Around the US in 40 Days

DAY 21 -- MEMORIES

This was the easiest day on the road, so far. We knew we had about 250-275 miles to do, all turnpike, so we didn't set out until after 8 am. Looking at the meager offerings for the Super 8 breakfast, we decided to just get into the truck and drive.

As we traversed the 70 miles of northwestern Ohio, the 150+ miles across Indiana, I was reminded of a game that my brother and I used to play when we were kids crossing this same territory: count the white farmhouses! One of us had the driver side and the other had the passenger side, and we'd count white farmhouses. Well, it kept us busy and not arguing, and looking out the window. (I used to annoy my parents by laying in the back of the station wagon and re-reading a book for the umpteenth time.)

As we passed Elkhart, I took a photo of the Elkhart water tower and immediately sent it to my parents, saying "happy reminiscing". We were among just a few families in the 60s with a travel trailer. Ours was built in Elkhart and, unfortunately, had to go back there on a few occasions to get something fixed. So I knew the service area waiting rooms of the trailer shops, too well, when I was a kid. My mom said later that they laughed when I sent that photo!

One of the service areas along the Indiana Toll Road was selling a really GOOD Chicago map, something I had failed to get from AAA before leaving. So we bought it, and it turned out to be a godsend. The exit we needed to use was closed, and being able to follow what both our GPS and Mapquest had been telling us, on a paper map, was helpful. I also figured that while we were in the south suburban area, I'd be able to use it to go check out childhood haunts, because I've never driven in the area.

My uncle called the entire clan and invited them over in the late afternoon, so they started showing up around 3. Unfortunately, being early summer, not everyone was able to make it. But that evening, I saw three cousins and two cousin-in-laws, with hopes of seeing others while in the area. The weather was quite lovely, until late that night. It decided to give us quite a thunder-and-lightning show.

No pictures this post, sorry! Pat, thanks for the further info about that bird. GLC, that Super 8 was one of 2 motels in the area, and there were 4 truck stops. That was about all that was in the area, and why we decided to eat at the Iron Skillet.



Donna

DAYS 22 to 24 -- MORE MEMORIES, MORE FAMILY

Based in the southern suburbs of Chicago, we mainly spent these days visiting with family, going out to eat with family (Italians love to eat), and touring the suburbs. While there, thunderstorms hit the area and left many without power and many trees were downed. My uncle's place was very fortunate -- power stayed on the whole time, he only lost a few twigs and leaves, and his home was safe as well.

One day we tooled about the suburbs, looking for places that had meant a lot to my life when I was a kid. I took loads of pictures and emailed many of them to my parents. My dad had owned a business that had two locales, and we found both of them (without power, too). We found old family homes and places where we'd played. I tried to deliver a disk full of photos of our neighborhood in the 60s, to the city museum, only to find it had limited open hours and we weren't there at the time. Due to no power in that entire area, it wasn't going to open at all, so I figured I'd have to email the photos. We visited grave-sites, and finally were able to connect with my cousin to plan the next few days of the trip. (We had alternative plans in the event that we were not able to connect with that cousin, but since her brother and sister both live in the area and I'd seen them both, that wasn't likely to happen.)


Donna

DAY 24 CONTINUED - HAVE YOU SEEN MY CHILDHOOD?

After tooling about the suburbs one day, we decided to return to one of them on the final day, for lunch. We invited my uncle along, but he declined. Our destination was Aurelio's Pizza in Homewood. I grew up eating that pizza, and knew the man who started it (in the late '50s) as he was a friend of our family's.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2907/...1dd64413_z.jpgphoto(52)

Of course we went to the flagship location in Homewood. It was NOT the original location, as many younger people think. Aurelio's started on Ridge Road just down from the IC station (Metra). It was a "hole in the wall" back then, with 3 stools next to a bar and a small table-for-two, cafe' style. Now on Harwood just around the corner from its very original location, it is two stories. The 2nd story is also corporate headquarters. There are franchises available, with 50 locations in about 5 or 6 states (including 2 locations in FL).

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3913/...0154a84e_z.jpgphoto(53)

Hubby and I each ordered a pizza lunch special, 6" pizzas with soup or salad, and drink, for $6.59, which is quite reasonable. The pizza is about 100% better than most franchise pizzas. I had sausage, hubby had 3 ingredients on his. I'd ordered just the sausage since I wanted to compare it, apples to apples, with what I used to order when I was a kid. Yes, it was delicious -- still better than any other pizza (as I mentioned).

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2902/...c88f50bb_z.jpgphoto(51)

I had the salad, and hubby had la-sagna soup, which he said was wonderful.

Our other 2 meals out while in the 'burbs were also delicious. On the first day, we ate at The Egg and I, which is in Chicago Heights, on Chicago Road (IL-1). Since it was a noon meal, one had the choice of breakfast or lunch. Hubby had Eggs Benedict and said it was delicious (as did one of my cousins who went along); I had Balsamic Chicken Wrap and it was great. At the breakfast out, we ate in Peotone at Lucky Star Restaurant -- more of a cafe'. Had a kick-y waitress, lots of fun. I ate thin French toast. At the rate of this eating, I am going to lose some of that thin-ness I've been working on.

So I walked a lot around my uncle's neighborhood. We almost walked from his place down to the cemetery where one set of my grandparents are buried, but decided to drive. Too bad, I could have used that exercise.


Donna

DAY 25 - LEAVING THE FREEWAYS BEHIND

Sadly, we left my uncle's home and headed to northern Wisconsin, via the "long route". Though it was suggested that we take I-90/94, neither of us wanted to deal with that route through Chicago, instead going for the long way around via I-80 to I-39. I believe it may have added 80 miles to the trip, but it saved us a lot of traffic *and* allowed me to see the Morris/Peru/LaSalle area where our family settled after emigrating from Europe, 100+ years ago. We did have some issues of traffic because of the impending holiday weekend, particularly in southern Wisconsin.

Hubby chalked another tally on his "have been in" state list: Wisconsin.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5492/...14116e2b_z.jpgphoto(54)

We left freeways for a few days when I-39 ran out just north of Wausau. It became US-51 completely. In the meantime, weather was holding for us, as we only had a spot or two with a few drops of rain. This after the prediction of rain all day.

My cousin was home from work by the time we got to Mercer, which is in the northwoods of Wisconsin. It is a very small town, which relies on the summer tourism for most of its income. She lives there, plus her daughter and family have a small home there as well. We went out to eat that evening together, 8 of us in a place called Cranberry. Food was okay, it was the company that we were enjoying. I hadn't seen my cousin or her daughter in 16 years, and had never met any of her grand-kids.

DAY 26 -- HAPPY 4th HOLIDAY!

My cousin works her buns off, having come off of a 12 hour shift the day we arrived and a 6 hour shift on the holiday itself. She was so pleased to get to take us "into town" for the 4th of July Parade. This was very small-town-ish, with most of the floats being decorated vehicles. Some of these gave me a grin and an education in snow-moving and trail-making equipment:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3893/...b5b366d6_z.jpgWisconsin 010

My cousin's granddaughters are on this float, sponsored by the local dentist. Most of the people on the various floats tossed candy at kids. However, the dentist's float tossed inflatable toys!

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5482/...87ba20ff_z.jpgWisconsin 020

What's a parade without a clown, even one touting "Learn Not to Burn" (Fire Dept)?

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5569/...345b2d87_z.jpgWisconsin 006

After the parade, we went down to the local park where they were setting up a little fair. There was food, games for the kids, and it was right next to one of the many lakes in the Mercer area so there was swimming. We only stayed long enough to eat, then we set off to find something else.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2927/...55b2d355_z.jpgWisconsin 030

We attempted to find some waterfalls in the area. We did find Lake of the Falls State Park, but did not find the falls themselves. Disappointed, we turned around and headed back to my cousin's apartment, then spent the rest of the day reading and then visiting with her. She needed to work another 12 hour day the following day, so it was early-to-bed for us all as we were departing the next day.


Donna

DAY 27 -- THE UNEXPECTED, LAKE SUPERIOR

With my cousin working long hours, we took our leave a day earlier than we had originally planned, having secured reservations a little further down the road. Though we had seen Lake Superior on the map, it hadn't occurred to us that there might be something to see other than a big lake. Neither of us had seen anything other than Lake Michigan (though I might have seen Ontario and Erie when I was a little girl).

After leaving Mercer, our first venture was into the UP of Michigan -- for a whole 2 miles. This is another place that we would like to explore on a future trip. We ate a lovely breakfast at a AAA-recommended cafe' in Ironwood, then moved on to Ashland where we briefly stopped at Wally World for a few necessities.

We spent an hour or so at the Great Northern Lake Visitor Center just west of Ashland, looking at some of the exhibits about the flora and fauna of the area, and walking up to the third floor observation deck. Then we set out to do the 3/4-mile trek over boardwalks and gravel trail, on the nature trail. It was a beautiful day for a walk. These huge leaves intrigued me, as did the marshlands.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5595/...914f0b41_z.jpgLake Superior - WI 014

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5500/...280dde58_z.jpgLake Superior - WI 012

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2916/...19f67e58_z.jpgLake Superior - WI 015

Back in the truck, we headed north on US-13 towards Washburn. Our goal was to see a bit of the Lake Superior coastline and some of the marinas, and maybe walk through some of the shops in Washburn and Bayfield.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5591/...6a9ec7f2_z.jpgLake Superior - WI 020

By Thompson County Park, near Washburn:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3880/...dcd36b58_z.jpgLake Superior - WI 021

Derelict boat, Bayfield Marina:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3896/...8011ee5d_z.jpgLake Superior - WI 024

Bayfield Marina
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5528/...5a834fd0_z.jpgLake Superior - WI 029

At that point, hubby dropped his brand new smart phone in the wet sand, so we walked back to the truck to see if we could salvage it. Hallelujah, no damage and the phone is working just fine. Headed back to Ashland to see about the reservations we had made (through either Expedia or Hotels.com), though at our favorite chain Super 8. It was just 1:30 and we didn't dare try to check in, so we headed for a little park in Ashland. Walked a little and then just sat in the truck with the doors open, enjoying a gorgeous breeze and the sunny weather.

The Super 8 in Ashland is located right across Lake Shore Drive from the Lake. Unfortunately, there's a nice view of the big power plant next to said lake, too. The motel offered a small indoor pool and a hot tub, both of which were really nice after a long day of sightseeing and walking. Fast food was on the menu, only because there really was no room to cook, nor enough plugs. (Gotta remember to pack an electric strip instead of just a 3-tap).


Donna

Super-duper photos and report. What is the issue you are seeing with "duping"?

Mark.

Donna is having problems with each post duplicating itself. I have forwarded the problem to you via PM.

Dave.

When I catch that it has duped, I go back and "Edit Post", delete all of the stuff and then just type in that it duped again. I don't want to waste the bandwidth.

DAY 28 - END OF WEEK 4, US-2

The final day of our fourth week was spent entirely on US-2 until we got to our destination. We started "late" (for us) at 8:40 am, having partaken of the free breakfast at the Super 8 in Ashland. Like most Super 8's, it wasn't a huge offering -- 2 types of dry cereal, two types of instant oatmeal, cinnamon rolls, toast, fruit cups, yogurt, juice and coffee. I had instant oatmeal and a fruit cup, while we had coffee in our room.

The first part of the trip was done under a massive cloud cover. We fueled up in Superior, WI -- didn't need much, but didn't want to chance the prices up ahead when we'd need more. In Superior and Duluth, we got our last look at Lake Superior before crossing the bridge into Minnesota. Mind you, I haven't been in this state for 35+ years, and it had been at least 10 for my husband, who thinks he crossed it on I-94 when he was driving commercial.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5500/...bcc0019e_z.jpgphoto(61)

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3869/...91dc4749_z.jpgphoto(62)

I almost missed the sign!
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2933/...032446f5_z.jpgphoto(63)

As we drove the 150 miles of Minnesota, it was understandable to us why they call the state, "the land of 10,000 lakes". One lake after another either was at the side of the road, or we saw a sign directing someone to a boat ramp. To try to photograph every lake would be futile, though I started to wonder if someone had tried.

Our lunch was in a small town that boasted only a burger joint (non-chain) and a Subway. The burgers were surprisingly good and the meal, not very expensive.

Just outside of Bemidji was a visitor center and rest area, at Cass Lake. According to literature, it is one of the largest of 3 lakes in the area. Very pretty, and the state used their heads and added a public boat loading dock at the rest area as well.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2933/...2956201d_z.jpgphoto(59)

GPS story: I loaded the address of our lodging into the GPS, and we proceeded to follow its direction in Bemidji. We took a very "scenic tour" through the east and northern side of Bemidji on County Route 50, only to find our Super 8 right at the intersection of US-2 and US-71. Irritating, because we could have avoided all that town traffic (including going right by a carnival) by staying on US-2.

There was a Wal-Mart right next to the Super 8, so we went over there for a few things. After the last 2 or 3 motels have had few outlets, we went ahead and purchased an electrical outlet strip that will stay with our travel things. Also bought dinner, to cook in the room -- decided to cook one night, eat out on the other.


Donna

DAY 29 - THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER IN MINNESOTA

After taking breakfast at the motel, we set off early heading for Itasca State Park, which is about 30+ miles from Bemidji. When making plans for this area earlier, I based us in Bemidji rather than Park Rapids, mainly because of motel price and the fact that some of them wanted a minimum 3-night stay. We had even debated park lodge cabins, but because of the 4th of July weekend, that wasn't going to happen.

Came into Itasca park through the east entrance and immediately stopped at the Visitor Center. This is our habit and always gives you a lot of information about what you will be seeing. Then we started the 5-mile drive up to the north end of the park.

At the first viewpoint for Lake Itasca, we took the walk down the steps and were immediately attacked by mosquitoes. Both of us thought the other had grabbed the Off. So up at the Headwaters, we stopped to pick up a small can at the Gift Shop. They were SOLD OUT. Fortunately for us, a young couple heard our predicament and offered to let us use theirs, so we sprayed ourselves (outside of course) and returned the can. How nice of them, there are still nice people in the world.

Off we went towards the Mississippi Headwaters, which was about 850 ft walk from the parking lot and small visitor center/gift shop. There it was, Lake Itasca where it drains out into a small stream.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3886/...fa6a0416_z.jpgItasca & Bemidji 007

First one into the water was my husband. He had been to this place before but had few memories of it.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3905/...a22f1f7f_z.jpgItasca & Bemidji 010

After he came out of the water and we exchanged cameras, it was my turn. Being a little shorter, I had to hold my shorts up to keep them dry. My thoughts at the time were, "my goodness, I'm wading across this river that I've seen and crossed for years, that you'd never dare swim around Fort Madison, Keokuk, Quincy, St Louis or Memphis (among places I've crossed it on a bridge.)"
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3875/...27e8ffcf_z.jpgItasca & Bemidji 015

After drying off and walking back to the truck, we bought a few souvenirs and then headed back. This time we felt a little more comfortable stopping at some of the viewpoints, since we still had a bit of Off on us. Finally, we headed back to Bemidji, with a list of things we needed to do when we got back to the motel.


Donna

DAY 29 CONTINUED - PAUL BUNYAN

After taking care of a few orders of business back at the motel, including a bite of lunch that we'd bought earlier at the store, we headed for downtown Bemidji to Paul Bunyan Park. This place had been a carnival when we rolled in, but we'd seen the carnies and their equipment rolling down US-71 that morning on our return to Bemidji. Back to its normal self, there was Paul Bunyan and his ox, Babe. I guess I expected them to be larger than they were.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5509/...9c0b84b5_z.jpgItasca & Bemidji 036

They were right beside Lake Bemidji. Though we have seen many, many lakes this trip, I still couldn't resist another picture of a lake!

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5576/...952551d6_z.jpgItasca & Bemidji 040

On the shore of the lake was a whole gaggle of geese. I had to try to see how close I could get to them, to photograph.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5507/...62982b6f_z.jpgItasca & Bemidji 048

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5078/...2f32f22e_z.jpgItasca & Bemidji 046

Back to the motel to deal with another issue by phone, then it was relaxation and dinner time. We'd eaten "in" the day before -- a rice mix with a can of chicken breast added to it (pretty tasty; don't read the ingredients list). So this was a night "out".


Donna

DAY 30 - THE UNEXPECTED AND THE UNPLANNED STRIKE AGAIN

Setting off at 7:30 in the morning, we pointed the truck south on US-71. However, it wasn't going to take us to the Twin Cities as we originally planned. Instead, we changed our plans and headed for North Dakota, hoping for the Lewis and Clark Trail stuff near Bismarck and Washburn. At Park Rapids, we turned west on MN-34, then got on US-10 West towards Fargo. That was a lovely drive, plus 4-lane divided with few traffic lights or slow downs. We took a shortcut, MN-336, to get to I-94 west and go around the southern end of Fargo and avoid the downtown area. Stopping for breakfast at IHOP, and then fuel in West Fargo, we had a little less than 200 miles of I-94 to go.

It was fairly smooth sailing into Bismarck. Twenty miles before we reached our destination, west I-94 was down to 1-lane in two different areas. Of course, it never fails that one gets stuck behind someone who wants to go 55 in the 65 zone!

As we pulled up to a traffic light to turn into our motel, the truck started to buck more than we'd ever felt it before. It almost didn't make it into the motel drive! Checked in, got the information about the local Ford dealership. When hubby moved it to the parking slot, it behaved beautifully. So we thought we'd drive it to the dealership. Nope -- as soon as he turned the engine over and put the vehicle into Drive (and also Reverse), it did the same thing, bucking. If a truck had feelings, it was like a stubborn child that didn't want to go to bed. Yet we had NO problems with this vehicle since long before Gettysburg -- and even that was very slight.

AAA was procured and the tow truck driver arrived in a timely manner. In the meantime, hubby had called the Ford place and talked to the diesel shop manager. He said, "bring it down, I can look at it tomorrow!" (This after the main shop had told hubby that they had a 2-week waiting list. Glad ours was diesel!) We both rode with the tow truck driver, who knew diesels fairly well. He said if he were looking at it, the first thing he'd check would be the fuel filter, wondering if we'd gotten a bad batch of fuel someplace or three, and the second would be the IPR - internal (?) pressure regulator. He proceeded to tell us what that does within a diesel.

At the Ford diesel shop, we were treated with respect. After talking with the service manager, I told him what the tow truck driver had said, and he answered that those would be in their checks. The dealership sent for the shuttle, who drove us back to our motel where we are comfortable. We had everything we needed, including restaurants and fast food places nearby, and the motel had a hot breakfast to order that includes eggs, pancakes, and waffles -- Days Inn Bismarck.

Not exactly what we expected after changing our plans, but honestly -- one has to be relieved that the issue took place right in town, not out in the boondocks someplace. (And have we been in some very remote places where there was very little cell service.) The AAA membership has paid for itself twice now, and the tow service was excellent.

UPDATE: Injector pressure regulator, not internal. Sorry.

Donna

DAY 31 - MORE DELAYS

We woke in the morning, having slept fitfully with worry over the truck. Enjoying the full breakfast at the motel, we just caught up on some little things that we'd been putting off. Around 11 we heard what the diagnosis was, we approved the work and they said it would be done "shortly after lunch". I walked and walked around the motel, about 6 times, while chatting on the phone to various people. One thing about our smartphones: they charge up fast and they run the battery down fast. Somebody's phone is always charging someplace. Anyway -- truck problem was determined to be the #8 fuel injector as well as the injector pressure regulator. Expensive, though the parts were about as bad as the labor in this case.

Just after 1, we were called to the shop. The shuttle picked us up at the motel and brought us down to the diesel shop. We paid the bill (another $1700 gone) and took the truck. We were coming close to our motel when the d*** thing started to do the same thing, while going up the hill. We turned around in the motel lot and went right back to the diesel shop. There, the mechanic and my husband went for a long 40-mile round trip drive with it (while I walked around the diesel shop's outside about 20 times and then up and down the street a little), and of course, did it act up again??? Of COURSE not!!! The shop decided to change out the fuel filter-water separator, refused to take anything for it, and we went on our way. Behaved beautifully until it got to that same d*** hill. Other hills it seemed to be okay on. By this time, it's close to 5 pm, we called to ascertain that they had, indeed, checked the fuel pump, and it was fine. Hubby was determined to go pick up the same mechanic and his gear, and take him the 2.5 miles back to the hotel with that same d*** hill, the next day.

We went out for dinner -- it was near our anniversary so we went to a decent place. The night before, we'd gone to a cute little diner-type place called The Wood House. The menu is on the wall, you pick up the phone and order your meal, and it comes promptly served by a wait-person. (They are also the busboys, the cashiers, and I know I saw two of them working in the kitchen.) Food was good and the prices were right. However, we decided to go out for something like a steak on the 2nd night, so we went next door to East 40. Many of the reviews of the place on Urbanspoon and TripAdvisor were poor, and one of our shuttle drivers even said, "Used to be pretty good, not so good now." We tried it anyway, the beef was good, the potatoes were cold, my asparagus was grilled well, but the prices were too high for what you got.


Donna

Sorry to hear about the on-going truck mystery, it must be so frustrating, as well as expensive ! Hope you get it sorted soon.

Dave.

Ugh, sorry to hear of your truck misbehaving. The cost and delays must be maddening! Hope it doesn't put a huge damper on your schedule/well-being. Seems like most of the trip thus far has been amazing.

I take it you'll be in the Black Hills area in the next few days. We'll be watching for your reports on Custer, Wind Cave, Badlands(?) etc. as you hit those spots, as we'll be spending 3-4 days there ourselves in late September and want to hear your experiences.

Good luck. Here's to no more problems!

DAY 32 - AMAZING HISTORY, AMAZING DISCOVERY ABOUT TRUCK!

Eating another delicious free breakfast at the motel, we set out heading north on US-83 towards Washburn. The truck misfired and misbehaved for the first 3 minutes, making a theory that my husband have, seem very plausible. (More on this later.) Then the truck was back to its normal self, giving us no more problems until later in the day. (Ditto.) So this was a good trial for us, after so much dollars and frustration.

It was a 40-ish mile drive up to Washburn, to find the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. It was well-marked. We knew we were in the right place when we saw these outside the building.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3847/...271915b3_z.jpgphoto(66)

Once inside, we paid the modest admission fee, which included the Interpretive Center and the Fort Mandan Museum and Tour. The docent immediately mentioned an interesting ranger-type talk to be given down at Fort Mandan, so we got back in our vehicle and drove the 2 miles down to the Fort.

At the Fort, a young man named Jeff gave an interesting spiel about why the Mandan and Hitasa tribes were not only important to Lewis & Clark, but to the Dakota area too. Then another interpreter, Daymon, took us on a personal tour of Fort Mandan itself. It is just a replica, built about 44 years ago, but to descriptions left in Meriweather Lewis' journal. They really don't know that this was where the fort was, as no remnants remained, and Charbonneau's recollection had faded 30 years later.

That's hubby in the middle, interpreter Daymon on the left.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5506/...db3edfca_z.jpgphoto(68)

After the interesting tour, in which you look in on some things and can go into others, we looked at the Seaman Exhibit (about the dog) outside, then drove back to the Interpretive Center to attend a 12 noon talk about Jefferson's "To Do" List for L&C. We had time to look around the Center, listen to some of the short videos, press buttons to listen to quotes from the journals, and look at many artifacts.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3885/...ab3c73da_z.jpgphoto(69)

That talk was better attended. We looked around the Center more then returned back to the Fort for another talk, this one on L&C's maps. Since I am a paper map "fiend", this was more than interesting, it was fascinating and I was pleased that we had stayed.

Headed back to town, ate an early dinner (or very late lunch), stopped for fuel, and then started up that same d*** hill and the same thing happened to the truck.

Hubby's theory is that there was an electronic field that perhaps is playing havoc with a sensor in the truck. That sensor may just have a hint of going out, maybe not. Looking around the area of that d*** hill, there were EIGHT (count 'em, 8!!!) electronic towers of some sort -- radio, cellular, weather -- all within a few blocks surrounding the hill and our hotel. When the truck is on one side of the motel, it is relatively protected from the waves, perhaps, because it will behave better on that side of the motel (where we are parked) than on the other side.

We tried to take it back down to the diesel shop and see if a mechanic could ride back up that hill and check it out with a computer, but the diesel shop was pretty well closed up by then. Meanwhile, between motel and diesel shop, the truck settled down and behaved normally. When we turned around (after finding out that the diesel shop was closed and only the service manager was there), it was fine until we went back up the hill again. Go figure. At that point, the question was, do we wait until the next day and have the mechanic ride (and leave Bismarck late), or do we just go on and hope we don't find another place with 8 towers in one place????!!!!

In the meantime, the laundry had to get done, since we had not done any since leaving Chicago area.

Donna

Interesting theory about the truck. Is this hill steeper than anything else in the area ? Could the 'miss' be caused when the truck is under more load and demanding more fuel. You need to find a similar grade hill and test it on that, if it is indeed steeper than all those around.

There was an fuel advert in the UK that stated, 'Put a Tiger in your tank' There was no mention of a spider.

I've had similar difficult problems to deal with in the past, one bizzare one was due to a dead spider ! When the vehicle was 'missing' we would prime the fuel filter and it would clear for a while, indicating a lack of fuel reaching the filter in the first place. So we then temporarily by-passed the fuel filter using an old clean jug containing fuel and put the fuel lines in it and started the engine. We discovered air was being introduced to the fuel before the main filter and pump. After dropping the tank and removing the fuel lines from the fuel pick strainer and putting them into another clean container of fuel and starting the engine, the air cleared from the other end. We removed the pick up pipe/strainer from within the tank and gave it a quick blast with an airline and out popped a big fat spiders body. The body had been partially blocking the fuel pick up pipe in the tank and disturbing the fuel flow not allowing enough fuel through on high demand and introducing air. This was after lots of work including checking injectors visually and changing filters etc. I doubt yours is a spider [;-) ] but sometimes after a lot of time and expense it's a 'foriegn' object that is obvious and simple when found. Although I would have thought that a sensor on a newer vehicle would pick up on poor fuel delivery, but it may not and sometimes the old fashion way is better than computers, just like mapping I guess.

Good luck.

Afterthoughts.

It might not just be the gradient of the hill, but the duration of it and how long the demand is on fuel. How about simulation ?

I would be surprised if it was anything to do with the towers, especially as you have experienced the problem prior to this. One way to try and test your theory is to come down the hill in a lower gear and use the throttle to gain speed, you should have the same symptom almost immediately if it was electronical interference.

In a similar fashion for fuel delivery/demand, if you used a lower gear [to save a speeding ticket] and similar throttle input to that of going up the hill for the same amount of time on a road away from the towers, would it do the same ? [Yes it will work the engine harder for a bit]

Yeah I'm a little crazy in my methods, but undefeated by a vehicle ! lol

Hubby and the mechanic tried a lot of different things, including driving up and down hills. We were on steeper hills (up and down) out of reach of those towers and had nothing happen. When this has happened before, we never noticed whether we might have been in another area with a lot of electrical towers.

DAY 33 - BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Leaving Bismarck behind shortly after 7 am, we got on I-94 briefly (east) and took it to US-83 South. We were on that route for about 4+ hours, all the way to I-90 west. There was little traffic, the road was in good condition, and we only stopped twice -- once at a city park for a pit stop and another time in Pierre for lunch. Lunch was at Big Tom's Diner, which we chose from the reviews on TripAdvisor and UrbanSpoon.

Crossing the Wide Missouri again at Pierre.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5523/...e2f0dc2d_z.jpgphoto(70)

We left I-90 at exit 131, heading for Badlands National Park. Each of us had been to it when we were kids, with our respective families, and neither of us had been particularly enamored with it. Our choice was to return as adults to see if we could enjoy it more. Probably we did, a little, because it was a bit greener than it had been "way back when".

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2922/...879cba01_z.jpgphoto(73)

We stopped at one of the first overlooks, took the 1/2 mile loop trail up to the point which included a lot of stairs. On the way back down the other way, we watched a deer eat the yellow clover down below. Then stopped at the Visitor Center, whose parking lot was under construction.

Probably around 6 overlooks were utilized by us. We also had to waste some time waiting for the pilot car on some construction on the park road.

Our 2nd to last overlook was the Yellow Mounds Overlook.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3869/...631c8eb1_z.jpgphoto(72)

At our final overlook, we got to see some Bighorn Sheep. All on video, sad to say.

Headed for Wall and stopped at Wall Drug just to say we had. We had ice cream and bought a Badlands souvenir. Then looked at the weather building in Rapid City and decided that it was time to continue west.

Utilizing SD-79, US-14A and SD-39 to get down to Custer, we got stuck behind several slow people and had to wait to get around. It was lightly raining, too. Finally pulled into our motel in Custer, about 11-1/4 hours after we left that morning. Situated ourselves at Black Hills Mile Hi Motel in Custer (City). It was a cute little cabin!


Donna

DAY 34 - BLACK HILLS OF SOUTH DAKOTA

Grabbed our coffee "to go" and headed for Mount Rushmore, first thing in the morning. We were happy we did, as we had our choice of parking places on the roof of the parking garage (!) there. I use a (!) because the last time my husband and I were here, as kids, there was a huge parking lot, not a garage. Then we headed towards the monument.

Because of its popularity, I won't go into a lot of the detail about it. As a kid, I'd been impressed with the fact that somebody had gone to a lot of trouble to carve something on a mountain. Now, as an adult, I can appreciate it even more.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2924/...dac7db1a_z.jpgMandan & Rushmore & Custer SP 154 - Copy

It did bother both of us, how "commercial" that the area felt. Instead of a small visitor center/cafe/gift shop, there's this huge complex. It occurs to both of us that the visitor count is probably a lot higher these days than in the late 60s/early 70s when we were here as kids. But we were still bothered by the feel of it.

After Mount Rushmore, we set out towards Keystone and then Iron Mountain Road through Custer State Park. Beautiful vistas, on a very hairy and narrow road, which also had 3 of these:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3923/...f3c19321_z.jpgMandan & Rushmore & Custer SP 199 - Copy

At the end of Iron Mountain Road, before turning west on SD-39 again (to retrace a bit of the drive from Day 33), we came to an "animal stop". There were a number of bison along the road and in the forest, between the grasslands. I took a bunch of photos, but this is one of the better ones, when he is pawing the ground just before rolling in the dirt.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5511/...0ba67ff9_z.jpgMandan & Rushmore & Custer SP 220 - Copy

Then he proceeded to cross right in front of our truck!

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2928/...a5f0d46b_z.jpgMandan & Rushmore & Custer SP 221 - Copy

Turning right on SD-39 then north on Needles Hwy, we drove the even narrower and just as winding road to the Needles District.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5528/...e16ae438_z.jpgMandan & Rushmore & Custer SP 242 - Copy

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5526/...20d545f7_z.jpgMandan & Rushmore & Custer SP 246 - Copy

Sylvan Lake.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5558/...358e1062_z.jpgMandan & Rushmore & Custer SP 248 - Copy

After arriving back at the motel, tired but happy from everything we had seen that day, THEN the rainstorm hit. It's been like that this whole trip, allowing us to see what we'd come to see before the rain (etc) came down. Before that, though, we'd walked down to a drug store that was closed, then back to the Family Dollar where we found what we were looking for (new glasses case for my husband).

BTW, the roads we were on here were very steep, some 10% grades, steeper than the hills that gave us trouble in Bismarck. We had NO truck trouble whatsoever, and we were very happy about that.


Donna

DAY 35 - CAVES AND CRITTERS

Eating a hearty breakfast at the neighboring Wrangler Cafe first, we set off for Wind Cave just before 9 am. It was a lovely 20 mile drive down good road, not winding. Checked in immediately and ordered two tickets for the Fairgrounds Tour. We had debated for two or three months about what tour to take, finally settling on something at least moderately strenuous that would take us into two levels of this cave.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2898/...fd223e99_z.jpgWind Cave Custer SP Wildlife 001

We were surprised to learn that Wind Cave was America's 6th national park and the first one to protect a cave. Only 140 miles of this cave has been explored, and they are still exploring it at least twice a week. My grandparents had been here back in 1936 while my mom was in the hospital in Rapid City, so I learned that the paving had not yet been completed by the CCC at that time.

This cave's prominent features, that make it special, are "boxwork", which resembles spiders webs

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2903/...e68a28ef_z.jpgWind Cave Custer SP Wildlife 009

popcorn
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3898/...af298382_z.jpgWind Cave Custer SP Wildlife 023

and something like frostfairy. (Unfortunately, this feature was not included on the Fairgrounds tour.) We walked about a half mile in 90 minutes, went up and down 450 steps including one set of 89 steps going up.

After the tour, and looking at the exhibits in the visitor center some more, we drove up to Custer State Park and picked up some ice at the Blue Bell Lodge. Then turned around and headed back to the Wildlife Loop, the one drive that we did not do the day before. We were very fortunate, seeing

pronghorn antelope in two separate places
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3848/...12ac23f9_z.jpgWind Cave Custer SP Wildlife 043

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3912/...9c776a8c_z.jpgWind Cave Custer SP Wildlife 049

a bunch of wild burros - this one stopped to scratch himself
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3919/...79f07596_z.jpgWind Cave Custer SP Wildlife 058

bison by the side of the road
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2910/...ac174d83_z.jpgWind Cave Custer SP Wildlife 061

herds of them off in the distance
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5573/...c2a0b03e_z.jpgWind Cave Custer SP Wildlife 064

before we headed back for Custer City. While on US-16A West, we came around the bend to see this guy ambling across the road.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3866/...547808bb_z.jpgWind Cave Custer SP Wildlife 068

We felt like we'd had a great day for wildlife viewing and hope to have more in Yellowstone.



Donna

Nice shots!

Just don't ever be tempted to honk at Bison! They take a dim view of such behavior.

Enjoying the report! (oh, and great job with the photo display used herein)

One giant caveat -- one significant issue since you are using Flickr is that if you ever close your Flickr account -- it will break every one of these pages you've created on RTA. Which is why we prefer that our members use the RTA PhotoShare service...

Mark

DAY 36 - TRIP OF "FIRSTS"

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5475/...cb2e1fe5_z.jpgphoto(80)

As we pulled into our first sightseeing stop of the day, on our way to Billings MT, we noted a sign that said, "America's First National Monument - Devil's Tower". The day before, we'd been to America's first national park to protect a cave, Wind Cave. After going through the very small museum/visitor center, we set out on the Tower Trail, a 1.3 mi hike that would take us all the way around Devil's Tower. On the trail, we didn't meet any wildlife, but we did get to observe, albeit from afar, a set of 5 or 6 climbers on the face of the tower. We could hear them like they were in the next room, though they were about halfway up the tower.

Between Devil's Tower and the next stop in Montana, we experienced a brief "thud" with the engine falling out of gear and immediately jumping back into gear. This is different from the problems we experienced in Bismarck, though we've experienced this before, wondering again about a sensor. However, there were no electrical interferences that were observable.

Back on the 90, heading for Billings, we pulled through Gillette and discovered a coal mine at the side of the road.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3879/...b9d848ef_z.jpgphoto(79)

This was the first trip in which we have attempted to see two places and still drive 450 miles on the day we did so. Our second stop was at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. This was not on the original trip plan at all. Hubby happened to say, when we were in Custer State Park, that someday he'd like to see where Custer's Last Stand took place. I looked it up, saw that it was right on the way (1/2 mile from I-90) to Billings, so we left early that day (6 am) in order to have time to see it. We spent about 2-1/4 hours there, getting to see the movie, do the 5-mile drive and visiting both the Indian Memorial and to a lesser extent, the Cemetery. It was very similar to Gettysburg and Vicksburg, but on a far smaller scale, of course. It made us both remember that the Native Americans got a raw deal.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3886/...5e54e804_z.jpgphoto(77)

Situated in an EconoLodge in Billings, MT, we went for a short "swim" then a warmer dunk in a hot tub, did dinner, and then relaxed and discussed the next day's plans, the approach to Yellowstone National Park. This was a reserved room with the special request for a first floor room "please", but they still attempted to give us a 2nd floor room. We are still trying to figure out why every motel attempts to give us a 2nd floor room even though we have requested a first floor room, are in "fairly" early (5:45 pm or earlier), and we have reserved. It's very frustrating. If there's an elevator, we really do not mind. But carrying a heavy suitcase or two up a couple of flights of stairs is not something we really want to do, and we leave early enough to feel sorry for the people below us who hear us thump around at 5 am and roll suitcases around before 6 am. Usually we have to explain that to the check-in folks. Grrrrr!


Donna

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DonnaR57

It made us both remember that the Native Americans got a raw deal.

---

Like in the rest of the developed world, they still do.

Quote:

---

We are still trying to figure out why every motel attempts to give us a 2nd floor room ....

---

Get a walking stick.

Ever since I have had to use one, I have not been offered anything but a groundfloor room.

Lifey

Very nice shot of the Devils Tower!

...And yes, I know that the software still needs to be fixed. Soon, soon, soon.

Mark

DAY 36 CONTINUED --

Just got my photos out of the good camera. Thought some of you might like to see a few more.

Better, closer shot of Devils Tower:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5540/...25bd144d_z.jpgDevilsTower and Little Bighorn 016

This little guy came right up to me, probably looking for a handout (which I wasn't going to give him). It made for a nice photo op! He was a part of a HUGE field of Prairie dogs, which of course aren't really "dogs". They're just rodents.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5485/...5526f765_z.jpgDevilsTower and Little Bighorn 034

Hubby had the camera for Little Big Horn, and took this shot of the mass grave marker.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3895/...ffce5d55_z.jpgDevilsTower and Little Bighorn 083


Donna

DAY 37 - OHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYYYY GAWWWWWWWWWWWWWSH!!

Headed out from Billings with a 12 mile stint on I-90 then southwest on US-212. Quick bite to eat at Red Lodge before starting the Beartooth Highway. Well, thank you very much for this recommendation, as this was the most breathtaking highway either of us have every been on! Photos do not do it justice! We were thankful that everything worked out for us to be able to do this, including the weather. The report that morning had been for rain 40% chance all day. Managed to make it up the pass and down into Cooke City with almost no rain. Cooke City and Silver Gate got the rain!

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3839/...1a1afcd7_z.jpgBeartooth Yellowstone Day 1 008

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2922/...ed05ca84_z.jpgBeartooth Yellowstone Day 1 033

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5157/...533cf5a7_z.jpgBeartooth Yellowstone Day 1 037

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3924/...a2c2d32c_z.jpgBeartooth Yellowstone Day 1 038

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2899/...b8093713_z.jpgBeartooth Yellowstone Day 1 057

Paid the entrance to Yellowstone at the northeast entrance station. $25 covers both Yellowstone AND Grand Teton for a week. So we won't have to pay again. It occurred to me that I've now been through every entrance to Yellowstone -- before this trip, only the NE entrance was missing.

In the Lamar Valley, there were herds of buffalo. None were as close as the ones we had seen in Custer a few days before. Then a little later, there were some pronghorn out, also not as close as the ones in Custer. Some elk and a black bear were out too. The elk, a buffalo closer to Canyon Village, and the black bear all caused the major "animal jams".

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3916/...c5af03ae_z.jpgBeartooth Yellowstone Day 1 125

We decided to stop and do some walking through Norris Geyser Basin.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3849/...fc43708f_z.jpgBeartooth Yellowstone Day 1 093

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2908/...9d83a113_z.jpgBeartooth Yellowstone Day 1 097

We were walking the 1.6 mile Back Basin boardwalks when thunder was heard in the distance, and there were the clouds too. When the wind picked up, we decided it was time to head back for the truck. In so doing, I really did a number on my foot, disturbing my heel spur which I've had for years.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5523/...97b9b0ac_z.jpgBeartooth Yellowstone Day 1 119

We settled ourselves into the One Horse Motel in West Yellowstone just outside the west entrance. Our room is very small, we don't have bedside table/s, but the bathroom is decent sized. It's got A/C and a ceiling fan, and appears to be exceptionally clean. The price was "right", especially for this town. We'd made this reservation back in January!

Everything you need is within walking distance, so when you get back from a day in the park, you can park your vehicle and go everywhere on foot. Our dinner was at the Buffalo Bar, which had the best bar food we've ever had, and no kids are allowed in the place. A small supermarket, with typically higher resort-area prices, is within a couple of blocks. (No Wal-Mart here.) There's another one down the road. We picked up some picnic food for the following day, and hubby found beer to take back to California with us. (We had a great laugh out of that, singing the theme song from Smokey and the Bandit.)


Donna

Sorry to hear about the heel spur issue. But very glad you had nice weather for the the pass.

Mark

DAY 38 -- YELLOWSTONE, DAY 2

Up early in the morning and at Old Faithful by 6:35! Traffic was almost non-existent and parking was a breeze. We had decided to start with the most congested area in the park and go early to enjoy it without a lot of extra people. There were probably 4 or 5 dozen people around the boardwalk waiting for Old Faithful to erupt, all in jackets and a little cold. She finally erupted at 7:10 am.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2904/...d7d85f62_z.jpgYellowstone Day 2 020

Decided to splurge a little and enjoy breakfast in the Old Faithful Inn. That's a beautiful inn. Though we had the breakfast buffet, service and presentation were impeccable. Xanterra is doing well with what used to be Fred Harvey's domain, so Fred would have been proud! Wasn't too pricey, either, when you consider juice and coffee were included. Offerings were 2 types of scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, two types of hash browns, French toast, biscuits and gravy, sweet rolls and muffins, four types of dry cereals (with milk), oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins separate, hot grits, a fruit salad, two types of fat-free yogurt -- I'm sure I am missing something here. Anyway, for $12.98 that was a pretty good deal for all you cared to eat.

Went back outside to catch Old Faithful erupting for the second time, 20 minutes later. Then, despite my painful heel spur, we walked most of the boardwalks around Upper Geyser Basin.

Our next stop was at the West Thumb Geyser Basin. Walked that entire thing, which was really neat to see the geysers right at the edge of Yellowstone Lake.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2919/...a5e37859_z.jpgphoto(84)

We also walked the entire trail for the Mud Geyser Basin.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2918/...0d467f53_z.jpgphoto(81)

We took a break in a picnic area on the shore of West Thumb, before moving further up to the Upper and Lower Falls area. We did the viewpoints there, and walked to the Brink of Lower Falls -- 3/8 mile STRAIGHT DOWN 600 ft in elevation. I did fine going down but was very slow coming back up due to that heel spur. At a different spot, hubby walked to the Brink of Upper Falls. I declined as my foot was hurting pretty bad by then.

Brink of Lower Falls.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3853/...5c78fd04_z.jpgphoto(82)

Brink of Upper Falls.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2935/...763066c8_z.jpgYellowstone Day 2 138

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Walls.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2927/...4cd22c53_z.jpgYellowstone Day 2 134

Came back to the motel just after 4, rested, then walked more -- over to get pizza for dinner.


Donna

DAY 39 - THIRD DAY, YELLOWSTONE

No doubt about it, Yellowstone is a very large National Park. It is very, very busy -- traffic can be a source of contention, parking is often a problem (particularly between 10 am and 4 pm), and even foot traffic is a headache. Still, it is a beautiful park with so much to see and do. We planned 3 days, enough to do an overview and decide what to see in more detail the next time we come.

So on the third day, we drove the northern section of the Grand Loop. Our first stop was at Gibbon Falls, which is an overlook with a "lower overlook" 1000 ft down the road. Beautiful, and at 7:30 am, we still had a number of people there!

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2903/...77a8cefb_z.jpgYellowstone Day 3 007

Drove up to the Artists' Paintpots. Hubby wanted to see boiling mud, and this was going to fill the order. Unfortunately, we were the 4th vehicle in a line and all 4 of us turned in -- even at 7:45 am!!!! Still, once on the trail, people spread out and it wasn't an issue. We loved the area, and had become accustomed to the aroma.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3904/...8599f658_z.jpgYellowstone Day 3 015

Next stop was for coffee at Canyon area, then off to Tower Falls. We'd tried to get into that parking lot when we first came in, but it was jammed then so we skipped it. Glad we got to see it, finally, as the falls are beautiful!

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2934/...b34b1e88_z.jpgYellowstone Day 3 054

We'd gotten into a number of animal jams. The most common had been for bison, including one jam that has lasted for days because people were watching a dead bison -- we supposed, seeing what other animals would come to feast on it. This day we had a bear jam, for a mother and THREE cubs. That is unusual, for sure. What is not so unusual is the idiocy of people who get out and try to get a close up photo!!! We also saw some pronghorn and some female elk (at Mammoth Hot Springs).

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3882/...76f200a5_z.jpgYellowstone Day 3 060

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2921/...d5807d53_z.jpgYellowstone Day 3 104

At Mammoth, we did the Lower Terrace on foot, the Upper Terrace both by vehicle and on foot. Also we drove to Gardiner and the Roosevelt Arch. We were sad to see that the Terraces have died off so much -- the sign said after the 1998 earthquake.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3908/...862311fb_z.jpgYellowstone Day 3 082

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3859/...629dee01_z.jpgYellowstone Day 3 092

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2938/...bde8c8ff_z.jpgYellowstone Day 3 101



The day ended at the park by crawling through a construction zone. Some of the road between Mammoth Hot Springs and Norris Jct is being replaced. Much of the work is being done between 11 pm and 7 am, so they actually close the road there. But the other work is still being done during the day. There was a 3-mile stretch of pilot car, one-lane only traffic, right around Roaring Mountain.

Long road trips always require things like laundry, and the One Horse Motel in West Yellowstone had a washer and dryer -- $1.50 each.

BTW, this "40 Day Road Trip" is actually going to be something like 46 days. I guess I can't count!!!!


Donna

Wonderful photos and thanks for the report about the breakfast fare!

Mark

DAY 40 - GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK

Up early, checked out of One Horse Motel in West Yellowstone and was on the road before 6 am. Before 7:30 am, we had traversed Yellowstone from the West Entrance, to Madison, to West Thumb and South Entrance and arrived at Flagg Ranch for breakfast. Bad mistake. The service was incredibly slow, the toast was cold and the coffee was strong and tepid, and it was expensive. The waiter was really nice, though.

Since there was no entrance station on the north end of Grand Teton NP, we never had to show our receipt from Yellowstone, nor did we get a map of the park until we stopped at Colter Bay Visitor Center. Once we had a decent map, I could plan our drive accordingly.

We stopped at all the overlooks that looked interesting, and got on Teton Park Road. When we came to the Jenny Lake Scenic Drive, we took it. Very pretty! Then kept going, stopping at the overlooks. When we got near Moose Junction, we pulled into the Menor area especially to see the Chapel of the Transfiguration. That was as beautiful as the first two times I saw it, when I was much younger!

The Chapel.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3907/...002f140b_z.jpgGrand Teton NP 033

View out the Chapel window.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3875/...57c4599a_z.jpgGrand Teton NP 038

Menor area, the ferry across the Snake.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3840/...c2e7e0e0_z.jpgGrand Teton NP 042

Menor transportation garage.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2932/...a37bc8a7_z.jpgGrand Teton NP 052



Headed north on US-89, just to drive up to the Snake River Overlook.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5596/...05f081f0_z.jpgphoto(87)

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2908/...c509693c_z.jpgGrand Teton NP 073

Then headed back south again, turning left on Antelope Flats Road. Mormon Row looked interesting, especially to photograph that much photographed barn. Not sure I got the right barn, but I got an interesting one! Then drove over to Gros Ventre Road to follow the river a little and peer into the Elk Refuge. Nary an elk did we see!

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2939/...37a02f77_z.jpgGrand Teton NP 083

In Jackson, what a nightmare! Stopped in the visitor center for naught. Then backtracked and found parking to get some ice cream for lunch! Meandered through the town just to try to find our route and missed it. Fortunately, we made our way back to it.

We took WY-22 West over Teton Pass. With 10% grades up, we heated up the tranny a little but nothing too bad. (The only reason we knew that it was hot was that we have a tranny temp gauge.) Coming down was even harder, though, as there was construction and we came down at the end of a very long line of vehicles. Hubby is a skilled driver, put the General into 1st gear and 2nd when needed and rarely had to touch his brakes!

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5587/...5750c20a_z.jpgGrand Teton NP 088

We situated ourselves in Driggs, ID, at the backside of the Grand Tetons, in a Super 8. This one has the largest rooms we'd ever seen in a Super 8, and very clean. After being crammed into very tiny quarters for 3 nights, having a lot of space was appreciated! The price was much better than we would have paid in Jackson, too. It's about 30 miles out of Jackson, just over a pass. There was also an indoor pool and a hot tub. The only drawback to the place as that the closest food was a Subway across the street.

View out hotel room window. (Look between trees for Grand Tetons.)
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3901/...ea34c3c0_z.jpgphoto(88)

Though there was still the trip home to go, the sightseeing days were about done at this point on the trip.

Donna

DAY 41 - THE COMBO DAY

This was a day of a combination of routes. Started off on ID-33 out of Driggs, heading towards Rexburg, ID where we picked up US-20 west. That pretty well dumped us onto I-15 towards Pocatello. Picked up a decent breakfast at Idaho Falls, then drove to I-86 followed by I-84.

That was followed by US-93 south, from Twin Falls to Wells, NV, then I-80 west to Elko, NV.

The routes were alternating farmlands with something a little more scenic.

Leaving Driggs, view of backside of Tetons:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5554/...2d2a0ed1_z.jpgphoto (10)

Somewhere around Idaho Falls, along the 15:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3836/...c1971ca7_z.jpgphoto (5)

Along either 86 or 84:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3872/...48087a28_z.jpgphoto (9)


Just south of Jackpot, NV, at a rest area:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5575/...8583c6f9_z.jpgphoto (6)




Donna

DAY 42 - I-DAY and TRAFFIC

We left that morning just before 7, after getting a load of fuel. The truck has been consistently good and getting close to 19mpg, which is pretty decent for a slightly older power-stroke diesel. Fuel prices have ranged from $3.49 at Hutchins, TX (early in June) to $4.15 at West Yellowstone, but fortunately I budgeted either at $4.25 or $4.50, so we are consistently under budget for fuel. We don't mind going a little out of our way to find cheaper fuel -- in Elko (where we'd stayed that previous night, at a casino/motel), was a good example. The Sinclair station right on the freeway was $4.15/gallon. We went 1 mile down what I'd call a frontage road and found another Sinclair for $3.85/gallon. 30c difference, wow! In Sparks we saved .03/gal by going a little off the road -- not nearly as impressive. But it was .22/gal cheaper than going into Truckee, CA for fuel. GasBuddy to the rescue here -- our good app "friend".

Stopped for a delicious breakfast at Winnemucca, NV, at a place called The Griddle. TripAdvisor had given them a #1 rating for the town, and we found that was well deserved. Both of us had crepes -- raspberry for one of us, peach for the other. Of course these were way more calories than I should have consumed, but this was Soooo good and we rarely get crepes. At $4 for a side of bacon (4 pieces) we thought that was a bit outrageous.

We have regularly used TripAdvisor to find places to eat, especially if the motel clerks are busy. It's been pretty reliable, and the food has been good. Before we left, I used TripAdvisor to find motels, too. It's a nice app to have on ones' phone, along with GasBuddy.

We crossed back into our home state just after noon. The traffic started back in Reno and never, ever let up all the way in to our final stop for the day.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3874/...22cc2d71_z.jpgphoto(90)

If the traffic weren't awful enough, probably because it was a weekend, then we saw a sign that would make some folks sit up and take notice. Hubby used to travel I-80 when he drove commercially, so he'd driven a truck through this weekly for awhile.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5554/...0de78f93_z.jpgphoto(91)

We pulled into the southeast bay area (Pleasanton area) just before 4 pm, to the home of my cousin and her man. We enjoyed a delightful visit, dinner, walking their dogs (Bostons), before retiring for the evening.


Donna

When I see those, signs I sit up and think of the fuel it will save me. Happily let it roll in second gear while I sit back and enjoy the ride.

Lifey

DAY 43 - RESTFUL DAY!

Resting up for the next day's journey, that's what this day meant. Visiting with my cousin and her man over the day, taking a nap in between his departure for work and her arrival home from work, we didn't do a whole lot. Her dogs have taken to us, which is unusual since my husband is not really a "dog person".

One dog playing hide-and-seek:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3866/...662d6cba_z.jpgphoto(92)

Tug of war:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2897/...d0a8f2cd_z.jpgphoto(93)

Lifey -- nice to enjoy that ride, if it weren't for so much traffic ahead of it. That picture really didn't show how much traffic there really was on that road!

Not much else on this nice relaxing day.


Donna

DAY 44 - FINAL DAY

This was the day we headed home, after more than 6 weeks on the road. Driving the 500+ miles from the Pleasanton area to our home near San Diego, we did some reflecting on our trip, deciding what was good and what was not so good, that we could prevent, what could we change, what wasn't worth trying.

On this day, we did not do the usual "get over to I-5 and take it straight south to San Diego". Nope! We took the 5 as far south as Buttonwillow, where we got off on CA-58 and took it East as far as Kramer Junction, where we caught US-395 south and then dropped us onto I-15. CA-58 had taken us over the Tehachapi Pass, which we didn't even think about the Loop there until it was too late. Well, we will be taking that route again. US-395 was no picnic, but CA-58 was a great way to avoid the Tejon Pass/Grapevine area, and all of I-5 through LA. When I was a teen, we took this route, and hubby seems to recall that we took it as a family one other time.

Trip was 8,866 miles, though I have not completely finished the tally of how much was spent. I will post that separately, after I complete the job. In the meantime, though, I have to figure out how to get the wireless back to work in the house, as it had quit while we were gone. So I'm hard-wired into the router with the laptop.


Donna

Bit of a detour to go back to Tehachapi! Once you reached the I-15 at the US-395 you could have taken I-15 all the way to San Diego.

Mark

Oooh, bad writing, bad grammar!!!! We took CA-58 over the Tehachapi Pass to Kramer Junction, then took US-395 down to I-15.

Another problem found at home: One of our cars was dead-as-a-doornail. Needed a new battery, pronto. The other car was fine, just filthy dirty. The latter is not a problem, as in the glove compartment is a "rain check" for a car wash that the car was supposed to get a couple of months ago. Hopefully they will continue to honor it.



Donna

Stats and reflections:

Mileage: 8,866 miles driveway to driveway
Overnight: $1965 (avg $85)
Fuel (diesel): $1921 (18 mpg, $3.49-4.15/gal)
Meals: $1731.
Admissions (museums, parks): $177
Parking (JSC, Mt Rushmore): $17
Tolls: $50.55
Ice: $15
Laundry: $8 (plus I did a lot at family member's homes)
Snacks: $31 (mostly ice cream)
Misc: $105.
Souvenirs: $226

Reflections:

* We think this will be the last trip using a AAA TripTik. It is redundant for the other reference tools we take with us, such as "The Next Exit", smart phone apps, and GPS. This year, AAA ignored my routing in several places and gave us the routing that they liked instead.

* We are going to need to up the food budget. Dinners were constantly costing us more even at family places, than I had budgeted. We still came in right at budget, but only because we realized it and took other measures.

* I need to add "electrical strip" to our packing list. So many motels were short on electrical plugs. Considering how many things have to be charged, we found ourselves buying one about halfway through the trip.

* When reserving motel rooms, we need to figure out a way to look into room sizes. We had quite a few rooms that were barely big enough to turn around in, much less put 2 suitcases out and a few electronics.

* We are going to avoid cabins from now on. We had two places that were cabin-ish, and we had NO space nor was the bathroom big enough to turn around in either.


Anyway, this concludes our Summer 2014 trip -- now to start planning the next one!


Donna

A few final photos:

Tehachapi Summit.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3879/...2d503388_z.jpgphoto(94)

One of the 13(?) train tunnels in the Tehachapi area.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3867/...833df376_z.jpgphoto(95)

Train in distance, tracks closer to highway.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3866/...6217d8ca_z.jpgphoto(96)



Donna

A TRIP "CODA" --

Each year, as we get through with our summer trip, I make a solo trip from our home in San Diego area, to my parents' home near Phoenix AZ. I just got back from this 5 day solo trip.

The drive over, 375 miles, took 6-3/4 hours. I stopped for pit stops (2), fuel for the sedan, and a brief fast-food lunch. The visit was 3 full days after that, spent visiting with my parents, getting my mom out of the house a bit (even with the awful heat they have there!), and helping around the house with chores that elderly folks need. The trip home, same mileage, also 6-3/4 hours. The A/C ran most of the way in both directions, as the temperatures were well above 95. UGH, sorry, I am not built to live in an oven.

One reason I'm even posting is that I noticed a change in a truck stop that I often utilize for picking up a soft drink, bottle of water, or snack, and for a pit stop. It is Holt's Shell, at the Butterfield Trail exit off I-8 in Gila Bend. They added some decor, free wifi (!), and a very useful place as well:

This one is labeled "Dog Rest Area", but there are also big "critters" that kids love to climb on. In the Dog area, is a dispenser with free plastic bags and a place to dispose of your pet's mess. Hopefully, with children playing on those critters, people will take the time to clean up their dog mess.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3849/...bfe8c96c_z.jpgphoto(111)

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5577/...9d592c53_z.jpgphoto(112)

People were taking pictures of family members by this one, so I waited my turn to photograph it without people around.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5581/...a7c99ff5_z.jpgphoto(113)

So for me, this ends the summer travels, as my school year begins very soon! (Phoenix area was all pretty well back to school already....)



Donna