WE DROVE BY THIS WATER WE HAD TO RUN OUR WIPERS

MORE WATER BY THE ROADSIDE

RAPIDS IN MOUNTAIN STREAM

WILD DUCKS IN STREAM

ONE OF THE TUNNELS ON THE ROADWAY

LOOKING ACROSS LAKE McDONALD

WILD HUCKLEBERRIES 

SNOW AND ICE IN AUGUST