Day 8 Dorian Park to Walla Walla

We are off to Walla Walla, the onion capital of the world. The onion festival is in July, we will miss it. We pass miles of onion crops and a few onion processing plants. They smell strongly of onion even from the road, so don't know how people can work there and get that smell off them before heading home. We ride to Touche for breakfast but again there is no restaurant there. We get a drink and snack and I meet Hans Pader from Switzerland. He is cycling from St Louis to Portland. His two companions have already dropped out so he is finishing on his own. He is very experienced and has toured Europe and the USA extensively. We leave Hans to the headwinds and finish our ride into Walla Walla and meet Suzanne at the Budget Inn. We have a laundry and swimming pool here and there is a market and Mexican restaurant next door so it is just about a perfect rest place for a day off. We decide to ride a short ride tomorrow to a campground 25 miles up the road anyway. We will clean up, rest and sleep in tomorrow. John will be sending some extra stuff home at the post office to lighten his load. We find that we don't need everything on our cumulative lists so we are starting to shed some weight. A good idea before we get to the mountains coming up next week. We have a planning session and get a rough estimate that we should be in Missoula Montana at the Adventure Cycling Headquarters by next Monday or about a week of cycling. Another 375 miles . Today we rode 31 easy miles with one big hill.

Jim Suzanne and Beau

Day 7 Crow Butte to Madame Dorian Park

We start out early to great weather and have a long downhill ride for quite a few miles. Lots of Wind Mills here all along the tops of the gorge sides picking up the winds that howl down the gorge. We plan to stop in Patterson , a migrant hamlet for breakfast but it is not open so we push on to Umatilla, Population 5000 and join Suzanne at a great little coffee shop called the KISS cafe. Keep It Simple Suppers. Dianne is the owner and has bonded with Suzanne over coffee while waiting for us. KISS prepares dinners for cooking at home for busy workers or those who don't want to or who don't know how to cook. We linger here and Tom updates the crazyguy blog and we check emails and have a sandwich. We leave for Dorian campground and have an uneventful ride . Today we do 53 miles. Half a mile from the end, Bob gets a flat, but is able to pump up the tire to get to the campground. This campsite is the worst so far, dry and no water, dry toilet that is dirty. Lots of migrant workers here and also some campers pull in for the night. Some construction workers are camping here and they are noisy and less than wholesome. They go out drinking and come back at midnight waking everyone up , at least for awhile. Bob and John jump into the river here and find that it is not too clean, so we decide to drive up the road 10 miles to a park that has a swimming hole to wash off . We get ice cream on the way back and have sandwiches for dinner. None of us sleep well due to noise and we are up and out early on our way to Walla Walla where we will get a motel and take the rest of Sunday off. Hope it cools down tomorrow, we will have to dig out the battery fan for the van and it is pretty hot inside. Bob spends some time writing a letter of apology and inserting some money as he forgot to pay his check at KISS. We tell him he got the first flat due to bad karma.......

Jim Suzanne and Beau

Day 6 Maryhill to Crow Butte Park Wa

We are up early with Beau and start about 7. Weather is still great , high pressure blue skies. It is fully light at 5am here so we have plenty of time to wait for everyone to get their bikes and selves ready to ride each day. Today we start by going two miles straight up. We let a long bed truck go by as it is carrying an oversize load, the blade for a windmill. It is over 1 1/2 semi trucks long, then straight up. On top, there is a memorial to WWI veterans built as a recreation of England's Stonehenge. It was built in 1929 after a local veteran visited Stonehenge and decided it was a memorial to sacrifice. It is to scale and complete and overlooks the gorge. We then head up to Roosevelt, a migrant and railroad switch town of 300 about 33 miles along. I get there first and get a gatoraide while I wait for the others. The owner keeps a notebook log of comments from bike riders that she started in 2003. It is very interesting reading comments from all types of riders and groups from families to teams to those raising money or awareness for a cause. Last year this date a father passed trough with his four daughters aged 16-20 on their way to Maine from Portland, just for the hell of it. We find a quaint cafe up the road and have the burger and beer special. Owner is colorful and chats with us quite awhile, this place is the only restaurant and doubles as the weekend bar also. The bar stools are chairs from the old courthouse fastened to barrel tops .......great food and company. We find out all about the three local businesses and the bar is also the Post Office. On from the cafe to Crow Butte park, another 21 miles. We get in and it is starting to get hot now. The park is great and has a swimming hole on the river, grassy tent spots and the park host is a jolly guy with a big belly who likes to chat. He says he'll open the concession stand if we need food, usually only open on the weekend. Its Friday night so the campground fills up early, we got the last spot thanks to Suzanne's advance scouting. Lots of kids but they are all well behaved and it gets quiet at dark. 60 miles today and 307 commutative for the trip so far. Nothing too difficult yet. We find out in the early morning why the park is called Crow Butte. The park is on a butte and it is covered with noisy crows early. Weather is still perfect blue skies, we have had no rain so far. Tomorrow we primitive camp.

Jim Suzanne and Beau

Day 5 Viento to Mary Hill State Park

We all slept well despite the trains that run through every 30 minutes or so. Here we have electric so we make coffee and hot oatmeal. We get started around 8 am and ride to the little town of Hood River, the windsurfer town on the Columbia River. We find a great coffee shop with wifi and chat whilst Tom updates the crazyguyonabike.com website. We chat with a fedx driver and decide to take the scenic trail over the hill from town which is a section of the old Historic Columbia River Highway. It is closed to all but bike traffic and we have a nice quiet ride for about 16 miles with bikers and joggers and scenic views. We work our way back onto a two lane road up to Rowena Crest on top of the gorge cliffs. Here the wind is really blowing hard and we have to be careful not to get blown over the edge or into traffic. We then come down through canyons with strong tailwinds for over 10 miles, coasting most of the way. We stop at an organic cherry orchard and get some cherries to munch on at stops and for later at the campground. Lots of cherry orchards here and some apricot with an occasional winery along the way. We meet Suz at the Dalles grocery for soup and sandwich and purchase more groceries for dinner and breakfast. We ride the next 20 on the side of the interstate which has a nice shoulder but the truck and traffic noise is loud. We come into Biggs OR and cross the Columbia on a suspension bridge in high winds, a little worrisome with the trucks and winds. Just over the bridge is the Maryhill Campground, very nice lawns and we are not allowed to pitch the tents on the grass......maybe too nice. Shower need quarters again and I am first to the showers and find that the quarter just turns on the hot water, so after your quarter runs out, the water goes ice cold........what a wake up after the hot road. This campground is right next to the river at the base of the gorge cliffs. We notice that the temperature is climbing during the day and not as cold at night. The conifers are giving away to broad leaf and we have young spruce in leaf around the campground. We have a view of the road snaking up the side of the cliff to the top of the gorge , a constant reminder of tomorrows immediate climb straight up. The grass here is green at the campground as they water it but the grass on the Field and prairie is all brown now. Hills are smooth and contoured up on top of the gorge. We turn in at dusk and decide on an early departure. We meet another two young guys also following the Lewis and Clark trail to Missoula, they may stay at some of our stops along the way. Today we road 55 miles, Avg speed 13.6 mph.

Jim, Suzanne and Beau

Day 4, Troutdale to Viento State Park

We get coffee at the motel 6 and then Jim rides up the hill to downtown troutdale to meet the pub crew. We meet at 730a and ride up the road about 6 miles to the Tippecanoe restaurant, recommended by a street crew worker . What a great place. Shirley the owner goes into an intricate story about the place, decor and then the depth and breath of the items on the menu, most homemade. I get the eggs with homemade polish sausage, potatoes and homemade wheat toast and it is great but a lot of food, so I doubt I'll have any room for a lunch later. We spend the rest of the day riding between scenic outlooks and waterfalls on this section of the Historic Columbia river highway. After the last waterfall we come to a side road up Herman Creek road toward a campground that takes us off the main roads. The hill is so steep we have to walk the last section to the peak as our heart rates are all in the danger zone for too many miles. We blast down a good road on the other side and make our way to Viento State Park for the night. This is near the Hood River area where wind surfing and kiting is very popular on the river due to very high sustained winds in the 30 and 40 mph range. The camp is full of these adventure types and a couple of other touring cyclists. We get a good nights sleep as it is windy and cool and quiet here , a walk down to the river is a peaceful stroll in the evening after salads for dinner.

Jim, Suz and Beau

Day 3 Portland Oregon

On the road again at exactly 7:22a, what a coincidence as that is the exact roll out time yesterday. Today's rides is relatively flat but we will need to navigate our way through Portland, lots of turns and neighborhoods. We stop at McD's for a value meal biscuit and senior coffee and a few stories before we start today. Suz goes for ice and a Starbucks. We have a great start, 16 miles downhill into Portland, then a short uphill onto the St. Johns bridge for a breathtaking Columbia river crossing. We are way way up high and the weather is beautiful, traffic light and great views. Our cycling maps take us through quaint garden neighborhoods , just about every house has a garden out front, both vegetable and flower gardens. We get a little lost then find our way to a formal garden on the map, beautiful french formal with fountain in the center and layered beds of roses with stairs and walkways. Of course today I forgot the camera, but John and Tom take many pictures and we have tourists take our picture together. We then find our way through winding streets to a bike path that runs along the back of the city and around the airport to Troutdale. We lunch at a Taco Bell, I have not eaten at a Taco Bell in at least 20 years and then we spend an hour and half trying to find a place to stay for the night. All the camp and rv places do not take tent campers due to some bad tenters in years past. We make our way to the Troutdale Visitors Center and a very tall guy tries to help us out. We are almost resigned to a motel when he remembers that a hotel and pub up the street has a cyclists hostel for 35 per bunk per night. It is a renovated Courthouse and the gardens are spectacular with lots of flora and garden art. Suz and I find a motel six as we cannot stay here with Beau, but we return for beer and dinner later in the gardens. The motel 6 crew are the most incompetent that we have found yet. First they give us a room with no wifi after we asked for it, then forget our aarp discount, then we have to move to a wifi capable room, then they forget to charge us the 3.00 wifi charge. I am more worn out checking into the motel than from today's ride by far. Then we find that they just shampooed the room carpets, so the air is very moist and cool all night. I find that the thermostat is wired backwards so cold is hot and hot is cold, I finally just turn it off. We watch some bad tv and update the blog and turn in early for and early start tomorrow .

Jim Suz and Beau

Gramps5 Day 2

Nice nights sleep in the van, misty and light rain in the morning. Beau slept until 6am and everyone is up now having turned in early. Be breakfast on muffins and bananas and break camp in between the light rains. We get a 7:22a start and head right up hill. We expect a steep climb for the first mile from the elevation maps but it doesn't materialize like we expect and stop in Westport about 8 miles along at a corner store for a coffee and Suz meets us there with the paper and maps. We decide to stay in St Helens about 45 miles up the road that night and she will look for a post office along the way then reserve us a campsite in the city park in St Helens as well as look for Internet at the library we see on the map. John and Bob decide they want a substantial breakfast about 10 mile further up the road at the small town pub in Covilis or something like that. They do eggs and biscuits and gravy while Tom and I do coffee and chat up an older rider also doing a trans am but with a touring company. They don't carry any gear and stay in hotels, rest stops and food provided for a price....$12,000 single and a little less for double and they cover more mileage per day than we will. We meet many riders along the way from this tour, all ages , couples and singles, some we will see tomorrow also. We take a break from them in Ranier also and they will also be staying in St Helens, but in a hotel. Locals are not so friendly here, I got ahead of our group in a riding fugue and stopped at a gas store and tried to strike up a conversation with the locals while I waited for the rest and no one wanted to chat....

We get into St Helens mid afternoon and make camp. Suz has been at the library updating her blog but I am tired today and help make camp and dinner. The van is in the parking lot next to the campsite, so we fill out the registration for the dash and deposit our fee in the lock box. Dinner was green salad with leftovers from last nights chicken dinner, good stuff after riding all day. John wanted cookies so we have sweets and plan tomorrows ride through Portland. This campground is also right next to a stream so it is peaceful but we have bathrooms and showers up by the parking lot. We retire around 9 pm, remembering that the summer equinox ( longest day of the year) was our staring day, last Sunday, so it stays light to 9-10p. Get awakened by the Cops around 11 as they check out the van in the parking lot. They spotlight the van, then check out the tent site and our parking permit before leaving us to sleep.

Jim, Suz and Bikely Beau

Gramps5 Day 1

Up at 5a with Beau at the Motel 6 here in Seaside, neither Suz or I slept well due to pre event anxiety, looking forward to the daily ride after spending a lot of time on the road in motels and campgrounds with no regular routine. We go up the street Herbs for breakfast with Shelly and Bob. Great and affordable eggs and pancake place. We find that Shelly has ridden across the USA back in '76, but seems to have a bit of a negative take on the ride. Maybe she did not like it back then, but she does not say that, just nothing good about the experience. Suz is a little anxious, a bit of a stew about getting lost, no home , no routine and my not getting run over on the side of the road. I know that after the first week this will subside as things iron out into even a loose routine as we go. We decide to do a food kitty and all donate to the fund. Suz will shop for dinners and snacks and of course some beer for all, tonight we will do a roast chicken and deli salad.

We meet at the end of the Louis and Clark Trail monument on the beach for our pre ride pictures and a 9:30a start. We work our way across the boardwalk and up through town to a country road that runs to Astoria about 20 miles to the North then we will follow the Columbia river Gorge up past Portland on route 30. The first hill was a challenge at at least for me and we tooled up at about 8mph and then down at 25 with the brakes on due to rain and a wet road. Want to get the feel of the loaded bike on the up and down hills before we do any downhill speeding. See lots of farms and mule deer on the hill sides much as it would be in upstate New York or Ohio. We meet Suz at the Safeway grocery for a soup and sandwich lunch in Astoria and shop for dinner. Nice grocery with a coffee shop, deli and Internet kiosk. Suz drives ahead to reserve a spot at a County camp ground, then leaves to shop and when we return we find our soft shell cooler stolen. We left it and Beau's bed on the picnic table to "reserve" it for our arrival. Oh well, someone will have bad Karma for their bad deed, we loose some vitamins, tea, oatmeal and such . The campground is secluded and right next to a Columbia river tributary. Some young guys are fishing and pull out a huge Chinook Salmon and two smaller ones just about dusk. Will have to come back here someday, had to be a 30 pound fish. Will post a picture one of these days of this fish. It is still raining on and off, we rode 42 miles the first day . We will keep the mileage low the first week or two until all riders get their touring legs for the hills. Only down side of this route after Astoria is the car and truck noise along the road. Nice shoulder so it is not dangerous, but just noisy with a lot of traffic blasting by. We turn in early when it starts to rain, updating our journals and reading. Will have to see what time the group gets together tomorrow, will we be a early or late starting group? Last thing I remember is the rain on the van top as I drift off to sleep surrounded by the pines in this country campground.

Jim, Suz and Bikely Beau

Tetons to Oregon Coast

We left Jackson Hole early on Wed morning and drove through Teton pass, way up there.....the van was laboring is some low gear at 45 mph about 10 miles up, then we came upon a single cyclist, a woman, white hair and wrinkles, had to be in her 70's if not older. Now I have no excuses not to make it up the mountains. This pass was the steepest yet with fully 10% grades over miles, then same going back down. I timed how long I did not have to touch the accelerator, about 7 miles worth! After the mountains we just rolled through foothills up and down and around and enjoyed the occasional prong horn sighting and sage covered plains with the " Sisters" cascade mountains as a backdrop after awhile. When we would drive through the mountain passes, we would be following a route through tall pine forest rounding hollows and up through passes , then down on valley floors covered with wildflowers, blooming purple sage and occasional cattle grazing along the hills. We stopped in Burns , Oregon for the night, small town and only town along a long , long road through this part of Oregon. Not too very hungry that night so we stayed in and ate sandwiches from the cooler......nice clean room at an America suites.

Next day we are on the road through the mountains and plains to Reedsport Oregon, we arrive early around 2pm after much of the same scenic drive. The drive down through the cascade mountains was like a roller coaster of black licorice winding through a corridor of green pine that are so large that their branches from each side of the road meet in places and create tunnels much like hiking trails through old growth forest. Watching for deer and elk, but saw none.

Reedsport was a seedy little coast town. Our economy motel was not cheep but had no air conditioning, build around the 60's, and had signs in the shower to remember to open the window when showering or the smoke alarms will go off. Old electric code, the light switch was in the shower ! We survived with an ok meal at a family style restraunt that night and did the continental breakfast of coffee and breakfast bars in the morning. We drove all Friday up the Oregon Coast stopping along the way on scenic turnouts with barking seals on rocks and lighthouses on outcroppings of granite over the crashing pacific surf. Went through the giant sand dunes along various parks along the drive. Stopped in Depoe for a great soup and sandwich lunch at this fishing port where we watched from the restaurant crabbing boats coming in off the Pacific with their morning catch. On to Seaside Oregon and we get in around 3p. The hotel is a problem, there are no ground level rooms as promised, they have us on the third floor in a Suite , not what was booked, so after some vociferous discussion with the manager, she lets us off the cancellation fee and we find a great room at the local motel 6 for half the rate. Plus,,,,,the original hotel charged $ 15 per day extra for internet service, free at the motel six. One of the other riders is also staying there and we find a great steak house next door and have the special which is best meal we have had for many a day. We eat at the bar as the place is full and are greatly entertained by the barmaids nonstop rhetoric on all subjects.....a quaint soap opera between workers and patrons. Tomorrow we start the ride, we did go for a pre ride meeting at the other hotel to meet all the riders and wives and plan out our first day, and departure route and time. Hope the weather holds, it's been raining most of the last three days on and off and pretty cool sometimes.

Jim Suz and Beau

Three Days in the Grand Tetons

Still raining most every day. Saturday we did the scenic drive through Grand Teton National park. Lots of scenic views and bison and antelope and elk along the road. No bear's as yet. Had a great lunch at the Signal Inn Lodge on Lake Jackson. They have boat rentals for fishing and sailing, so maybe next trip. Some short hikes to the views and we are back home. We stayed in tonight and snacked for dinner and did a Redbox movie.....not a bad deal, a movie for a buck. We watch them on the laptop either in the van or a motel room. Drop them off in the morning on the way out.

Sunday Jim did a bike ride thru the Tetons, starting at Menors Ferry, a historic ferry and general store that are renovated and the cashier is dressed in period clothes. Just up the road I saw a cow moose by the side of the road and stopped to take her picture with my cell phone as I left the camera behind due to rain. When I pointed the phone, her ears went up, she snorted repeatedly and started to gallop toward me.....so.....I took off and called Suzanne to drive by for some pictures . Saw Elk and maybe a bear on the side of the mountain, but he was too far away to be sure. Rode about 20 miles in the park at the base of the mountains, then met up with Suzanne and Beau for a short walk then we drove up to Jackson Lodge for lunch, another great lunch and a beautiful lodge. The restaurant has large picture windows that look out on the plains and mountains. There were herds of bison and elk on the grasslands while we had a great lunch in a beautifully decorated mountain theme dining room. Again we stayed in our cabin at night for a movie and a snack for dinner.

Monday we did breakfast at the Bunnery here in Jackson. A great and very big mountain breakfast at this bakery and breakfast stop. Great food , then we went river rafting down the Snake river. It was impressive being out on the fast moving river winding through forest and meadow at the base of the mountains. No large animal sitings, but we did see two eagle nests with eagles and lots of small mammals. Interesting thing on the raft is the popping sound you hear from the rocks being tumbled along the fast moving river as we float down at different speeds depending on the elevation drop. After the raft ride we went into town to explore and shop. Lots and lots of stores with stuffed animals , tee shirts and cowboy clothes and the sort. We had another great lunch at the Silver Dollar Grill at the historic Wort Hotel in downtown Jackson. We were so full from lunch that we skipped dinner again and saved up for tomorrows breakfast.

Tuesday we had breakfast at Jedadia's Sourdough Pancakes, another great and huge breakfast then went hiking up at Jenny Lake in the Grand Teton Park. We hiked up to "Hidden Falls" about 3 miles around the lake and then up the mountain at the end. Beautiful hike , so we did about 6 miles round trip at about 8ooo feet, so we got our exercise today. Back to town and we will cook in the cabin tonight as it will be our last " home cooked " meal . We'll wash Beau, do Laundry and set up the van for camping again. Wed we'll drive across Idaho and into Oregon on our way to Oregons Dune Beaches, then on to Seaside Or to start the trans america bike ride.

Stay tuned, I'll try to keep a daily log of the bike ride if we have internet each day as well as a written log and of course pictures.

Jim, Suzane and Beau

Yellowstone National Park

Today we parked Beau at the doggy day care and drove up to Yellowstone so that we could do some hiking around the park and not have to worry about leaving him in a hot car. Well the temperatures did not get out of the 40's and 50's the entire day and there was snow in most places among the pine trees. We would have had to put on his sweater not worry about him overheating!

Lots of scenic views and canyons on the way up to Old Faithful. It took us 2.5 hours to drive there due to road conditions and construction. Still, the roads in the park are in better shape than most of the interstates we have driven, especially those in New York.

We did see some Buffalo and Elk by the roadsides but no bear or other wild animals. There were plenty of signs to not approach animals, they say more people are injured by being gored by buffalo than anything else. Second was people falling down the canyons, and yes we did see a bunch of idiot's hanging off rock outcropping taking pictures, only about a half mile straight down.

Old Faithful was right on schedule and show hot water and steam up about a hundred feet. There were about a thousand people surrounding the geyser and when she was done, there was a human stampede in all directions! So much for the buffalo warnings, should post the warning that more people are stepped on around old faithful than anywhere else in the park.

We went for a hike just before a rain storm about a half mile up to an overlook . Not too winded but the elevation here is around 9000 feet so you do huff and puff a little more.

Tonight we will explore Jackson Hole and be typical tourists.

I may try to fly fish but the guides are expensive here and I may just wait until I learn to fly fish on Sanibel and fish the Snake river another time.

Tomorrow we plan to visit Grand Teton National Park, but will take Beau with us this time and just do short hikes and view stops.

Jim, Suz and Beau

Whoa Two days of the rain train

We left Custer SD in the RAIN, after walking Beau at 4 am in the RAIN and having our last free breakfast of English muffins and coffee at the Bavarian Inn. We drove up to Deadwood and it was certainly DEAD at 10 am in the RAIN, mostly we saw casinos, and since it was RAINING we did not stop. There were no restaurants, gas stations or fast food stops here so we had to hold it quite a while longer and did not see any historic stops as we saw no signs for anything, so looks like Deadwood is a gamblers town and does not come alive until twilight.........

We drove up to Devils Tower National Monument in the RAIN , which was quite a way off our route to Jackson . When we got there in a heavy RAIN , the monument ( a flat top mountain aka Close Encounters of the Third Kind) was shrouded in fog. Looked like a giant white cotton candy on top of a stout rock handle. Thats all we could see. The Nat'l Park service wanted $ 10 to drive up and see the fog up close, but we took a pass. Then we took a pee at the local junk shop and headed for Jackson Hold, in the RAIN.

Roads here in Wyoming are good except on the interstates. In the RAIN the water stands in ruts that have been worn in the road and the van hydroplanes in those deep ruts, so you have to try to straddle the line to find a semi dry part of the road. We just love driving in the RAIN. These roads are still not as bad as the interstate roads in upstate New York which are full of pot holes and ruts and are terrible to drive in the RAIN.

Have to be careful on both the interstate and State roads here as the prong horn antelope come up right beside the road. Speed limit is 75 and they can be hard to see in the RAIN. We have also seen some bison and mule deer but they keep a distance from the road. We did have a stop in the RAIN when a rancher's gray horse was loose and running all over the road in the RAIN.

We stopped in Buffalo Wy for the night and had a good room at a motel six that was both new and affordable. They recommended the WinchesterSteak House accross the street which was both expensive and terrible. Bad food, bad service and Suzy was sick most of the night barffing her expensive ribs. This was our very first bad experience in food in six+ weeks on the road, it was bound to happen.

We left next morning after a short stop at Duffys Breakfast stop. Another mistake. This was a place that Larry the Cable Guy would not eat at.....everyone of those rednecks turned to look at Suz when we walked in the front door, none had any front teeth and a few were drooling, maybe they had strokes? We got a coffee at the next stop McD's and rolled on to Shoshoni crossroads. This was a dead town where the only food was at the local gas station, so we just got gas, had a sandwich from the cooler and kept driving .

We arrived in Jackson in the early evening and our motel is great. It is really a little cabin with a large living space and full kitchen complete with dishwasher and garbage dispo. We will be here for 5 days as home base for Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Jackson Hole so this is great headquarters. The pet hotel is right next door so we can walk Beau over for a day stay. The grocery is across the street and there is a honky tonk rock'n roll bar also across the street. So far the RAIN has let up in the evening, but I know for sure Beau will wake at 5 am for his walk and there will be RAIN.

Glad to be in Jackson after two days of driving in the RAIN. Gee hope it doesn't RAIN the next five days. We'll see. I really do love the Rain except when I have to drive, bike or hike in the RAIN.

Jim , Suz Beau and le RAIN!

Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park

Today the weather improved and it is actually sunny but cool in the 40's. We left early for Mount Rushmore as Beau is an early riser ( 5am this morning) and we want to beat the crowds. The last few days have seen rain and fog, so you can't see the monuments clearly, so I expect a rush today. We did get there early after our continental cuisine breakfast and the weather cleared nicely to a high pressure blue sky with white wispy clouds, but the wind chill stung my Florida ears and gave me a runny nose.

Mount Rushmore monument is very impressive. I was also impressed by the many granite needle outcroppings on the mountains around the statues. We hiked up the trail to get as close as possible to the carvings and saw them from lots of angles, I think we have about 47 different views on the camera. Saw some big horn mountain sheep just below the monument.

Went to the museum and theater and found it very interesting how they did the granite carving back in the 20's and 30's, a real accomplishment that took 14 years to complete.

After Mount Rushmore we took the scenic Iron Mountain Road ride through Custer Park . Lots of very narrow one lane road and one lane tunnels. One tunnel was so small I was afraid the van would not make it through without scraping the sides and top! Lots of hairpin curves going down 9% switchbacks and no guardrails in some spots. One oops and you can go straight down, until you hit a 200 year old ponderosa pine that is.

The weather was perfect and we encountered a few heard of wild bison feeding with their young calves along the road. There were a few scenic turnouts inhabited by wild burros that came right up to your window for a handout. They had the begging routine down pretty good, almost as good a Beau but we had nothing to give them. They would wait about 10 seconds and if they didn't get a treat would trot down to the next car .

Lots of antelope, white tail and mule deer in the fields on the drive. The rolling hills are carpeted in green and look like a vast golf course, without the sand traps and golf carts that is. We were constantly pulling over to view antelope, bison and in one area prairie dogs had established an entire community on both sides of the road. One sentry per mound, each mound a mini-volcano in the grassy fields among the hills.

Ended the day with an excellent sandwich at a little gourmet shop in Custer City washed down with a local dark ale called Moose drool......appetizing!

Tomorrow is supposed to rain all day, so we will probably stay at the motel complex and swim in the indoor pool, shoot some pool and maybe play some drizzle tennis or basketball.

The parking lot last night looked like a Harley Motorcycle Dealership and I had to restrain beau from peeing on the bikes, probably not healthy for either of us.

We leave for Jackson Hole after tomorrow and I hope it warms up for hiking in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.

Jim, Suz and Beau

Rainy day at Bear Country USA

Today it is raining and foggy and the temperature is dropping into the low forties. Not a good day for sightseeing mountain monuments so we went to the Bear Country USA open zoo travel park. You drive through the park in your car and the animals are in the open. Of course the wolves and elk and big horn sheep are separated by high electric fence, but they still sit over there and dream of filets. Lots of mammals here and it is impressive as the animals walk all around and up to your car. Got to keep the windows up in the bear and timber wolf paddocks! They have artic wolves , timber wolves, elk, big horn sheep, deer, mountain lion and lots and lots of bears!They have over 100 bears and have two grizzlies in a separate area. The grizzlys are easily 3-4 times as big as the black bears. One of larger black bears must have smelled something in the rear bed of the pickup truck in front of us, he was half in and the driver started moving and the bear ran along the side of the truck for awhile holding on to the bed liner. At the end they have a baby animal section with small mammals and baby bears which are pretty feisty, running and wrestling . Went to the cattleman restaurant in town for lunch after and had buffalo chili.....guaranteed to create enough gas to power all propane vehicles withing 100 miles for a week! But tasted reallllly good! Tomorrow is supposed to be nicer, but colder, they are calling for record lows in the 30's. If clear we will go to Mount Rushmore .

See you tomorrow if we don't freeze tonight.

VolksMarch 2009

Last night we arrived at the Bavarian Inn near Custer SD. A great little motel with a lot of ammenities such as restraunt, breakfast included, wifi, tennis, indoor outdoor pool, pool tables, basketball and a fitness vitacourse. The motel has a German mountain decor both inside and out and it fits in the black hills here with granite crags and rock faced moutain spires. In the info packet at the office was an entry form for the local VOLKSMARCH ( peoples walk) at the Crazy Horse monument. So we did it Saturday morning.

It was very foggy with a light misty rain and temps in the high forties so we could not see the monument until we got up to the top of the hike. The distance was 10k or 6 miles to the granite memorial to Chief Crazy Horse which is an ongoing carving of the indian warrior. The trail was not difficult but was a little muddy and the last mile on the way up was a dirt ( mud) access road to the statue. I finished the entire hike in less than 1.5 hours so I was moving at over 4 mph. (to stat warm) Got a nice comemerative medal at the end. I've included a picture of the Crazy horse head which is the only part finished to date after 60 years. The project is funded by donations and procedes from activities such as this hike, and some funds go to a local childrens charity.

A very impressive visitors center here made entirely from the Ponderosa Pine that cover all the black hills here. There are movies about the memorial and a full american indian museum as well as restraunt and a laser light show after dark where they project the finished statue picture on the side of the mountain as well as pictures set to music.

Later we will check out the town of Custer for a saloon to watch the Belmont horse race if there is one there. Maybe we will drive into Custer state park to take the wildlife drive. They have a herd of Bison there that is 1500 strong. You have to be careful on the drive as they sometimes stand on the road. Could crunch the car a bit as they average 2000 pounds .

Hope the weather improves so we can visit Mount Rushmore, the forecast says better by monday.

There is also the Mickelson trail here to hike and bike. It is 146 miles of converted rairoad rails to path. We may hike or maybe Jim will bike some of it if the section is paved or packed gravel.

Tommorrow if it rains as expected, we may do a drive thru a local wild animal park where the animals roam and you are the caged one in your vechicle.

Jim, Suz and Beau

Hi All,
We've been in Springboro at "Suite 101" for a week now. I'll summarize our visit......Jessie and Christine have named the converted office to bedroom as " Suite 101: Baxter's" a very comfortable and functional room. It makes our stay even more comfortable and enjoyable!

We attended Gabe's award ceremony for 8 th grade graduation, he got like 8 awards for stuff like relay for life, science fair excellence and the like....GO GABE! Gabe is grandchild # 1 of 7 and is following in grandpa's footsteps as he also got bunches of awards in his eighth grade graduation and boy scouts. Grandpa's geography medal has helped trememdously in kicking butt in trivial pursuit and Jeopardy tournaments !

Jim had fun riding on the Little Miami River trail again. Rode over 220 miles this week , mostly down to Loveland to a favorite coffee stop and back, about 60 miles roundtrip. Lots of deer, squirrels and other fauna and flora.

Had a great time at Gabe's graduation party which was "cover" for Chris's 40 th birthday party,two parties in one. He was totally suprised, but still insisted on cooking the burgers for both Gabe's freinds and all the rest of us... Christine did a great job of organizing the event and keeping it a secret. Lots of fun. Chris' brother Mike and daughter Sammy made the trip up for the event and it was good to spend more time with them.

Sunday was special......we had a great family breakfast with Jessie making her famous scrambled eggs.........then after dinner that night we had cake and suprised grandpa with cards for both his birthday and fathers day in advance as we will be somewhere out west on the acutal days. Thanks! Also the kids got grandpa a GPS for his bike for his birthday! Now he will have no excuse to not be ontime or get lost......so much for those well used paper maps! I'll have to spend the next couple of weeks learning how to use it. It has a lot of functions and maybe Suz can track my wherabouts, not sure if it can do that..........

Then........we went for a Hot Air Ballon ride which was totally awesome! Something that grandpa and grandma have wanted to do for some time.
Bella Balloons did a great job! The wind was calm but we had a great time and landed in the Dayton Mall.........too bad grandma left her purse in the chase car!! Again thanks to C&C for arranging this great ride!!

Thanks to Chris and Chris and Gabe, Trev, Jess and Tori for taking such good care of us for our visit......we are blessed. Or.....as MR. MBA would say ....we are getting a great ROI on our investments...........
We leave for Custer South Dakota Wed, 6/3......

Family reunion

Hi All, sorry for the time between posts.

We gathered in Winchester Va at my sister Kathy's house for a family reunion. Originally we were to meet and see David and Julie, who are currently serving in the Army, but as the Army would have it, they got other duty and could not make it. But.......we had a good time seeing all of our immediate family and shared good stories and memories of David and Julie. Hopefully they will be able to visit over Labor Day weekend somewhere and we may travel off route if it makes sense and is affordable in our trip timetable. On our reunion dockett was a birthday cake to Chrissy-Ann who turned xx? but can now collect SS checks........?xzxx!3!!!

It was good to see everyone again and thanks to everyone who traveled to see us and family for the weekend. Food and fun was too good, I think I gained more pounds than I lost hiking those 100+ miles on the AT. Will just have to bike them off coming up in June. Kathy's new house is great and we found that just a mile up the road the AT crosses and they are building a new shelter. We did a short walk up to check it out, nice section of trail. We'll have to stop here next year when we complete the Hot Springs NC to Harpers Ferry section of the AT next summer.

We leave for West Virginia and Yokum's vacationland next, sounds a bit like the Li'l abner cartoon mixed with some Beverly Hillbillies, but the website says they have wifi and modern accomodations, we'll see......

Jim, Suz and Beau