Walk the Dinosaur

Hello friends, we’re back! We’re not back on the road or anything like that, but the blog is being updated again! We’re pretty well settled into our house in Omaha. Izzy is doing great in first grade, while Charlotte and I work from home. There’s a new puppy to keep us all on our toes, and sadly, the truck and RV are gone. The blog is now over a year out of date, but I am going to attempt to finish chronicling our RV adventures. I’m hoping to get the details documented before we forget them.

Was (Not Was) - Walk The Dinosaur

August 11 – August 20, 2021

When last we left you, we had just wrapped up our adventures in Yellowstone and the Grand Teton area. We hitched up and headed south, hauling the rig through Jackson, Wyoming headed for the tiny-not-even-really-a-town of Boulder.

After a relatively short but pretty drive, we arrived at Wind River View Campground. This is not a terribly impressive park, but it was in the direction we needed to head and was only $10/night using our RPI membership. We stayed a week which allowed us to settle in, catch up on laundry, receive a couple of packages, and take a bit of a break after several pretty full weeks of exploring.

We were looking forward to an easy week, so we didn’t exactly fill our schedule while we were there. And there’s not a ton to do even if we wanted to. The couple times we left the rig, we went north to Pinedale, which had a nice outdoor burger stand, a park, an expensive grocery store, and a brewery.

Checking out the city park in Pinedale, WY.
Izzy loved seeing this dog swimming through the pond at the park.

After our week was up, we headed south again, on our way to Vernal, Utah and Steinaker State Park.

It was another scenic drive. We got to drive over a dam, and we stopped for a nice picnic lunch on the way.

Does it really count as a picnic if you bring your house with you?

Steinaker State Park is pretty modern by state park standards and has some nice RV sites, but we still struggled a bit with parking in our curved pull-thru site. We had a nice gazebo though, and Izzy was able to play a bit with a kid in a neighboring RV.

We did a bit of exploring at the park, which is located on Steinaker Reservoir. I think it is a popular boating spot, but the water level was very low while we were there.

It must get wild on the lake during the summer.

We only stayed for three nights, but Charlotte was able to go into town, get her hair cut, and shop at a Walmart for the first time in several weeks.

The highlight of our stay was visiting Dinosaur National Monument. We drove to the park’s Quarry Visitor Center located in Utah, but this national monument is pretty big and has another visitor center in Colorado.

As the name suggests, this visitor center is focused on a quarry where they found a large number and variety of dinosaur fossils. Way back in 1915 fossil hunters realized what an amazing site they had and preserved a hill with partially excavated fossils. A building was built around the hill, and now visitors can walk through and see fossilized dinosaur bones in situ.

We rode a tram from the parking area up to the quarry.

It was very cool to see the fossils in place. The hill is large and there are a large number of species on display. There is also some cool technology to help visitors identify the bones they are looking at. There are also some displays to provide additional information.

After viewing the quarry, we hiked down the hill. On the way we spotted some petroglyphs and small animals.

Do you see it?

That’s it for our time in Wyoming and northern Utah. See you down the road!

See you down the road.

Mexico Beach, Florida

May 6, 2022

After two and a half years of exploring, adventuring, and chasing 70° weather, we have decided to come off the road and settle down. We are so grateful for the time we had together and all the amazing sights and experiences we were able to share. We’ll miss it dearly.

They say all good things come to an end, and I suppose that’s true. If you’re lucky though, they’re replaced by other, different, good things. We’re now under contract to buy a house in Omaha where we will be close to friends and family, have a nearby lake to explore, and we can walk Izzy to class this fall. She’ll be starting first grade and is nervous about attending school for the first time.

Thanks to those of you who have been following us along our journey. I will slowly but surely get the blog wrapped up.

And thanks to all of our new friends we made out on the road, who helped make our adventures so much more enjoyable. Come visit us in Omaha! We’d be happy to help find you a place to park.

Lastly, if anyone is interested in cramming decades worth of memories into a few short years, we have an entire lifestyle for sale. Truck, trailer, hitch, internet plans, campground memberships, all the gadgets and accessories to make life on the road easier are going to be for sale. We can teach you how to make it all work and you could be enjoying the Florida sun this winter while the rest of us are freezing.

See you down the road.

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Grand Teton

The American Scene (The Southwest) - Grand Teton

August 8 – August 10, 2021

Please enjoy some properly majestic music as we discuss one of the most beautiful, majestic places in America.

From our campground east of Yellowstone, we hauled our rig through the park itself, heading out the south gate directly into Grand Teton National Park.

It was a scenic drive, and we stopped for a picnic lunch on the shores of Yellowstone Lake.

A very nicely placed picnic table!

We exited the northern section of Grand Teton and arrived at our stop for the next three nights, Fireside Buffalo Valley RV Park. This park was not terribly impressive, but it does hold the distinction of being the most expensive campground we have ever paid for at around $93/night, which is why we only stayed here for three nights.

It at least had a convenient gas station on site where we fueled up for $4.09/gallon of diesel, which felt exorbitant at the time, but writing this in April 2022, I’d gladly pay today.

After setting up, we had some time to head back into the park. First, just past the park entrance we got our inflatable kayak inspected for zebra mussels and received a permit to allow us to paddle it inside the park. Then we visited the Colter Bay visitor’s center, picked up a Junior Ranger workbook for Izzy, and paid for additional boating permits.

The next day, we set out to explore. Grand Teton has plenty of wilderness and wildlife, but not like Yellowstone. The big draw for the park, in my humble opinion, are the gorgeous mountain views. Distant wildfires had been putting a haze in the air for the last few weeks, but had just cleared up, so we were actually able to see the Tetons.

One of the sites to visit in the park is an old barn. It doesn’t seem to be terribly historically significant, but it is well preserved, looks old and rustic, and has the mountains behind it, which is enough for it to claim to be the most photographed barn in the world (famous for being famous?) and to have it’s own Wikipedia page. Izzy was not impressed and is still quite vocal in her dislike for the old barn if you ask her about it today.

Don’t let her smile fool you, Izzy is no fan of old barns.

Next, we stopped by Kelly Warm Spring. At only 80° F, it is too cool to be a hot spring, but it is the right temperature for tropical fish. Over the years, some people have dumped their aquariums out here and there are now exotic fish you’d normally find at the pet store living in the spring.

After about a week straight of picnic lunches, we headed south of the park into the city of Jackson for lunch. On the way back, we stopped at the Jackson National Fish Hatchery to see some bigger, native fish. They have a little pond on site and allow fishing, so bring your pole if you visit.

Heading back into the park, we drove past the Jackson Hole Airport which is the only commercial airport inside a national park. I’d love to fly in someday, I’m sure the views are amazing.

We then explored the area around Jenny Lake.

Then we drove up Signal Mountain and ate a picnic dinner at the peak.

After dinner, we popped into Signal Mountain Marina to check it out for our planned kayaking trip the next day. On the way out, Izzy spotted this bull elk, one of the few big animals we saw at the park.

On the way back to the RV, we stopped at Oxbow Bend to enjoy magic hour.

The next day, we headed out early to get a parking spot at the Signal Mountain Marina. We inflated the kayak and hit the waters of Jackson Lake. Our little inflatable kayak moves like a brick through the water, so after some tough paddling, we stopped for a break on the rocky southern shore of an island called Donaho Point.

Despite the lack of vegetation there were a bunch of curious bees hanging out there, so we quickly put back into the water. Our views were fantastic as we were paddling towards the mountains. The weather was also great as it wasn’t too hot despite the sun.

Our goal was to make it to Elk Island, but due to moving so slowly, we never made it. Instead we stopped at what we think was Marie Island. It’s so tiny it doesn’t even show up on most maps. We ate the lunch we packed with us and hiked around a bit.

Gotta have your boating hat on.

After lunch we headed back to the marina. The wind had picked up and luckily was pushing us back to shore which allowed us to make the trip in half the time. If we had to paddle against it, I’m not sure we we would have made it!

Several hours paddling in the sun left us exhausted, so after we hauled out we headed back to the rig to start packing up. Our time in Grand Teton was short, but very memorable!

Until next time, see you down the road.

Yellowstone

Whiskey Myers - Stone (Audio)

July 31 – August 7, 2021

After our adventures in South Dakota, we said goodbye to the Meiers and our new adopted home state and pointed Big Blue Truck west, with a destination of the world’s first national park. Or as our artist of the post, Whiskey Myers, (no relation to Dan and Susan, I don’t think) might put it, we “turned to ‘Stone”.

It’s hard to find music about Yellowstone without pulling up a bunch of information about the show of the same name. Even the song above is now associated with it. I understand it is very popular, but I’ve never watched it. Based on YouTube clips and descriptions that accompany the music, it seems to be about Kevin Costner’s very rich family who owns a whole bunch of land and likes to either dress fancy or cosplay as cowboys. They fly around in their helicopter as they struggle with wealthy landowner problems like the government and poor people. For some reason Yellowstone has very strong Paramount branding (other shows don’t seem to do this), but isn’t actually available to stream on Paramount+. Weird.

We had a couple of longer drive days, and stopped for a single night at an RV park along the way. The park was fairly unremarkable, but was within easy walking distance of a solid local fast food restaurant. Izzy tried some real fried chicken for the first time and was excited to inform her Lola that she now eats “chicken on the bone”.

We stopped at a couple of interesting rest areas along the way. The first had what appeared to be a family reunion going on. There was a playground and a few covered picnic areas, but it wasn’t that nice. There must be a serious lack of parks in the area.

We also stopped at a rest area that abutted the Museum of Flight and Aerial Firefighting. The museum was closed, but we got to check out some of the planes through the fence.

After a scenic drive the second day, we arrived at Mountain View Resort & RV. I think this park is newly setup to host RVs and the site layout is a little odd. We ended up with a pull-in/back-out site, but there was enough room for our truck to pull all the way through. Once settled, it was a fine place to park and provided us with some great views.

Of course, our objective for the week was to explore Yellowstone, which is massive. We had about a 30 minute drive to get to the east entrance station and then another 40 minutes just to get to the main loop road that circles the park. We ended up spending a lot of time in the truck. On the days we headed out, we would pack a picnic lunch, leave as early as possible, and then head back in the late afternoon. We managed to see quite a bit of the park, but sadly not as many big animals as we would have liked. We learned a lot thanks to the Just Ahead app, which would chime in and give us the history of sites as we approached them. I’d highly recommend it or something similar when exploring the larger national parks.

From here, I’ll just let the photos to the talking, plugging in some captions where I can.

The Lower Falls on the Yellowstone River at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Getting some work done in the Junior Ranger booklet.
We always saw bison driving through Hayden Valley.
Wallowing.
These little guys were play fighting.
Exploring the mudpots.
Dragon’s Mouth Spring
This guy was hanging out near the mudpots. How many bison get burned on all the crazy natural features?
Expensive, mediocre milkshakes from the Lake General Store. The rocking chairs and porch overlooking the shores of Yellowstone Lake were nice though.
Lunch near Mammoth Hot Springs.
Don’t take your Camry off-roading through the shrubs in Yellowstone.
We waited around for more than ten minutes waiting for this geyser to erupt.
It started going off as soon as we drove away.
Grand Prismatic Spring
Finding a spot to view Old Faithful
Hiking Pelican Creek Natre Trail

That was our adventure in Yellowstone. Join us next time as we head south to visit the majestic Grand Tetons. See you down the road!

The Black Hills of Dakota

Black Hills of Dakota from Calamity Jane (1953)

July 17 – 30, 2021

“Take me back to the Black Hills, the Black Hills of Dakota,” sings Doris Day as the titular Calamity Jane. After spending two great weeks finding adventure in those hills we can relate, as we certainly want to be taken back there. Well, maybe not right now while things are probably still covered in snow, but once it warms up again, sure.

When we last we left you, we were outside of Medora and Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We hitched up and left the upper Dakota and headed almost straight south to the lesser Dakota, and the town of Hermosa, just outside of Rapid City.

Our drive was pretty easy, along quiet highways. We found what we thought was the perfect place to stop, stretch, and get lunch halfway through the drive. Crow Buttes Mercantile is a store and café out in the middle of nowhere, with enough room to park an RV. Unfortunately, they were not open when we got there. Fortunately, we had taken our kitchen with us, so we put out a couple of slides, made some sandwiches and then hit the highway again.

Straight out of the Old West.
Risk of what, exactly?

Eventually, we made it to our home for the week, Southern Hills RV Park & Campground just south of Rapid City. This park didn’t have any amenities other than a laundry room, but it was very well kept, had a decent little bar & grill within walking distance, and also was, for unknown reasons, home to giant busts of JFK, Reagan, and Bush Jr.

We got some nice sunsets.
And a big rainbow.
Pretty decent likenesses. Have you seen the Ronaldo bust?
Enlarged to show texture.

For our first Black Hills adventure, Izzy and I visited Dinosaur Park, which is a dinosaur sculpture garden set on the top of a hill overlooking the Rapid City. These dinosaurs were built way back in 1936 by the WPA, and look a bit dated by modern paleontological standards (no protofeathers here). But dinosaurs are cool in any shape or form, these guys were big, and no one seemed to mind if kids climbed all over them. Now I’m no economist (though I do have a degree in economics), but maybe we should put people back to work by hiring them to build giant dinosaurs again.

Stegosaurus used to be my favorite dinosaur. Then I learned it was probably the dumbest dinosaur and now I’m not so sure.
Absolute unit.
Get out of here Dimetrodon, you’re not even a dinosaur.

We also braved the heat to visit Storybook Island, some kind of privately owned but free park/playground/copyright infringement zone.

You enter the park through this castle gate. Izzy is up there somewhere.

The park has playground equipment as well as a bunch of statues and things for kids to climb on.

We rode the train you can see in the background.

There are also lots of famous copyrighted characters decorating the park. Walt Disney must be spinning in his cryogenic head jar.

We all took a bit of a road trip to the east to see a few different things. One was the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, which is split into two locations. First we stopped at the Delta-09 silo and got to peer down it to see a Minuteman Missile.

They claim to have removed the 1.2 megaton nuclear warhead.

Then we drove to the visitor center where we watched an informational movie, walked through the museum, and Izzy earned a Junior Range badge.

Being a missileer is hard work. Got to have a comfy chair.

After that, we headed into Badlands National Park. We stopped at the visitor’s center to have a picnic lunch, get some information about the park and to pickup a Junior Ranger booklet.

It was hot that afternoon, over 100°, so we didn’t get out of the truck too much. We’ll have to come back to explore more thoroughly sometime. Even if you can’t stop, the views from the road are pretty great, so it’s worth a drive through the park.

It was nice to have some shade to eat under.
Izzy and I “hiked” this short boardwalk trail.

The park exit led us right into Wall, South Dakota, which is famous for its drug store billboards. Of course we had to stop, grab a treat, and check things out. We ate some expensive homemade pie and ice cream and washed it down with 5¢ coffee in one of the cool dining rooms lined with old cowboy art.

Then we explored the rest of the Wall Drug, which is mostly tourist stuff, but actually does have a drug store in the middle.

If you want to get away with a cheap souvenir make sure to bring coins.

On the way back to the RV park we caught a rock to the windshield that developed into a big crack. So I got to spend $650 and half a day getting the last Super Duty windshield in Rapid City installed.

With the windshield fixed, we decided to cool off by going on a hike to a spot called the Devil’s Bathtub. This is a trail near the town of Spearfish that follows a little creek, crossing it several times, until you get to a big pool, apparently used by the devil to clean up or maybe just relax after a stressful day. We packed a lunch, strapped on our waterproof hiking boots (or Teva’s for Charlotte), and hit the trail.

It was fun to hike back and forth across the water, but it is a very popular trail and too crowded for our liking, especially at the bathtub itself. Also, in hindsight, boots were probably not the right choice of footwear, even if they were waterproof. Trying to stay out of the water lead to me putting a foot down on a slippery algae covered rock. My foot shot out from under me and I went down, taking Izzy with me. Luckily we were both okay, and I only bruised my pride and got wet.

After staying a week at Southern Hills, we moved RV parks. We only had to travel 12 miles, and there were a few hours between check-out at the old park and check-in at the new park, so for the first time, we took the RV to Walmart. The lot wasn’t huge but we managed to find some space. I will say, it was super convenient to load groceries straight from the shopping cart into the fridge!

After shopping and lunch, we headed to our home for the next week, Hart Ranch Camping Resort, also located south of Rapid City. We loved this park. It was also very clean and well kept. All the sites have full 50 amp hookups and a paved parking pad with patio, and most have shade. They don’t have any seasonal guests so sites stay uncluttered. The park offers tons of amenities and lots of free family activities. I rented a bike for the week, there were a couple of concerts, free s’mores, candy bar bingo, trivia night with taco buffet, horses, a kiddie train, and even a rodeo!

Even better than all of that was that our friends the Meiers – Dan, Susan, Roman, Eva, and Olivia – made the drive up from Nebraska to join us at the park. They don’t have an RV, but got a taste of the lifestyle by staying in one of the park’s rental units. Unfortunately, their rig was only 30 amp with a single air conditioner. Not great with temps peaking at 108°. So not the most comfortable introduction to RVing, but they didn’t complain and there was plenty to do outside the RV.

Hart Ranch has a fantastic swimming pool and because of the heat we spent a lot of time there. We also explored the activity center, mini-golf course, and playgrounds on property.

One afternoon while Charlotte was busy working, the rest of us piled into the Meier family van and made a short drive to Bear Country USA, a drive-thru wildlife park. This may look like a tourist trap, but it was actually a lot of fun on a hot day. As we slowly drove through the park we got to see elk, reindeer, wolves, big horn sheep, and of course, the bears. Animals could walk right up to your car if they wanted, and some of them did!

There were also a small zoo we walked through with more animals on display.

We then hit up the gift shop. Roman and Eva had been given a souvenir budget before their trip and agonized over what to purchase, while Izzy just asked me to buy her nearly every item in the store. In the end, I think no one bought anything! Gotta save those dollars. Who knows what the next gift shop will bring?

After we got back, Dan and I headed over to the in-park bar for a chance to meet the park manager. The manager wasn’t there, but we drank his or her complimentary beer anyway. Later, we headed over to the Meier RV for a delicious dinner Susan put together.

Lined up by age/size.

The next day was pretty chill. Roman and Eva attended some kind of story event hosted by the park. Then we spent a lot of time at the pool. Izzy and I played candy bar bingo. It took a long time before we won anything, but people kept giving Izzy their candy winnings. That evening we headed to downtown Rapid City for dinner. Dan and I both love cars and trucks as well as drinking craft beers, so we easily fell prey to the many billboards for Firehouse Brewing Company located around the area, which advertise cold beer and have a cool fire truck parked nearby. The food was okay, and the beer a bit disappointing. Not worth the drive into town, the search for parking, and the wait for a table.

The following morning we all headed out to see one of our nation’s most iconic sites, Mount Rushmore. After getting our fill of the impressive view, we hiked the Presidential Trail that brings you to the base of the mountain and puts you that much closer to the giant stone presidents. Along the way we chatted with a park ranger, and visited the sculptor’s studio where Izzy received a Junior Ranger badge.

Learning from a park ranger about the various carving tools like chisels, drills, and dynamite.

We escaped the rising morning heat by watching a move about the creation of the monument and the park, and of course we had to hit up the gift shop, where I believe some of the precious souvenir dollars were parted with.

A sculpture of the sculptor!

We then drove to the town of Custer, where we grabbed some lunch and a couple beers at Mt. Rushmore Brewing Company‘s restaurant called The “Pounding” Fathers (for real).

After lunch we visited the Crazy Horse Memorial. This is not affiliated with the National Park Service, but they have a Junior Ranger program equivalent. So after watching a short documentary about the history of the memorial, Izzy and I ran all around the museum trying to fill out her booklet. She was pretty excited to become a Junior Scout and earn a rock that used to be part of the mountain until it was blasted away.

They’re making progress, but still have a long way to go.
We couldn’t leave without getting a treat.

On the way back to the RV park, we took the highway through Custer State Park and had to stop for a buffalo jam.

Only cross the road at signed crossings.
Izzy slept through all of this.

And because that wasn’t enough adventure for a single day, after we got home, we took a hay wagon ride out to the weekly rodeo on the edge of the RV park grounds.

Riding over to the rodeo.
“Why, yes, this is my first rodeo,” Izzy, probably.

The next day we took advantage of more activities around the park. Dan, Roman, and I started the morning by hitting the driving range, because of course this RV park has an affiliated golf course. Then that evening, we got together to enjoy the park’s taco buffet and trivia night. They also had the bar open so Dan and I could try and check-in a few new beers. Despite that, we managed a respectable third place finish!

Fun Fact – Despite only being there a combined 12 nights, Dan and I account for roughly 10% of all the beer check-ins at Hart Ranch on Untappd.

It was amazing having friends come out and stay at the same RV park as us, but sadly, all good things must come to an end. We had to say our goodbyes as the Meiers hit the road back to Nebraska the next morning. We know vacation dollars and maybe more importantly, vacation days, can be hard to come by, so to have friends spend both of them to come hang out with us is pretty awesome. Thanks again, Dan and Susan, hope to see you guys soon.

A day after the Meiers left, we packed up ourselves and continued our journey out west.

We had a fantastic couple of weeks, and can’t wait to get back to the Black Hills of Dakota. Tune in next time as our adventures continue at America’s largest national park. See you down the road!

Ruff Ryders

DMX - Ruff Ryders' Anthem

July 9 – 16, 2021

Before Ruff Ryders was established as a management company and record label, the Rough Riders were a US cavalry unit led by none other than Theodore Roosevelt. Ol’ Teddy would of course go on to even greater things, including plenty of strong conservation efforts. Those efforts and his ties to the North Dakota badlands eventually resulted in the only American national park named for a single person. Theodore Roosevelt National Park was our next destination, and would kick off our summer tour of several national parks across the western United State. So just like the pioneers of old, we hitched up our wagon and headed west.

It wasn’t long before our first stop. We pulled into a truck stop just off the interstate in Fargo where we got the truck and RV washed, ate some lunch, and had a quick visit and goodbye with my brother.

Waiting in line with the big boys at a Blue Beacon truck wash. There need to be more of these around.
No fancy robot car wash here, just a bunch of dudes with pressure washers.

With our rig clean and our bellies full we hopped back onto the interstate. It’s a long way across North Dakota, so we stopped for the night at the Medina City Park Campground.

This wasn’t a dedicated campground, but a dozen or so parking spots with water and electric around the city park. It was great for just a quick overnight stay, and Izzy enjoyed the playground at the park.

We stayed hitched up to the truck overnight to get a quick start the next morning. We made our way to Belfield, ND and The Crossings Campground.

This was not a fancy RV resort or anything like that. It has zero amenities or extras. Just a fairly level place to park, hookups for water, sewer, and electric, and a dumpster in the back. This was a brand new park and they were still working out some of the kinks when we arrived. Our neighbor’s electric didn’t work properly so he was plugged into our pedestal. Another site’s water connection would spray everywhere if it was turned it on. The sewer hookups were oddly placed and installed. Our site had too many prickly weeds and not enough grass. They installed a big sign for the park while we were there and took a photo of it for their Facebook page so our rig might be immortalized forever in the background of their profile photo. We can’t complain too much though, as this campground was cheaper than most others in the area, and unlike some of the older campgrounds nearby, it has 50-amp electric which kept our two AC units working in the heat. And the spartan campground was fine for us, as we were there to visit the national park.

We got in and setup early enough that we were able to go out and explore, which is not normal for us on a travel day. Theodore Roosevelt National Park has three visitor centers. One each for the north and south units, and Painted Canyon Visitor Center one along I-94 that also functions as a rest area. Painted Canyon was only 10 miles away from our campground, so we headed over. We stopped by the visitor center to pickup a Junior Ranger workbook, looked out on a nice vista, and were lucky enough to to take in a ranger talk about the geology of the park.

After that we went on what was supposed to be a short easy hike. However, the elevation changes and heat (and our lack of conditioning) made it quite a bit more challenging.

The next day, we drove about an hour to visit the park’s north unit. Since we got there around noon, we stopped at the picnic area for some lunch. After our meal we got back into the truck and we’re trying to figure out what to see first when a couple of bison wandered through the parking lot.

After lunch, we braved the heat and hiked a short nature trail where we spotted some bison down in the river.

Izzy decked out in her full hiking outfit, checking out the bison in the river through her monocular.
The monocular came with a little adapter to attach your phone for some blurry/shaky shots.

After our hike, we stopped to check out some interesting rock formations called cannonball concretions.

As we drove further into the park we spotted some more wildlife.

It was a hot day and this deer wanted to drink the gross water on the side of the road. She wasn’t scared off by traffic going past.

We drove to the end of the road stopped for the scenic vista at Oxbow Overlook above the Little Missouri river.

Charlotte and I enjoyed the view and Izzy enjoyed climbing around the shelter.

Charlotte then had a couple of days when she needed to work, so Izzy and I drove about 20 miles down the interstate to the city of Dickinson, ND where we visited the Badlands Dinosaur Museum. We enjoyed some great fossil displays, read a book, and worked on a dinosaur themed jigsaw puzzle.

The pioneers used to ride these babies for miles.
A very impressive triceratops skull.

The dinosaur mesum is part of the Dickinson Museum Center, and our admission included access to a whole campus of historic buildings on site. The nice lady at the admission counter encouraged us to take a tour, and for some reason, Izzy said she wanted to go. So she and I were led on a private tour of all the buildings, including interiors. Our tour guide was a young guy, maybe 18 or 19, but very knowledgeable. Izzy’s enthusiasm faded quickliy in the heat as we walked in the sun from one unairconditioned building to the other, but she made it through around eight exhibits alltogether. Her favorite part was climbing around on big pieces of petrified wood after the tour was over (allowed by park rules!).

After making it through the museum we had to stop and cool off with some ice cream.

For our next adventure, we drove through the Old West town of Medora to get to the park’s southern unit.

Photos for this section will be a bit slim as I sadly lost everything I captured on our DSLR. The stand-alone camera with its big sensor and optical zoom lenses can take some great photos, but the workflow is much more complicated compared to our iPhones and mistakes can happen.

We started out by hitting up the visitor center at the entrance to the park. They had some interesting displays and you can visit Teddy’s old cabin. Izzy was also able to turn in her completed workbook and take the Junior Range pledge to earn her badge.

We out and back through almost the entire park. There is normally a loop you can drive, but the severe erosion had closed a section of the road a few years ago and they were still working on repairs.

We spotted some more bison, a couple of wild horses, and went on some hikes.

We found “Pride Rock”.
We didn’t spot too many bison, but they left “evidence” of their presence all over the place.

We tried hiking through a prairie dog town. It was lightly sprinkling when we set off, but the rain picked up when we were about halfway through and we turned around.

On our way back to the park entrance, we decided to stop and do one last hike on the Wind Canyon trail. This is a short hike that climbs up a hill overlooking another bend in the Little Missouri River. It was a great view and the herd of bison we spotted earlier in the day had moved into the river. I know we got some great photos with the DSLR, which are now sadly lost.

Bison herd on the left.
We never saw any snakes, but found this partial snake skin. Probably a rattler.

Finally, one night before we left we headed back to the Painted Canyon visitor’s center to see the sunset. It was worth the trip.

That will do it for our adventures in North Dakota and Theodore Roosevelt National Park. See you down the road!

the lakes

Taylor Swift - the lakes (Official Lyric Video)

June 18 – July 8, 2021

After cutting a trail (literally) out of our campground near Wisconsin Dells, we headed west to the land o’ lakes. In our song at the top, Taylor sings “Take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die”. I’m not sure which lakes she’s specifically referring to, but with ten thousand chances in the state of Minnesota, I’d guess a poet has died at a few of them.

Our first stop was Lebanon Hills Regional Park Campground, on the southern edge of the Twin Cities. This is a pretty unique campground as it is situated in a large park with 2,000 acres of forests and lakes, but is also right next to a major metro. Of course, we took the opportunity to go shopping. We popped into REI, because we can never have enough outdoor gear and clothing. Then we stopped by IKEA as is required anytime we’re within a 100-mile radius.

Gotta love the all-wheel-steering IKEA carts.

After IKEA, we headed across the street to largest mall in the United States. The Mall of America was a pretty big deal when it opened up back in 1992 and was then the largest mall in the world. I grew up in Fargo which is about four hours away. Back in the day, you were cool if you wore t-shirts showing off exclusive brands like Old Navy and American Eagle which were available at the Mall of America but hadn’t yet made it to North Dakota.

The big mall has seen a few changes. A lot of stores have been swapped out. Knott’s Berry Farm is now Nickelodeon Universe, but the cool Lego store is still there.

Izzy got to stop by Adventure Bay.
Izzy and I popped into this Amazon store.
Prices seem to update in real-time, so weird Amazon pricing quirks are possible. This overpriced bubble sauce is $44.84 per gallon!

After three nights it was time to move on. We headed northwest up to West Battle Lake where we parked outside of a lake cabin we had rented from a friend for the week.

Our rig parked outside the cabin.

We rented a whole cabin so that we could meet up with family. We had a great time spending the week with my parents, brother, aunt and uncle, and cousin.

The cabin was surrounded by lots of birds and dragonflies. Izzy enjoyed learning about them.

Probably a clubtail dragonfly.
I think this little bird is a female downy woodpecker. She flew into the window and was stunned for a bit, but ended up okay.

We went kayaking one afternoon. Charlotte had to work, so my cousin Christine joined Izzy and me in our new inflatable kayak. It did pretty well, but it would have been even better if I had remembered to close the drain hole. It turns out that while a drain hole lets water drain out of a boat, it will also work in the opposite direction. My dad and uncle joined us on the lake with a pair of kayaks from the cabin.

We of course shared plenty of meals, played some games, and even enjoyed some music together.

The town of West Battle Lake hosts a weekly turtle race during the summer. Charlotte and I had to work, so everyone else headed into town. Izzy rented a turtle and gave it a shot.

Lolo helped Izzy with the race.
Izzy was very sad not to win, but I think she still had fun. Video by Christine. Thanks!
Sunsets on the lake brought out some amazing colors.
Evenings on the lake were pretty gorgeous too.

It was great to spend the week with family right next to the water. Our time together was over all too quickly. Everyone else headed back to Fargo, Nebraska, Vermont, or Chicago, while we drove just a little bit north up to Detroit Lakes.

An easy drive of a little less than an hour.

We had a nice site that backed up to a pond at Forest Hills Golf & RV Resort. This is a big park with sites located around an 18-hole golf course. The park is mostly full of seasonal residents. Minnesota is famous for its terrible mosquitoes, but they weren’t so bad here until it got dark. Then they came out in numbers and were very aggressive. If I took a shower at night I couldn’t open the exhaust fan because they would somehow find a way through the screen and would attack me at my most vulnerable.

Throwing a frisbee around the pool.
Izzy is pretty particular about where she rides her bike, but the roads here were smooth enough. Chapel on the Hill in the background.

The weather was great while we were there, and we found plenty to do in the area.

One day Izzy and I met up with some of my old friends from Fargo, who were in the area at their family lake cabin. We grabbed some lunch and beers and Zorbaz then headed over to the cabin where Charlotte joined us and we did some swimming, kayaking, cranked some foamers, and had a very nice dinner.

Throwing the frisbee around on a gorgeous day.
A rainbow over the lake.

Zach & Ashley – I think I said this after we met up down in Arizona, but let’s not forget to snap a photo next time.

One of our favorite activities back when we lived in our sticks and bricks home in Omaha was putting together a picnic and attending outdoor concerts at the park just a few blocks away from our house. While in Detroit Lakes, we lucked out by finding a free concert at the park near the lake. We packed some drinks and then hit up the food trucks that were setup nearby. The music by The Cropdusters was great, the food was alright, and there was a playground nearby for when Izzy got bored. She made a friend on the playground and had so much fun that she didn’t want to stop to visit the ice cream truck. Of course she was then devastated when her new friend had to leave and the ice cream truck was already closed up.

The playground in the distance with Detroit Lake behind it.
Rolling down the hill after the show. She saw some other kids doing it and decided to give it a try.

Detroit Lakes is a short drive to Fargo, so we made the trip a couple of times. One day we spent the day with my brother Galen. We drove around north Fargo so I could reminisce and point out all my old schools and houses to Charlotte and Izzy. We also stopped by Trollwood Park to let Izzy burn off some energy on the playground and so we could test out the cool motorized paper airplane uncle Galen gave her.

Looking up folding instructions on YouTube then flying a paper airplane via an app. We’re living in the future!

We then grabbed some dinner at a bar & grill near the NDSU campus where Izzy got a little rest in.

Izzy’s first time passed out at the bar. At least while not in a car seat.

After dinner we headed onto campus to catch a Redhawks baseball game. This was Izzy’s first baseball game and she had a great time. Uncle Galen kept buying her sugary treats. There was an inflatable obstacle course she got to run on. She overcame her shyness and got to meet Hawkeye. There were even fireworks after the game.

Her first cotton candy.
Her first snowcone. Not as good as the cotton candy.

Another day, Galen made the drive to Detroit Lakes. In addition to the 18-hole regular-sized golf course, our RV park also had a mini-golf course.

The mini-golf office was inside an old one-room schoolhouse and had a couple of old desks inside. I remember this kind of desk from elementary school, but my school had plenty of rooms.
There was a bit of a mid-course meltdown when we encouraged Izzy to play a bit faster for the sake of the party behind us, but she was doing much better by the 18th hole.

After a Fargo shopping trip, we had to stop by the walk-up Dairy Queen in Moorhead, MN. The opening and closing of this DQ signals the changing of the seasons for the area and fans line up on March 1st for opening day regardless of the weather. It’s quite a bit nicer these days than when I was a kid.

This is the world’s largest dilly bar!

That will do it for our time at the lakes. Join us for our next adventure as we continue heading west. Until then, see you down the road!

Amusement Park USA

Amusement Parks U.S.A. (Remastered 2001)

June 9 – 17, 2021

The Beach Boys released Amusement Parks U.S.A. back in 1965 and they don’t mention Wisconsin Dells. Back then the Dells had duck tours, but the area didn’t become famous for waterparks until the 1970s. I think if Brian Wilson and Mike Love updated the song today, they’d have to include the (self-proclaimed?) water park capital of the world.

After wrapping things up in Madison, we stopped at the dump station and jumped onto the interstate. After a short drive up I-90, we arrived at Yukon Trails RV & Camping Resort, just outside of Wisconsin Dells.

This park doesn’t have any sewer hookups, but it does have water at each site, which was a step up over our stay in Madison. For some reason, we were put in a back corner of the property, which wasn’t frequently used. It was clearly built several decades ago when RVs were smaller. We had a tough time parking, but were eventually able to back in. Once in, it wasn’t too bad of a site as we were nestled in the trees and never had any next door neighbors. It was a bit of a walk over to the shower house though, which we had to use due to the lack of sewer.

So many tall trees.
Getting ready for dinner and a campfire. We didn’t have to buy firewood because a storm knocked down a bunch of branches.

We had some fun without ever having to leave the property as they had a playground, mini-golf course, and pool on site.

Old dangerous playground equipment is the most fun.
Made a friend at the playground.

The park also had a few organized activities while we were there.

Train ride!

One evening there was a party to celebrate birthdays. Not a specific one, but everyone’s. This just happened to fall a day before Izzy’s actual birthday. We had a good time enjoying the hot dog dinner and cake, games, and DJ.

Izzy asked the DJ to play Doo Wah Diddy.

Izzy had an early birthday party back in Omaha, but we had to celebrate the actual day too. We started out with a birthday cake in the morning.

Then, we headed into Wisconsin Dells and visited The Wisconsin Deer Park, which is a walk-through petting zoo that’s full of deer. We bought a pack of “deer food” at the entrance, which were actually just medieval Swedish/Finnish crispbread. Izzy was a little skittish at first, but eventually had a great time feeding and petting the little deer in the park.

We somehow resisted the temptation to just eat all of these ourselves.
Deer slobber, yuck!
There were a good variety of types of deer, not just the whitetails you see nearly everywhere in the US.
Look at this regal little guy. Looks straight out of a Disney movie.

There were some non-deer animals in the park too.

This kid was pressed up against the fence and was yelling, “Hey chickens, look at my butt!”
Feeding the kids made mama goat hungry.
Photo by Izzy.

After the deer park, we drove across town and did a bit of shopping. I’d always known Wisconsin Dells was famous for it’s waterparks, but it’s a full-blown family tourist town on par with Branson and Pigeon Forge, complete with the requisite unoriginal tourist attractions such as adventure mini-golf, a reptile center, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, a fake Whitehouse, a moonshinery, and a bunch of other lame looking indoor attractions that must make all their money on rainy days.

The upside-down Whitehouse was right next to the deer park and had a bonus Transformer out front!
I understand the need for a stiff drink on family vacations, but why moonshine instead of a proper aged liquor?
Since we were in Wisconsin, there was also a store dedicated to selling items to show other people how much you love drinking.

After picking up some hiking gear for our upcoming adventures, we went to dinner. Since it was Izzy’s birthday, we chose Buffalo Phil’s (or American Bison Phillip’s if your not into the whole brevity thing) and managed to get a table next to the impressive Lego City. The gimmick at this restaurant is that they delivery some of your food and drink via model train, which I have to admit was pretty cool. At one point, they sent around some bubble blowing machines on the train which was fun until one of them fell off and spilled bubble-sauce all over the floor.

Probably only four or five toddlers touched our food on its way to our table.

Attached to the restaurant was a small indoor arcade/amusement park. We probably normally wouldn’t stop at one, but it was Izzy’s birthday and the restaurant was cleverly designed so that you had to walk into the arcade to get to the bathrooms. This thing was basically a children’s casino, with loud sounds, bright flashing lights, and plenty of machines designed to take your money. Izzy was VERY excited as she’s never been to anything like that before.

We put twenty bucks onto a card and let her pick out some things to do. We played some arcade games, she jumped on a bouncing pillow, played skee-ball for the first time, and won a few tickets. She had a great time, and even was able to redeem her tickets for a tiny plastic lizard that probably cost the arcade less than 10 cents. He’s now called Gil and Izzy loves him. Frequently, I have to do a Gil voice so he and Izzy can have long conversations about Gil’s desire to eat bugs while avoiding creatures that want to eat him.

We need to work on that technique.

Now we couldn’t stay in the area and not visit a waterpark, so a few days later, we hit up Mt. Olympus. We chose this park because it was so much less expensive than the other parks, but surprisingly, it wasn’t too bad. There were plenty of water attractions and amusement park rides included with admission.

We hit up the water park stuff first. Izzy had fun running around the splash areas. I was consistently surprised when the giant bucket of icy water tipped over.

Then we all waited in line for 45 minutes to go down a big waterslide on a tube. Izzy was tall enough for the ride, but not by much. We had to slowly climb a lot of stairs while waiting in line. I was afraid she would notice how high we were getting, get cold feet and insist we do the walk of shame back down the stairs through the crowds, but luckily, by the time it occurred to her it might be too scary it was already too late. We all got to ride in a single tube together, and had fun making the 20 second ride down the slide. Izzy seemed to enjoy it in the moment, but then later insists that it was far too scary and she didn’t like that she had to go backwards (she didn’t), and she would never ride that waterslide again, which was perfectly fine with me and Charlotte.

We then found the much tamer little kid area, and did a few laps on the not-that-lazy river. After that, it was time to pay a small fortune for some awful nachos and a slice of pizza before exploring all the non-water rides, seemingly half of which were just go-kart tracks.

Go-kart.
More go-karts.

At some point we stopped for an overpriced, messy, sticky snack.

Funnel cake AND ice cream!?!?

Izzy got to ride her first rollercoaster. She loved it so much, she rode it at least five times. Kids would be let off the ride only to sprint around and get back in line.

We found a track with a kart that Izzy was able to drive herself, which was her first real driving experience.

Izzy aggressively defending her racing line.

All in all, it was a very fun day. Izzy had a blast and is excited to go back to a waterpark or amusement park again.

Here’s some other stuff we did during our stay!

Izzy learned to put salt on her cantaloupe and now will only eat it salted.

It’s not bad, but not my favorite.

Izzy and I went to the library and attended a presentation on reptiles and amphibians. She got to meet a small albino corn snake named Popcorn and admit that even though she’s afraid of snakes, Popcorn wasn’t scary.

The library had a very nice patio out back.

After being inspired by our neighbors at Sugar Bottom Campground in Iowa, Charlotte picked up a hummingbird feeder. We were very excited when we were able to attract a few of the little guys to our spot in the woods! With our tinted windows, the hummingbirds didn’t seem to be able to see us very well, so we could get a good look at them from the other side.

We were all shouting, “Hummingbird! Hummingbird!” when we spotted one for the rest of our stay.

Our final adventure was on the way out of the park. We were parked in an angled back-in site, so there was really only one direction we could head on the narrow road. Unfortunately, that lead to some tight turns that must not have been navigated by a decent sized RV in a while because they were quite overgrown. We had noticed all of this previously, and I mentioned it to park management when they had a crew nearby cutting down a tree, but they didn’t do anything to clean it up. So on the way out of the park, I got to ride on top of the RV while Charlotte drove. We kept in contact with our two-way radios and she slowly approached the low branches so I could saw them down and prevent them from hitting our air conditioners, solar panel, or just scratching up the side of our rig. It was pretty slow going, but we made it!

The first time I rode on top of a moving RV.

See you down the road!

Wisconsin Wedding

June 2 – 8, 2021

It was great being back in Omaha to see our friends and family, but we were also excited to start living in our RV again and to test out our recently installed upgrades. We also had a wedding to attend, so we said our goodbyes and headed east. Our first stop was a campground just north of Iowa City.

Sugar Bottom Campground is a big, US Army Corp of Engineers managed property with over 200 sites, but only a handful have full hookups. Luckily, I was able to snag one by booking as soon as reservations opened up for our date six months prior.

Izzy was excited that we could see a playground out the front door.

The campsite is located right on Coralville Lake.

We walked down to to check out the water our first night.
There was a sandy beach with waves (boat wake)!

The next day, while Charlotte was working, Izzy and I headed downriver to check out the Devonian Fossil Gorge. The gorge is low area next to the river that was created and then deepened when the river flooded over the top of its spillway in 1993 and again in 2008. The force of the water removed large amounts of soil and rock and exposed a layer of ancient marine fossils.

Posing next to a fossil rock.
A good example of some of the marine fossils.
Walking through the gorge.

Most of the gorge was dry exposed rock, but there were some low spots that were full of water that was supporting quite a bit of life. There were lots of plants and algae, but also water insects, tadpoles, frogs, crayfish, and small panfish. Izzy found all of this much more interesting than the tiny fossils.

We also spotted this little snake hanging out in the water with some tadpoles.

After walking through the gorge, we went over to check out the business end of the dam.

Izzy did a good job exploring with minimal whining, so we went out for a treat after that. Our lack of freezer space means that we never keep any ice cream at home, so we’re always looking for a good excuse to hit up an ice cream parlor.

Ice cream stops are a big reason we still haven’t stopped buying baby wipes.

After just two nights, it was time to hit the road again; this time to the outskirts of Madison, Wisconsin.

We were staying at William G. Lunney Lake Farm County Park, which in a lucky coincidence, happened to be next door to the wedding we were attending. This park did not have full hookups, just electric, but thanks to careful site selection we were able to stretch our hose from our site to the water spigot which made filling our freshwater tank convenient. But with no easy way to empty our tanks, we used the campground shower house for the first time in our RVing journey. Luckily, it was a newer building with large, private, and clean shower rooms.

The next day, we met up with Charlotte’s parents and uncle who made the drive from Omaha to attend the wedding. We started out at a cool park near their hotel so Izzy would have something to do. She loved the playground, but when lunch time rolled around she had a very hard time saying goodbye to the friend she had just made 30 minutes prior.

After lunch it was time to head back to get ready for the wedding. When the time came, we were able to walk from our RV to the site of the ceremony and reception at the Lussier Family Heritage Center. With the sun shining bright, it was a warm but lovely outdoor ceremony with a beautiful natural backdrop.

After the ceremony, there was a very fun reception with dinner, dancing, a fire pit, and plenty of Spotted Cow.

Photo by the talented wedding photographer.
There was even a playground on site.
Izzy and MorMor toasting some marshmallows.

The next day, we ventured out to see a bit of the city. We started out at Olbrich Botanical Gardens, which is huge, very well designed and kept, has a fantastic variety of plants, and is free to visit.

This Thai pavilion was one of the highlights.

After exploring the gardens, we stopped at a diner for lunch.

She claims this was a good combo.

After lunch, we headed to a nearby park on the shore of Lake Mendota. Izzy had fun on the playground, while Charlotte and I went for a walk near the water. It looked nice, but something nearby smelled awful.

Lake Mendota with the Wisconsin state capital building in the background.

Izzy then went over to the hotel to go for a swim before we all went out for dinner.

Having some fun at a mostly empty restaurant.

After dinner we said our goodbyes to MorMor, Grandpa, and Uncle Ken, since they were driving back to Omaha in the morning, while we had two more days left in Madison.

Izzy and I spent one morning back over at the Heritage Center for an organized kid’s story time and scavenger hunt.

Playing in the woods after story time.

That evening, we had some entertainment in the campground. Apparently this campground is of very few in the area and is reasonably priced for tent campers, which means that some interesting characters check-in. The couple across from us were not living the #vanlife, but they were living in their van. A guy several spots down the road was likely homeless, and certainly on drugs. He kept shouting angrily at people, causing quite a disturbance in the otherwise quiet campground. The couple across from us very nicely invited him to share some dinner, but he didn’t appreciate their generosity and had some mean things to say about their food. Eventually the police were called. More shouting ensued as they very patiently tried to avoid having to arrest this guy. Our neighbors across the street did not help out and were heckling the drug-addled dude from a distance. Eventually the cops had to haul him off. The camp host ended up having to take down his tent, which led me to wonder when he would be back for his stuff. Luckily, we didn’t see him again.

The next day we went back to the park with the cool playground because Izzy had spotted their splashpad. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t exactly cooperate.

Of course, the whole point of a splashpad is to get wet, so a little rain didn’t stop Izzy who still had a lot of fun. On the other hand, I was not enjoying standing around under a mesh sun shade which didn’t block the rain, but merely slowed it down a bit. Eventually there was a bit of thunder off in the distance which was excuse enough to head out.

After that it was time to head out of Madison, but tune in next time as we continue our adventures in Wisconsin. See you down the road!