Day 2.5

Today was an almost kind of day.  We almost went on a boat ride to see the islands.  It was too foggy and windy.  So we went shopping and Bob bought a really expensive sweatshirt.  Even though it is almost Summer, it certainly isn’t here in the North.  So anyway, even Bob was cold – hence the extra purchase… So then we had locally caught whitefish at the “Pickled Herring Club” and I almost liked it.  I am glad they didn’t tell me about the skin-on frying process (ew).  Anyway, the setting was nice because we could see the lake until it disappeared into the fog.   So really, it could have been a small pond instead of Lake Superior (who knows maybe it was the Ocean) hard to say really, because we could only see maybe ¼ mile out. .

When we got back to the campsite there was a half hour or so of sunshine (YAY!) I read my book in the blissfulness that is water lapping against rocks. There were birds chirping and no bugs.  Then we lost the sun and I had to go put on my parka.  Pretty much. 

Tonight we almost have a fire.  More of a smudge.   A smoke fest.  I may have done irreparable smoke damage to my sweatshirt.  Bob even got me some good firewood from the camp office and still it smolders.  I am determined to have s’mores , so here I go.

I just want to know, am I seriously Blogging from my phone? Do I even.need a laptop?

Day 1.5

Ok. So I guess I do have internet here. I don’t know if I can be a true camper and have a blog, but here I go…

We are at it again and doing stuff. The dogs are annoying and fun at the same time and already have found a dead crab claw to roll in. We camped last night at Clear Lake, IA and discovered that our drinking water was more like a swamp. I think it had life threatening levels of methane. Yuck! Bob fixed it. Now we are safely here in Red Cliff, WI. If I had remembered the right cord for my camera you could also see our beautiful views of Madeline Island and some other island too insignificant to have a name. We are tired and ready to settle down for the night.

Happily Ever After

Kssshhht ….
The sound revived her from her driving trance. The beautiful sound of carbonation escaping the pop can brought life back into her. Her glassy eyes stared to focus and there was a little color returning to her cheeks. There was hope.
She grabbed the can with both hands and took a blissful drink, noticing how her throat cleared and suddenly she could breathe deeper. She was saved.
She glanced gratefully to her husband and gushed her thanks to him. Her rescuer.
“Honey, its 10am and, we’ve only been on the road for 30 minutes. Are you addicted to pop?” That’s a lie. I am NOT addicted. Now, hand me that cherry Zero and no one gets hurt.

So concludes this trip. I hope that I will have more to write later. Have a great summer!

Auf Wiedersehen Black Hills

We drove all the way to Wyoming today to see Devil’s Tower. It was great, except that I was tired. (we didn’t sleep very long last night on account of having a campfire/s’mores roast/picnic with some friends who live here…Life is good... We stayed up long enough to get “yelled” at by one of our lovely neighbors) Devil’s Tower is cool and we walked all the way around -which I thought as I was doing it that it was a least a few miles. (actually, a measly 1.3 miles, but, darn it, it was very hilly). The drive was very long and after the scenery petered out, the best thing I saw was a lady who could ride her bike uphill! (wow…) oh – and a Halliburton truck.
We are tired. We are filled to the brim with scenery. Our camper is dirty and worn. The dogs are beyond obnoxious. The rental car goes back tomorrow, and we are ready to head home. There are very few things yet to eat in the camper (most of the things left are the healthy things), and my flip flops broke. It has been a good vacation, but we are done. Farewell, Black Hills, it has been swell.

bears and wolves

Beautiful. That is the only way to describe today. We went to Bear Country USA this morning. The park opened at 8 am and we rolled in right after that. They were feeding all the animals, and we got to see wolves fighting right outside our car. It was really neat and the dogs hated them. It was funny – ear splitting, but funny. The bears were pretty close to the car as well, and the dogs hated them too. Coincidence? I think not. They didn’t give a rat’s behind about the dogs though.
We then headed south again taking Iron Mountain Road. VERY cool. This was a very curvy road opposite Rushmore so at times you could see the Faces in the distance. I got to climb a large pile of rocks and when I got to the top discovered that I was on a really high cliff. Sweet! I got a little cold thrill of excitement as I looked over…yes!!! If you get a chance check out the Norbeck Scenic Byway – it rocks.
Then we headed towards Custer State Park. Driving along we saw a sign for the “Wolf People – come see our wolves – FREE” It was a scary, suspicious old farm with a few old campers and assorted outbuildings. The kind you think that just may kidnap you, kill you, and feed you to those same wolves (and of course there was no cell service)…so we drove right in and knocked on the door. (Walking by yet another sign that mentioned not to rush the fence.) There was an Arctic and a Timber wolf. To me they were fairly scary, but B was thrilled. We got to go really close. Plus, we got out of there alive…
We took the rest of the Wildlife Road around Custer Park and saw people go hog-wild over mules. (huh?) I guess they were “wild” but there were a lot of them with their heads in people’s cars. They were plain old scraggly mules – I don’t get it – we didn’t stop.
The weather continues charming.

Lakes and Such

There was a glint of sunshine streaming through the pines upon waking this morning. We decided that we couldn’t miss a chance to see Mt. Rushmore in the morning light, so we headed that way first thing.
The drive there was awesome, full to the brim with rocks and trees and our fill of vistas and panoramas. Then we saw it. The Memorial itself! Even though we had both seen it before it was a glorious sight. We took the obligatory 45 pictures and then, of course, to the gift shop. Soon, I noticed that I didn’t have the camera, and went immediately into a Modified Stationary Panic. It was a horrible feeling. B eventually found it by asking a benevolent green-shirted park person at lost and found. YAY!
We then headed off to Deadwood. We got to enjoy a couple lakes on the way. Many pictures were taken that I am sure will be indistinguishable from the other 5 lakes we have seen.
Deadwood. What a place. I like the look of it. So historic and mountainous. We saw a bunch of old stuff at a museum, not the least of which was a two headed calf. Plus, some things about Wild Bill Hickock. We also saw the Bar that Kevin Costner owns. There were several costumes from his movies and I took a picture of the Waterworld one for Dad…All in all it was a great day.