Adventures
Mt St Helens and Coldwater Lake
I first visited Mt St Helens about 2 weeks after the roads were reopened to the public following the disastrous 1980 blast that blew out the side of the mountain. I think that was probably 1981, about a year after the explosion. I recall a scene of utter devastation – millions of trees blown flat … Continue reading
STW3 Hop 3: Ennis MT to Missoula MT
198 miles on US 287, MT 359, I-90 and US 93. Cumulative tow miles: 386. Truck miles: 208. Cumulative truck miles: 497. This hop, except for the first 40 miles, was almost exclusively on I-90. We did make two stops: a rest area stop about 150 miles into the trip and an emergency stop a … Continue reading
Yellowstone National Park – part 2
On Tuesday I made a day trip into Yellowstone National Park (“part 1”) and on Wednesday we traveled east-to-west through the park with an aborted attempt to see Old Faithful. So yesterday – Thursday – I made a second day trip into Yellowstone with the primary purpose being to view Old Faithful. It turned out … Continue reading
STW3 Hop 1: Wapiti WY to West Yellowstone MT
134 miles via US 20 and US 191. This was a short and simple (navigation-wise) hop that would have been even shorter and simpler had we not made a detour to see Old Faithful. Which, as it turned out, we didn’t see. Let me explain. We originally planned to see Old Faithful on a day … Continue reading
Yellowstone National Park – part 1
We have been blessed with very fine weather on our STW – we have had mostly sunny, warm days. Great picture-taking days. But that is about to change. The forecast for the Yellowstone National Park area is for scattered thunderstorms today, rain tomorrow and rain and snow both Friday and Saturday. Yes, snow. There is … Continue reading
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
Yesterday Jett and I went a few miles up I-90 to visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, site of “Custer’s Last Stand.” I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but what we found was a remarkably well-preserved battlefield with markers for the locations where soldiers’ bodies were found after the battle, plus a few … Continue reading
Theodore Roosevelt National Park (South Unit)
I got a quick look at Theodore Roosevelt National Park (South Unit) yesterday. It was quick because we had guests coming to our RV for drinks at 5pm and because I was low on fuel. I entered the park with a plan: drive until the “low fuel” light appeared or 17 miles, whichever came first. … Continue reading
STW Hop 7: Spearfish SD to Medora ND
212 miles via US 85 and I-94. Cumulative tow miles: 1149. Truck miles: 316. Cumulative truck miles: 1578. This was a straight shot north through some very desolate landscape. If it wasn’t for one construction site where we were stopped for a minute, we would have made the trip non-stop. The purpose of the hop … Continue reading
Mt Rushmore National Memorial
As I mentioned in my previous post, Jett and I visited the Mt Rushmore National Memorial on the evening of Labor Day. It was a beautiful night and I thought I got some really nice photos. But I was wrong – they were fuzzy and washed out. I guess I need to learn more about … Continue reading
Badlands National Park
We drove most of SD 240 on Saturday – about 25 miles of very scenic roadway through the Badlands National Park. We ended up in Wall, home of Wall Drug, which I have already described. This is to record some of the beautiful photos that I took in the Badlands.