July 4 - 7

July 4, 2009 - We have not done much today. My driver needs to stay settled after the driving. We stayed around camp all day and cleaned the coach and did laundry. It does not get dark until after 11 pm so the fireworks were after 11. They were really good for a campground and we saw more displays in the distance. I got my first opportunity to take photos after dark. It was definitely a learning experience.

July 5, 2009 – We headed for Canada bright and early. The weather was calm and clear. I had anticipated all kinds of problems at customs. We drove up handed over our passports and were asked three questions and sent on our way. Almost a disappointment! The farms are huge and far between and you can see forever. The park was easy to find and very organized. We drove up, a woman came to the coach door, took our name, crossed it off her list, and directed the golf cart to our site. We unhooked and went to get the car washed and to Safeway. Our first Canadian experience was to find the carts locked. You have to pay 25 cents to use one. When we got back and Charles checked out the park, he found you have to pay to use the showers. Needless to say he is showering in the coach.

July 6, 2009 – The main street of Cochrane is lined with small specialty shops. We spent the morning looking at things and making a few purchases. We finished just as it started to rain. It rained all afternoon.

July 7, 2009 – Today was the big day! The tour orientation was at 3:30 pm with snacks and visiting. There are nine coaches of retired LA firemen on our tour. At 5pm the country and western music started and continued until 7 pm. Right after the music we got in line for a western barbeque meal. By the time we finished it was 8 pm and the sun was still high in the sky. Time to head for the coach and get ready for an early day tomorrow. The bus leaves at 7:30 am.


Joke of the day—WHAT DO YOU CALL CHEESE THAT IS NOT YOURS?
Nacho Cheese!

Glacier National Park

Wednesday finds us on the way from Billings MT. It’s just a day of driving. They have very healthy snow fences lining the road. Charles saw two herds of deer today. Carol slept most of the day. We spent the night in Helena, the capitol city.

Thursday is another day in Montana. The goal was St. Mary’s just outside Glacier National Park, which we reached just after noon. We will be here for 3 nights. The land north of Helena looks very much like Fallon and Lake Tahoe. The grain fields go for miles. Charles said they would drive the tractor for a mile in a straight line and turn around and come back. There are a lot of winter wheat fields. They alternate with the summer fields and make the landscape striped. We saw a herd of pronghorn antelope near the road plus geese and more deer. Near Shelby MT we saw a huge wind turbine field. It looked different than those in Tonopah CA. Because of the rolling terrain they looked different sizes and not in rows. They intrigue me and I would love to have one in our yard. We also saw about 8 cows on the road and one horse. There was not a farmhouse in sight. I thought we should call the sheriff’s department because Nancy had told us about her cattle roundups and bear hunts. Of course, the nearest phone was 20 miles so we let someone else handle it.

There are all kinds of campers at the St. Mary KOA, from tenters to motorhomes. Like all KOAs this one has small cabins and they are heavily used. The photo of the coach should give you an idea about the proximity of the mountains. The first night the temperature was a balmy 52 degrees. No need to worry about air conditioning. As we looked out the first morning we saw a couple loading their tandem bicycle. They had packs all over the bike plus a small one-wheel trailer. It looked as though they we well experienced. Biking in the country is not for the faint of heart. Couch potatoes need not apply.

Friday we awoke to find it was 59 degrees in the coach. Not bad since it was 51 outside. We spent Friday in Glacier National Park via the Red Bus Crown of the Continent Tour. Another couple from KOA went on the trip and we picked up six more at the Lodge for a total of 10. For anyone visiting the park in an RV I would strongly recommend this mode of visiting the park. They do the driving and you do the looking. Because much of the road hangs on the side of mountains and is only two cars wide (most of the time) the driver doesn’t get to see the sights. We entered at the east entrance at about 4,500 ft and started the climb on the Going-to-the-Sun road. Eighteen miles and 2,100 ft later we crossed the Continental Divide at Logan Pass. This part of the road had been closed until a week before due to snow. We stopped at the visitor’s center at the pass but due to the clouds, which started at 6,000 ft, we could not see anything. It was an odd sensation to stand in the parking lot with the wind blowing the clouds past. Something like being in a thick fog and a high wind. Carol met a woman who had arrived early to get a parking place and then couldn’t see anything. Back in the bus we started down the west side heading for McDonald Lake. On the way down we looked back and you could see the wind-blown clouds spilling over the crests like a waterfall and breaking from the peaks. It was just like some video I have seen of high winds blowing snow from the tops of the Himalayas. The sun appeared on the west side and the driver rolled back the cloth top to provide a vertical view. That is vertical up as we already had a vertical down view. Sixteen miles and 2,000 ft later we had lunch at Lake McDonald near the west entrance. The temperature was now in the 70s and everyone was in shorts and t-shirts. After lunch it was back on the bus for the trip up and over Logan Pass. By this time all of the clouds had disappeared and we could see everything. You really do get a new view in each direction. The driver was knowledgeable and talked about the scientific history of the park as well as the legends and Indian folklore. He also talked about the wildlife and plants. The photos we have included do not do justice to the park. You just have to see it for yourself.

Mt Rushmore

Sunday we crossed the wide Missouri River. We entered the Black Hills and large farms and crops gave way to cows and horses. The fields were grass and stretched forever. So far the only road maintenance has been 20 miles of two lane traffic, where they are working on the other half of the Interstate. Our first stop in Rapid City, after setting up, was to get Charles new glasses. Monday morning we visited Mt. Rushmore. It is amazing that the work was done without power tools. The carving and blasting was started in 1927 and the sculpture was finished in 1941. Borglum used a 1/12th scale model to make the sculpture accurate. One inch on the model equals one foot on the sculpture. The president's heads are 60ft in height and the noses are 21 ft long. They were preparing for the Independence Day celebration by moving 6,000 shots of fireworks up the front of the monument. They started at 7 AM and were moving them in 50 pound bags. We listened to a ranger speak about the history of the area and the carving. Artist Borglum knew he wanted the work to be a national site and had already chosen the subjects before South Dakota commissioned him to do the work. He had just finished Stone Mountain in GA. He chose George Washington, our first president, to represent the birth of the nation. Thomas Jefferson represents expansion with the Louisiana Purchase. Theodore Roosevelt represents development of the nation during a new century and Abraham Lincoln represents preservation by saving the nation during the Civil War.

We also learned Sioux is a name used the the enemies of the Lakota people. It means small snake in the grass. I am glad my name is Sue.

Tuesday we were on the road again. We left SD and entered Wyoming. The Gillette area was marked by many oil wells and coal mines and coal trains.

We saw a strange billboard that neither of us understood. It said "Hard work never second hand smoked anyone". Does this make any sense to anyone? Tonight we are in Billings, Montana and tomorrow will be in Helena, Montana. The next big event is July 2-5 when we will be in an RV park on the east side of Glacier National Park.

First two days.

Friday, June 26, was a hot day to start our trip. It was an uneventful day except that Chuck broke one of the temples on his glasses. Therefore, we will add a trip to Lenscrafters in Rapid City on Monday. Friday night we stayed in St. Joseph, MO at the last campground available in Missouri northbound. Saturday we took I-29 north from St. Joseph and enjoyed the farmland. After seeing the wheat fields in Wichita last week and the corn and soybeans of Iowa I can understand why this is the heartland. The nation is fed by these central states. The corn got taller and taller as we went north until South Dakota. The first town in Iowa is Sidney! The farms are far from the highway and the fields of corn go on for miles. There are many grain elevators and railroads. We heard the trains all Friday night. The DOT has a sign that says, "Be aware of motorcycles, they are everywhere." We arrived at Mitchell, SD at 3pm and after getting settled went back to town and visited the Mitchell Corn Palace. This is a large structure built in 1892 when the town was 12 years old. The exterior is decorated with 11 types of corn that is grown in South Dakota. Every year the building is redecorated with a new theme. The gift shop has more corn items than you can imagine. It is a-maize-ing. The picture of the duck shows how they know where to put the different pieces of corn to make the design. Tomorrow we will be in Rapid City, SD, the home of Mt. Rushmore.

Sidney's visit

Sidney arrived at Branson airport on June 7. She just had her twelfth birthday and can travel by herself. Nana and Grandpa took her to Carlos O’Kelly’s for dinner. Andy’s Custard Shop attracted her attention and she requested a Concrete for dessert. It was overkill!
Monday Nana and Sidney prepared brownies and later attended Chesterfield pool for great fun and exercise.
Tuesday was an early day to go to Carthage to visit Grandpa Hugh. Before we returned home we got the groceries for the week and chicken dinner for the night.
Wednesday was a day of sewing for Sidney and Nana. We made pillowcases for Elizabeth, Summer, Jessie and Aunt Nancy. Sidney learned to use fabric scissors, straight pins and the sewing machine. She also learned pressing is ironing. She did a great job and next year we will find another sewing project.
Thursday Grandpa and Sidney went to the movies to see The Night at the Museum movie.
Friday we shopped for more fabric after attending the June Bug Show. Lots of Slug Bugs and vans.
Saturday we did more sewing. Sidney completed a rug for her room at Dad’s.
Sunday we packed the coach and baked an apple pie. Today was Nana and Grandpa’s 48th anniversary.
Monday we drove to Wichita Kansas and the Heart of America Rally. Lucille and John Severe were wagon masters and there were 6 coaches: Couchs, Cooks, Severes, Mathis, Sidebottoms and Genrichs. Monday afternoon Sidney and grandparents went to Freddies Custard and while we ate the Severes called and asked if Sidney would like to go to a swim meet. She did, so they picked her up and she spent the night at the younger Severes’ home with Lucille’s grandchildren. Lucille brought the girls back to the RV Park and they spent the day talking and playing dominos and Trans America. They also completed two shawls for Seniors. Tuesday night was Chocolate fondue night. Wednesday started with biscuits, gravy and fruit. The afternoon was filled with a trolley tour of Wichita and dinner was at a fried chicken place. Sidney and Stephanie are still talking. Sidney stayed in the Severe coach for the night. It was real quiet in the Genrich Coach. Thursday morning was cereal and fruit for breakfast. Swimming at the country club filled the afternoon and then the girls learned hand and foot and loved the neat card game. The girls baked cookies twice because everyone ate them all afternoon and they were dessert for our Prairie Dinner in the recreation room. This was followed by a girl’s only hand and foot game. Friday morning breakfast of sweet rolls and fruit was filled with goodbyes and hugs. We got home to Clever about 3 pm and emptied the coach and did laundry. We are ready for the trip to the Branson airport and home for Sidney.