The drive was a bit more hectic than I had hoped, but overall, not too bad. Gas prices outside of California were great! Except for a broken windshield caused by a rock fired into the windshield by an oncoming semi, the trip was pretty much uneventful.
Upon arrival in Milwaukee, I backed the RV into the driveway of the AirBnb. Quite a feat considering that the driveway was quite narrow and there was a center median in the street directly in front of the driveway preventing the RV from straightening out completely before backing up!! Even worse, Joel and the crew’s flight was delayed so much that they did not arrive until 4am! I was slumbering peacefully when they finally arrived….
Could not have been a tighter squeeze!!!!!!!
As expected, the fishing on Lake Michigan was awesome. By the end of the second day we had hauled in a little over 100 pounds of fish!!! (mostly King Salmon, but also a few lake trout) I took a few small cuts for the rest of my trip, but the “boys” then froze and packed into ice chests the rest for the airplane trip back to California. (All of it made it unscathed & still solidly frozen, I’m happy to report.)
After bidding farewell to the gang I set out toward Elkhart, Indiana where I would be staying a few days at the Coachmen factory to get some warranty work done (& repair the broken windshield). What was scheduled for one day took three – but the free campground at the factory was convenient and comfortable so no worries! I thoroughly enjoyed spending the uninterrupted time working on computer projects and taking walks around the area each day while my RV was being tended to.
Walks around the area were beautiful and peaceful!
Back on the road – now heading westward – I accidently discovered that I was passing by Michael Jackson’s childhood home in Gary, Indiana. Of course, I had to stop there!
Next planned stop was to be Vermillion, South Dakota where I would be visiting my childhood friend, Lynne. After running out of time on the way TO Milwaukee, Lynne & I decided it would be better to make the visit on the way back. A great decision because the visit – in spite of a huge rainstorm – was relaxed and pleasurable! Although we had been regularly in touch over the years, it had been about 15 years since we had been together in person. Unfortunately it was pouring rain the whole time I was there so we were unable to take any photos =(
After leaving Vermillion I headed toward Mt. Rushmore – where I had visited as a child almost exactly 58 years previously! The drive took me through Clinton, Illinois, Sac & Sioux City, Iowa, and the Badlands of South Dakota. What a treat it turned out to be. However, I limited my hiking in the Badlands because of the extreme heat, poorly marked trails, and not feeling completely safe being by myself. Definitely a place to come back to in the future with a hiking companion!
Port Clinton, Illinois on the Lincoln Highway and the Mississippi River
First Bride’s Grave – Sioux City, Iowa
World’s Largest Popcorn Ball – Sac City, Iowa
Badlands National Park is 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires. It is home to bison, long-horn sheep, prairie dogs, and mule deer just to name a few of the species that abound there. In 1981 an animal once thought extinct, the black-footed ferret, was found in Wyoming and in 1994 several were released into the prairies of the Badlands in an effort to save them.
I had never seen the Badlands before – what an adventure!
The man laying in front of the sheep had been here 3 years previously and after spending the night in this exact location had woken to these bighorn sheep sleeping next to him! Here he is photographing them.
Never travel without a hammock!!!!!!!
I had to drive down the mountain in the pouring rain.
After Rushmore Crazy Horse Monument was of course a must. When I was here last in 1964 this monument was not a tourist attraction. It is now a very impressive one. Each June and October there is a “Volksmarch” (hike) from the bottom of the hill to the face of the monument, which is the only way to get really close to it. Someday I want to do this hike!
A quote from Crazy Horse sculptor Korczak Ziolowski
After all the rain I had dodged in these few days
this rainbow was a welcome sight!
Wind & Jewel Caves were next on my list. My first “spelunking” adventure was with my sons when they were Boy Scouts and I learned then that I love the stories that caves hold.
The Lakota people believed that they had emerged from the Spirit World to the Earth’s surface through this opening now called Wind Cave. The first non-Native person to discover it was teenager Alvin McDonald in 1890. His family started giving tours as a means to scratch out a living. Alvin would lead tours using a candle and a ball of string to find his way out. Wind Cave has more “boxwork” formations than is found in all the other caves on Earth combined!
Jewel Cave is about 35 miles from Wind Cave. With over 200 miles of mapped and surveyed passageways it is one of the longest caves in the world.
Boulder, Colorado and a visit to my brother Doug was next on my list.
Doug & Leilani’s home in Boulder – I just fit in the driveway!
After Boulder I had the choice whether to head slightly north through Oregon to check out the “Willies” before turning south along the Pacific Coast, or the go straight to northern California to a nudist resort called Laguna del Sol that Joel and I had tried several times to visit without any success. One phone call to Joel and we decided that I should go straight to Sacramento where I would pick him up at the airport and he would accompany me on the rest of my journey.
Camping lakeside at Laguna del Sol
Joel showed Roberta all the places he had learned to fish at Mammoth Lakes with his Uncle Henry almost fifty years ago
Lone Pine was warm, beautiful and desolate enough that we……
Meandering Momma / Annie's Journey 