Yellowstone

We made it to Yellowstone.  

There are a few photos here but a lot more on the Yellowstone/Utah page.

 We are Staying in another KOA. It’s a pretty big one, too.

Store, indoor pool and hot tub, two dog parks, play ground, cafe, and a coffee/ice cream shop. Plenty of showers and. Bathrooms. Trees and grass. Nice and clean. Great location, noWYFI though. 

Yellowstone itself was amazing. I took so many great photos I’m going to make a page just for Yellowstone.

Though I’m going to put just a couple here.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

Paint Pots, very cool with boiling mud and steam rising up off them.  This was a little later in the day so the steam wasn't quite so obvious.

Old Faithful
We came really early and there were very few people around.  We went out and got a front row seat on the bleachers.  It was super cold but we waited at least an hour, eventually the place filled up and the geyser went off.  It

was cool, but I felt really stupid the time of it going off was posted in the store.  We could have wandered around for an hour and not froze to death.

Cody, WY

Cody

We stayed at a smallish KOA in Cody.

 

It was pretty nice. Pool, dog park, play area. We had a nice view across the street and after the rain, a rainbow. 

Cody was just a one night stop, but I had time to go to the Cody Museum. It was really nice.

Wyoming

Peter D's RV Park

We got to our next stop, still raining. It seems like a very nice, though fairly small RV park. 

The check in woman was very nice.  We got a pull in site that was close both to the dog run and the laundry/shower house.  It was a very nice super clean place.  The bathroom even had rugs.



The sites were standard/small size, but all had a nice patch of grass, no cement pads, but very thick packed gravel.
It rained a little off and on, but no problems except for a big wind that blew up and we had to rush to pull in the awning before it took us all over.

There were cows roaming around right beside us and a couple of vegetable gardens growing in the center of the park.  

It cleared up nice over night.  We were able to air out and dry the outdoor rugs. 

Bob got up and went to one of the local golf courses (Kendrick). He said it was really nice and he got to play with a local that kept him entertained. The first hole he came out on had a deer standing on it.  Here are a couple of shots of the course (and the deer).

After that I went into town to the Walmart (it was only 2 miles.  Got stuff to make burritos for supper.  Bob washed and hooked up the car, I did laundry and we are ready to go in the morning.  Off to Yellowstone.  And thanks to the really good WIFY here I am completely caught up.  We are packing to leave as I write this... Later.

Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore

We stayed at the Mount Rushmore KOA.  It rained both days we were here. Bad.  The place was very nice but the gravel roads and sites were pure mud.

The check in process was fast and efficient considering they had over 500 full sites, they have an amazing system.  

They had two swimming pools, hot tubs, play areas, mini golf, a couple of restaurants, a bar, a store (open til 11) very nice. (except for the mud).  The sites were pretty tight, but as busy as they were I can understand wanting to get as many in as possible. 

We had also booked a pull through and got a back in.  

I don't think they had enough bathrooms, and the signs getting to the bathrooms were nonexistent.  I walked around at midnight, in the rain, looking for a bathroom before I found one.  I think there was probably one closer but I couldn't find it. (Yes, I had a map, it didn't help the place is BIG).

We got up early to go to Mount Rushmore. When we got there the mountain top was completely covered in mist. 

So we went into the museum.  It was pretty cool.  

Here are a few photos from the museum, the rest are on the museum page.

 Tools that were used in carving the museum.

 One of the samples for the mountain it was changed many times.

  As we were leaving the museum to go to the movie we glanced out the window and the mountain was clear.




Yea.  We got our photos and looked from both levels. Then it fogged up again.

Good timing.

The movie was awesome. It showed how the mountain was conceived and built.  Until you see a man hanging from cables using a jack hammer to ring out a nostril, you don't realize how big this thing really is. 

Day time highs in the 50's and Rain, but it was still worth it.  Was kind of sad that I couldn't walk any of the trails, but they were pure mud.

Here's a profile view from the road.













After a short rest, I decided to go into town.  We got a free entrance to the president wax museum from the KOA and I wanted to go. Bob didn't want to go into town, so I drove in.  It was only 2 miles past the monument. 

Not really a town, just a couple of shops.  I also got a t-shirt and had lunch, the wax museum was Okay. More photos on the museum page.

Still in South Dakota, day three

Kennebec

We stopped on the road to walk the dog and they had a nice overlook of the Missouri River and a big statue of Sacajawea.  Very nice rest area.

 
























We are here now in Kennebec, at the KOA.  The town population is under 300, there is nothing here at all, but its a good place to stop on the way to the Black Hills.  When we arrived about 1:00 there was no one there at all. I mean NO ONE.

No campers anywhere, no one in sight. The office had a note on the door saying they'd be open at 4 with a list of  six names and their spots.  There was a night registration table that had pamphlets with the rules, map, and internet code on it.  We had site 111.  We found it and set up, it was COLD. When did that happen?  

As soon as we set up it the wind started

blowing so we pulled in the awning.
Since we were the only people there I let Buffy run around a little bit.  They had a dog run right by us, but it was a bit over run. The grass came up past Buffy's legs, so we didn't use it.

  There was a pool,

it was clean and the water wasn't too cold, but the air was very cold, and wet, so no pool today.
Then it started to rain, and it didn't completely stop all afternoon or night.

About 4:30 other RV's started arriving.  They were all bunched up at the two ends of the park.  Weird, I would have spread everyone out.   They have an outdoor "Chuck Wagon" that serves dinner and breakfast.  It serves hamburgers and hotdogs in the evening, so we got burgers. They were pretty good, came with beans and chips.

I'm sitting in the laundry room now washing and drying the towels we used to

clean up all the mud from last night and this morning.  Bob just ran over to the chuck wagon to get me some pancakes.




Well my laundry is done and we need to pack up and go. Next stop Mount Rushmore...

South Dakota, one and two

Sioux City, SD

Very, very nice KOA here.
People were super friendly.  They had fresh made pizza, which they delivered to your RV. (Bob had one).  They also had arts and crafts (ceramics while we were there) and a train for kids to ride, plus bikes and things for rent.

It was completely booked for the weekend, we stayed Friday and Saturday night. 

Not sure why they were so full, although maybe because of all the Casinos, or just because it's on the way to the Black Hills and Yellowstone.

We got a site at the end, but it was near the pool and the dog run.


  It was HOT!  I mean really, really hot.  I would have thought this far north it would have started cooling down.



  As soon as we got set up, I got my floaty, sealed my iPad in a freezer bag, and went to the pool.

They had a big playground, an out door game area and lots of trees and grass.

  A good sized dog run, but of course Buffy found several ways out of it.  (It's that area on the left side of the pool).

We didn't go anywhere, though we did talk about the casinos.  We just laid back and enjoyed the quiet.  We'll be off first thing in the morning.

Kansas City, Day two and Three

ZOO DAY!

Zoo day!!! I know I just went to one a few days ago, but I love my Zoos and this is the one I grew up going to, I have to see how it's been. 



Wow! What a surprise.

This zoo was incredible. I think it may have been better than the St. Louis Zoo.  They had beautiful landscaping, good signage and huge exhibits.  The Australian area was a large park that you could go into and the kangaroos and other animals were just wandering loose with you.  Very cool.

The African area is acres and acres of land with the Blue River running through it.

  You can walk on a board walk that goes through it with view areas (some of them had rocking chairs). Or you could buy a seat on a ski lift that went all across the area and back, or you could take a boat ride that took you through the area.  It was super. I walked. 

I'll put more animal photos on the special zoo page (and some in the effects page) as I clean them up. 







I walked back up to the main area passing by lots more displays. 
These were two of my favorite.

     Then I went to see the Polar Bears and Penguins.

I passed the sea lion area, it was as nice as one at Sea W0rld.

It was a beautiful, clean and well organized zoo. So much better that it was when I last went 40 years ago. So glad it got better and not run down. It was a great time. 

I was really surprised to find that Starlight theater was still there, too. One summer when I was about 12 my girl scout troop bought summer passes to the theater and I vividly remember going.