Cross Country Road Trip - June 14 - HOME

We are home, and all is well. What a wonderful trip we had seeing some great country and sights. Time went by so fast and we never got tired of the voyage (or each other).

The final segments from Custer State Park/Black Hills South Dakota took us through Sheridan, WY, Bozeman, MT, and St. Regis, MT. En route to Bozeman, we stopped and toured Little Big Horn (aka Custer's Last Stand). It was quite a place and very interesting to see the failed

strategies of Custer's 7th Cavalry regiment, trying to move the locals elsewhere. There on June 25 and 26 of 1876, 263 soldiers, including Lt. Col. George A. Custer and attached personnel of the U.S. Army, died fighting several thousand Lakota, and Cheyenne warriors.

Some fascinating trip statistics and factoids...

RV miles traveled: 7825 (excludes excursions in the Honda)

Days gone: 72

Campground/RV parks stayed in: 30 (excludes relatives' driveways and bedrooms)

States traveled in/through: 23

RV Gallons of gas purchased: 922

Average mileage: 8.48

Most picturesque states: Kentucky, Louisiana and Montana

Least picturesque states: West Texas, Minnesota, and Illinois

Favorite campgrounds: St. Andrews SP, FL, Fort Wilderness, Disneyworld, Badlands KOA

Least Favorite campgrounds: Parkview RV, Fort Stockton, TX (what a dump!) and Asheville, NC

KOA (terrible Highway noise and unlevel sites

Worst roads: California, Illinois, and Montana

Best roads: Those leaving the repair shops

Most valuable tool: GPS

Some favorite things we did:

~ Swamp tour in Louisiana

~ Carlsbad Caverns

~ Basking in the sun on the white sand beaches and watching dolphins play at St. Andrews, FL

~ Disney World and visiting Animal Kingdom Park

~ Biking around Jekyll Island

~ Castillo de San Marcos and touring St. Augustine, FL

~ Trolley tour of Savannah, GA

~ CD tour of the Amish country in Elkhart, IN

~ Mount Rushmore

What did we learn from this trip:

~ Stuff breaks.

~ When possible, don't make reservations. It just adds to the stress to 'hurry up and gotta get there" when stuff breaks. Only once did we come across a full campground, including Fort Wilderness.

~ Change the belts before you make a long trip.

~ Take more/better tools.

~ Don't pack so many clothes.

~ Turn off the fridge when it is being towed or is up on blocks, otherwise they go bad.

~ Don't bother with a "Ready Brake". Quite a funny story actually ... So we towed the Honda using a Ready Brake which is a surge break device that is in between the RV receiver and the tow bar. The idea is that in an emergency stop, the Ready Brake will apply pressure to the Honda's brakes to help you stop. The problem is that the extra 18" the device adds causes a bit of whiplash effect, so you are constantly correcting the line of the RV, specially when a truck passes you or in side winds, etc. OK, so the funny part is that on the second to last day I decide to take it off to see if it towed any easier. OMG did it. I'

ll never use it again. Could hardly tell the Honda was back there most of the time.

So now we are home. While we had our share of mechanical issues along the way, we traveled over 2900 miles from the Atlantic shore of Charleston, NC to home without one single problem. The RV ran like a top. Needless to say, our (my) frustration during the "events" and decision to "sell the damn thing and buy something without an engine" was an emotional reaction...not logical. So we've decided to keep Bubba Tioga with all of the improvements we've made over the years and we'll be money ahead.

The cabin was in fine shape when we came home, although the grounds had gone somewhat to seed, after an unusually wet spring. The grass was real long.

So now we're cleaning the RV and taking care of the little stuff before our next trip to Pearrygin Lake with Darryl, Cathy, and the boys. In March, we're planning a 1-2 month jaunt to So Cal and Arizona to bask in their sun. Thanks to everyone for watching the blog and keep up with our travels.

Cross Country Road Trip - June 11

We are now in Sheridan, WY after having spend 3 great nights at the Game Lodge campground in

the Black Hills' Custer State Park. The first full day there was almost comical, as we had by then traveled over 7000 miles and upon arriving at Mount Rushmore, it was deep in clouds and the best you could see was George Washington's substantial schnozz. It also rained during a "touring' day, the first time this happened on the whole trip.

Not to be dismayed, we took some scenic drives and saw herds of bison, pronghorns, prairie dogs, and mule deer. At one point while driving the wildlife route, traffic came to a sudden halt. Some jackass was in the middle of the road begging for food, and blocking traffic. People were gawking, taking pictures .. it was a real zoo.

Yesterday, the weather was perfect and we returned to Rushmore for great weather and views.

was named for George Rushmore, some local lawyer before it was ever carved. We also did the 'Darryl and Cathy" tour version of Crazy Horse, and just viewed it from a pullout, rather than pay $22 to drive closer. I was suprized how much work is remaining. It's quite a sight. Interestingly, the mountain

The roads around Custer Park and Black Hills are cool. The needles highway have some tunnels you drive through that are barely wider than 8', that are carved through boulders.

Cross Country Road Trip - June 7

We are now in Badlands National Park, South Dakota. This is an AMAZING place. Georgeous hoodoos, like driving through the bottom of Bryce canyon. We took a 60-mile scenic tour through the park, stopping at waysides, a fossil boardwalk, and stopped at Wall Drug for ice cream and postcards. Bizarre place. The picture above is mountain goats.

Last night we stayed at a great SD State Campground called Lake Vermillion. It has a nice beach/swim area, similar to Pearrygin. The drive here was super windy, with strong gusts coming from the side (southwest). We disconnected the car and drove separately which helped alot. Weather has been pretty hot. Yesterday was a record 99 in Sioux Falls, SD, but today is a mild 92. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 75. Tomorrow we head off to Custer State Park.

Cross Country Road Trip - June 3

Today is our third day in the Elkhart, Indiana area. ...and we stayed this long on purpose! We have had a great time touring the Amish countryside and shops, RV factories, flea market and museums. We toured three RV manufacturers to see how they made their trailers; DutchmanAerolite, Keystone Bullet, and Forest River Surveyor. All are made in a similar way - walls, floors and roofs with aluminum frames with fiberglass and wood sandwiched on each side, foam insulation inside. The differences between the brands are subtle, like some roofs can be walked on, some mfg's put more aluminum into their structure, more insulation, better quality cabinets, etc. We're leaning toward the Surveyer model, although, we're still looking. evergreen RV makes some good ones too, but pricy.

We also visited the RV museum, which was surprisingly interesting. starting with old wagons, with flip-out tents, model T's, the early Airstreams, etc. It was fun to see how they've evolved.

Today we did a 90-mile CD-narrated tour of Amish country including Elkhart, Bristol, Shipshewana, Goshen, Napanee, Wakarusa. We stopped along the way at a old working water-powered mill, several shops, a cheese factory, and the Yoder Popcorn company. On Weds we visited Shipshewana's Huge flea market, the largest in the midwest with 1000's of vendors from typical flea market crap, through handmade pies, jams jellies, furniture made by the Amish. Row after row, after row. On gravel ... with a wheel chair. Grand fun.

Tomorrow we head further west with only overnight stops for four nights until we get to Custer State Park and the Mount Rushmore area.