NORTH TO ALASKA! – Illinois to Indiana

TRIP DAY – 103, 104, 105, 106, 107

DAILY MILES – 176, 9, 121, 0, 0

TOTAL MILES – 13,070

9/25, 9/26- We camped at Starved Rock IL State Park near Peru, Illinois for two nights.  They have a very nice level campground and a terrific Visitor Center and Lodge.  We had lunch at the lodge and really enjoyed the log framing and huge fire places in the lobby and dining room. 
 

 

9/27, 9/28, 9/29- TODAY WE TOPPED 13,000 TOTAL MILES DRIVEN.   Arrived at Valparaiso, Indiana to spend a couple days with son Trevor’s family and enjoy our young grand-kids.  Lottie is six and Dallas just turned five, so it takes tons of energy to keep up.   We hope to see them again at Thanksgiving, but that all depends on when winter decides to arrive in northern Indiana.   

Tomorrow we head south on IN 41 headed for Land Between the Lakes in Tennessee to attend a rally hosted by friends Dennis and Susie Archer.  Then on Sunday, Oct. 6^th we head home to Kentucky and the end of our 4 month journey.

NORTH TO ALASKA! – IOWA

TRIP DAY – 99, 100, 101, 102

DAILY MILES – 165, 186, 0, 0 (Bike Miles - 6+)

TOTAL MILES – 12,764

9/21- Entered Iowa and hoped to camp at Council Bluffs but it didn’t work out.  The Hitchcock Nature Center was hosting four weddings over the weekend and the small campground was completely full.  The ranger there recommended we head east on I-80 and stop at the Lake Anita State Park, which we did.  We scored a beautiful site directly on the lake which was amazing as the campground was about full with folks watching the “Corn Huskers” on TV and tailgating.  There were lots of nice folks to meet and the lovely lake to view.

9/22, 23, 24- Heading east on I-80 we skirted around Des Moines and headed for Rock Creek State Park near Kellogg, IA.  They had over 100 sites and not a one was level.  We decided to head on to Amana, IA as we had camped at Amana Colonies RV Park a few years back and knew it to be a flat prairie.  It turned out to be the right decision as we have been here three days and enjoyed every minute of the stay. 

Amana Colonies has a terrific bike trail and we rode up to the Amana Village one day for shopping and lunch at Ronneburg Restaurant.  Also, took the bike trail around the Lily Pond which goes into Middle Amana and then circles back to the main Amana Village.  Anytime we can ride the bikes it just makes the day fun. 

Ronneburg Restaurant

Tomorrow we leave Amana Colonies and Iowa and head for Illinois where we plan to camp at the Starved Rock State Park for two nights.

 


North to Alaska! - Nebraska

TRIP DAY – 97, 98

DAILY MILES – 235, 227

TOTAL MILES – 12,413



Nebraska for miles and miles

 
9/19-   TODAY WE TALLIED OVER 12,000 MILES DRIVING DISTANCE!  We departed Wyoming and headed east on I-80 into Nebraska stopping about half way through at North Platte where the North and South Platte Rivers converge.  The exciting thing is we camped between the rivers and the South Platte has been flooding all through Colorado and Nebraska.  We stopped at Ogallala, Nebraska before getting to North Platte and couldn’t find any place for lunch as the whole town was sand-bagged waiting for the South Platte River to crest.  Our campground, Holiday RV Park was located right on the shore of the South Platte, but it wasn’t expected to crest until later this weekend.  At any rate we were glad to leave the area and the Platte River as I-80 travels south of the river path.  I had wanted to camp on the Platte River, but not IN the Platte River.



Pawnee Lake State Park

9/20-   This morning we headed to Lincoln, NE and the Pawnee State Park which is about 10 miles from town.  With this being a “football weekend” for University of Nebraska, we knew Lincoln’s RV parks would be full.  Regardless, this park is worth the extra few miles.  It is so shady, cool and quiet, very different from the side by side sites in most commercial parks.  Tomorrow we should enter Iowa and hope to camp at Council Bluffs.

NORTH TO ALASKA! Trip Home – Wyoming

TRIP DAY – 94, 95, 96

DAILY MILES – 241, 37, 11

TOTAL MILES – 11,951

Change of Plans Note:  Our trip to Alaska and National Parks tour of Washington, Oregon and California is finished.  We had always planned to travel Interstate 40 east back across the US to Land Between the Lakes (LBL) in Tennessee for a Rally with friends before returning to KY.   Well, when we left the California mountains and found temperatures in the valleys over 100 degrees, we decided we’re too far South for this early in the autumn.  Therefore, we’re headed north via I-15 through Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.  Then it’s across the US on I-80 through Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana.  Coincidentally, this puts us back in Northern Indiana where we can visit with our grand-kids which we have been missing for the last three and a half months.  : )  Then we’ll head south to LBL in TN before returning to Kentucky.

9/16- This morning we continued east on I-80 from Rock Springs toward Laramie, WY.  At Laramie we detoured from I-80 to WY 210 through the Medicine Bow National Forest which is in the Laramie Mountains.  Here we located the Curt Gowdy WY State Park campground, which is beside a lovely lake surrounded by range grasslands with strange rock formations appearing at random with the mountain range appearing in the background.  

Curt Gowdy Wyoming State Park

Old West Museum - Cheyenne Wyoming

 
9/17- Today we visited the Cheyenne Old West Museum in Frontier Park which was very enjoyable.  They have a huge selection of old horse-drawn vehicles – buggies, stage coaches, wagons, etc. and a nice rodeo display and art gallery.  Next we checked in the A B Camping RV Park and had dinner at their BBQ Restaurant which was delicious.  Wayne says it was the best pulled pork he has ever eaten. 

A B Camping RV Park BBQ Restaurant

9/18- We headed to the Terry Bison Ranch Resort, a 27,500 acre bison ranch with restaurant, saloon, train tours and trail rides where we plan to live the Old West legend.  This is a working ranch and not “Disneyland”.  The ranch hands look exactly like we had envisioned “cowboys”.  We took the train ride through the ranch and into the bison heard which we really enjoyed.  Also lunch at their Senator’s Steakhouse restaurant gave Wayne a half pound bison burger that he really enjoyed.  We’re camping here tonight and then tomorrow head into Nebraska.

NORTH TO ALASKA! – Change of Plans

TRIP DAY – 91, 92, 93

DAILY MILES – 267, 288, 324

TOTAL MILES – 11,662

Change of Plans Note:  Our trip to Alaska and National Parks tour of Washington, Oregon and California is finished.  We had always planned to travel Interstate 40 east back across the US to Land Between the Lakes (LBL) in Tennessee for a Rally with friends before returning to KY.   Well, when we left the California mountains and found temperatures in the valleys over 100 degrees, we decided we’re too far South for this early in the autumn.  Therefore, we’re headed north via I-15 through Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.  Then it’s across the US on I-80 through Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana.  Coincidentally, this puts us back in Northern Indiana where we can visit with our grand-kids which we have been missing for the last three and a half months.  : )  Then we’ll head south to LBL in TN before returning to Kentucky.



Nevada desert
 

Oasis RV Resort in Las Vegas

9/13- This morning we left the Orange Grove RV Park, which we really enjoyed, and headed east to connect with I-15 going north.  All of the driving today was through the desert with temperatures reaching 100 degrees for most of the day.  About 3:00 we reached Las Vegas and checked in the Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort.  It really is a resort, with three pools, a bar, restaurant, exercise facility, slot machines and entertainment. This is the nicest RV park we have seen. It is a real oasis in this desert.  We spent the afternoon in the pool cooling off.  Tomorrow we continue north headed for Utah.

9/14- Today was a driving day and we passed the 11,000 mile mark as we were headed into Utah.  We stopped this evening at the KOA Campground in Fillmore, UT, about halfway through the state.  The campground was really nice with lots of grass, flowers and trees which are odd to find in this desert region. 

Utah landscape

9/15- We left the KOA early to get beyond Provo and Salt Lake City before traffic got bad.  South of Salt Lake City we left I-15 and headed east on I-80.  This will take us all the way to Indiana, just 1250 miles east.  This placed us into Wyoming where we have stopped at another KOA in Rock Springs.  This KOA is just a driving stop as it is situated within sight and hearing of the Interstate and a group of huge oil storage tanks.  It has absolutely no “curb” appeal but nice restrooms. 
 

Wyoming landscape

Rainbow following shower at Wyoming KOA

NORTH TO ALASKA! – US National Parks Tour – Washington, Oregon & California – Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks

TRIP DAY – 87, 88, 89, 90

DAILY MILES – 54, 145, 38, 163

TOTAL MILES – 10,783

9/9- Today we moved to Wawona in the south portion of Yosemite.  We camped in the NP Wawona Campground which was convenient but hot after descending nearly 5,000 feet into the valley. We made a stop at the Visitor Center and Wawona Hotel before going to the Mariposa Grove to see the giant sequoias.  Next we visited the Pioneer History Center which had a nice group of old cabins from the early 1900 era.   
 

 
 

9/10- This morning we left Yosemite and the Cascade Mountain Range and headed south to the Sierra Nevada Range and Kings Canyon.  Between the two mountain ranges we traveled through dessert valleys that were cultivating grapes and fruit trees.  Then we reached the Sierra Mountains and began the long winding mountain road climb to above 7,000 feet where we reached Kings Canyon National Park.  We got a site in the NP Azalea Campground and drove to the Grant Grove to see the 2^nd largest tree in the world- the General Grant.  Later in the day we drove 15 miles into the canyon to an overview and take photos of the canyon below. 

California ranch land between mountain ranges.

 

Sierra Nevada foot hills

 
 

General Grant Tree

 


Kings Canyon

9/11- Today found us on the General Highway mountain road driving through the Sequoia National Forest to Sequoia National Park to camp at the NP Lodgepole Campground and see the Giant Forest Museum and the General Sherman tree, the largest in the world.  There are many more of these giant sequoias than we had realized as this one section of the park contains more than 2,000.  

 

General Sherman Tree

 

 

Giant Forest Museum

 

 

9/12- We left Sequoia NP this morning, back-tracking through Kings Canyon to reach CA 99 and head south.  The road beyond the Giant Forest Museum is so narrow and curvy, RVs are not allowed to exit the park in that direction.  We were glad not to see anymore sheer drop-offs and enjoyed our drive back through the National Forest.  CA 99 is the only freeway we have spent any time driving as we have been on much smaller state roads getting from park to park.  Since re-entering the US from Canada, we have spent almost no time driving on the Interstate roads. 

This evening we are camped just off CA 58 at the Orange Grove RV Park just outside Bakersfield.  We are actually camped in a grove but find the short orange trees don’t give much protection from the hot sun and the upper 90 degree temperatures.  I had hoped that by the second week of September temperatures would be somewhat lower.

Tomorrow we should connect with Interstate 40 and hopefully reach the Arizona border.  Storm damage has closed the campground and visitor center in the Mojave National Park that we had hoped to visit so we move on.