Price: $20,995 

Please Share Our Travels . . .

We have visited relatives, both living and dead, in more than 40 states.

About Pictures:        

28th:   Nice isolated site. Some of us have chosen the sites with trees and bushes forming 3 walls around us. This one, number 417, has a defective 30 Amp circuit breaker. I will contact the host this morning for repairs. Will visit Pall and Mary, and be given a tour by Paul, of Chicago, just an hour and a half away. -r<

2007 Aug  7, Tuesday:

2007 Aug  6, Monday:

2007 Aug  5, Sunday:

2007 Aug  4, Saturday:

2007 Aug  3, Friday: Started out with rain in the night. Sun came out at noon. Spending our time on computers. Then read and napped by the Gallatin River.

2007 Aug  2, Thursday: Stayed at home. Well, we did break camp to move from campsite 60 to campsite 17. The advantage is electricity, for more money. Richard got output of Inverter connected to breaker panel.

2007 Aug  1, Wednesday:Visited Yellowstone. Kay and W took lots of pictures, walked a couple of miles, and got sun burned! We have about 300 pictures. Hopefully some will be trashed. Richard got the Inverter hung and the 12 volt DC supply connected.

2007 Jul 30, Tuesday: This campground is next to the highway -- where else. Of course, it has to be because of the narrow canyon for the Gallatin River which comes from West Yellowstone, 50 miles to the South.

We do miss the access to a sewer. It will be a 50 mile drive to the nearest dump station! We will try to hold it until we get to Bozeman on our way back to the North Entrance to Yellowstone NP.

2007 July 17: We have extended our stay another 2 days. Moving into the Hitch Hiker has been a slow, but steady, process. The ground around our house show piles of stuff. The piles have been shrinking daily. I am eliminating the exhaust fan from the pile by installing it over our bed. The second StarBand dish will be boxed tomorrow, and I hope to install the solar electric panels then, too. That will leave pieces of wood I have been saving for remodeling projects. I should not need any, now, with this RV. It has so much that is easy to live with. There are several plastic storage boxes in our piles that may just go to the dump. "We like our new house," has become our happy mantra.

I have come up with one for myself, "I hate cold!" Now you may wonder what I think of heat: I stay inside with the air refrigeration, and enjoy the mornings and evenings outdoors.

We will be meeting Warren in a few days for a visit in eastern Montana.

  
I cut Kay's hair a few days ago. It didn't get combed before taking these pictures.

2007 July 14: The Wilderness trailer is now officially for sale. It has been put onto the consignment lot at 12th Street Auto Mart in Sioux Falls, SD. On the Web site, click on "motorhomes" and check out the trailers. Let me know if you found the trailer here on my Web site, and want more information.

Our "new" home on wheels is actually a year older model. It's a 2003 Nu-Wa Hitch hiker 335 BWTG -- 33.5 foot long cabin, bay window at the back, and triple glides. We have our two computer desk in the bay window, and two of the glides are opposing which makes a nice large Living Room. The bedroom has a deeper closet and a roomier bath. We are enjoying a lot of features that I had to add onto the Wilderness. The floor is insulated, the kitchen counter is larger, and the general condition is much better -- it hasn't been lived in for 3 years! And, we expect this one will not show the wear as badly. It is built so much better from the start -- the latches latch; the hinges swing; the shelves stay in the cupboard.

2007 June 25: We've done it! We told the dealer we would buy the 2003 Discover America by NuWa, model 33.5 BWTS.``

2007 Jun 24: Kay is home from Avera McKennan Hospital. She has had IV antibiotics and is to continue for several days with visits for additional doses. She is doing better -- less coughing and able to breathe deeper.

We've paid for parking at the Sioux Empire Fairgrounds till July 8. We can use the time to sort thru our boxes of Stuff in an effort to lighten our load. We are carrying a lot of unnecessary weight. Of course, this isn't the first time we have set up the goal of thinning out our Stuff. One of the incentives is our considering another RV. If we prepare  ours to show and sell, we may find we like it better.

June 18, 2007: Kay went in for outpatient bronchoscopy this afternoon. Weather has been milder -- less wind, not as hot, some sun time through the clouds. Last nights rain caught us with our windows open. We had wet papers and desk this morning.

June 16, 2007: Sioux Falls sponsors a Cultural Fair each Spring. This is our first. There was a fair crowd, and many vendor booths. About half were service organizations offering promotional information -- foreign exchange student, battered women, Irish Club, handicapped advocacy, and so forth.
 

June 15, 2007: The Rally ended yesterday. We were so busy, especially when we added on our RV shopping and doctor visits. We might like another fifth wheel trailer with one more slide-out room and a couple of feet longer. But the weight cannot exceed 14,800 pounds.

June 13, 2007: Richard went with the group to tour EROS (?=Earth Research from Orbiting Satellite). This picture is of one of the old computers used to process the raw downloaded data from the orbiting sensors. The sensors are not all "cameras". The guide discussed how many algorithms are applied to see clouds or remove clouds, see vegetation or see water, see minerals or see man-made structures. A lot of philosophy goes into it, as Richard sees it. The data can be processed for whatever it is that you want to see.

We have purchased a GPS that mounts on the dashboard to help us find our way. It can pay for itself if we avoid missing a turn where we would have to travel another 20 miles for a turn around with the 32 foot trailer.

June 09, 2007: Today was our 45th wedding anniversary. We had a quiet day at home and a lovely dinner out. Pasta dishes for both of us. Richard had shrimp. We shared a "To Die For Chocolate Cake" for dessert.

"The Farmer" looking at the Falls in Falls Park.

There's a beautiful little yellow finch out her flitting around a tree. He just glows in the sunlight. A very pretty day - perfect. Must get out for a walk! Had to stop writing as all of a sudden my computer wouldn't type anything. Weird. So, had my lunch, met the new neighbors, put a stew in the crockpot for tonight, now it's working again. Go figure. I was ready to stop typing anywhere. 

Monday, June 04, 2007 We are now in Yankton, SD, arrived here yesterday. Pretty spot. near where we camped with Paul and Mary last fall. Same sort of layout, just operated by Corps of Engineers. Costs about 1/2 the price as the other state campground with the Golden Age Pass, so obviously we chose this one. It's below one of the dams on the Missouri River, there's quite a series of them. Also along the Lewis and Clark route so lots of info around about that. Lots of green lawns, trees. Actually, even though it's just below the dam (which we hope doesn't break while we're here), it's situated by a good sized lake. Weird layout, but beautiful. Had planned on being here for several days but can only stay 3 as all the sites are reserved come the week-end. We'd forgotten we're now in the summer season so we don't have the options we do the rest of the year. Schools all close by late May in the Midwest, it seems.

We'll go on to Sioux Falls, probably. I guess we're going to an RVers rally in Sioux Falls put on by Alternative Resources, from the 11th to the 13th. We'd heard about it but kind of dismissed it, but then realized we really needed to take care of our living trusts, South Dakota style, so needed to come this way. Get all that settled once and for all. Timed it right to be here for the rally. Here's what is going on at the rally, if you're interested. This is the info sent to me...

"Registration starts at noon on June 11. First meal at 6 pm. Breakfast is at 8 A.M. each morning. On the 12 we have speakers on insurance, lady from the post office, from a bank and an attorney. In the afternoon there is a tour to the EROS Data Center. Most popular tour we have. Picnic at Falls Park Tuesday night. Wednesday the 13 we have RV and tow vehicles on display and at noon a tour and lunch at our heart hospital. Snack and seminar in pm. Pot luck and a movie in the evening. Thursday, after breakfast a service manager from a local RV dealer with talk, 3 optional tours also and dinner that night with games and social time. There is still time to sign up you just wont get a t shirt. Too late to order."

Sitting here with some nice music. In the background is lots of birdsong. Definitely a happy bunch of feathered friends. Lots of trees to nest in?

The surface area is about 10 acres, but we were told by Iowa State University students that a body of water must be able to erode its shore when the wind blows to be called a Lake. Now, this pond is popular with fishermen (and one 4 year old fisherwoman), so the County of Monona has called it Oldham Lake Recreation Area. Boat speed is limited to "No Wake." How a boat would have the space to accelerate to wake speed is difficult to appreciate.

We have been the sole inhabitants for four days and our variety of experiences have all been good. We have experienced weather from warm sun to heavy rain and wind. We have visited the sought after grave of Kay's great-grandfather, Thomas Loyd. We have eaten at local restaurants that serve a hamburger dressed with onion and pickles. Tomato and lettuce are provided only on request.

Our GMC one ton pickup truck continues to amaze us. We get better than 12 mpg when cruising around the county, with fuel that costs 50 cents less per gallon than gas.