• Katboz
  • Tom Boswell
huhtik. – lokak. 2023

Michigan 2023

Back to Michigan for the summer. Going back to Fayetteville to visit Aunt Chris. Then to Traverse for the summer at Holiday Park RV campground Lue lisää
  • Travel day

    10. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    Fortunately my flight was delayed an hour, and better yet I was notified before I went to bed, so we got to sleep in a little later... Clarke and linley took me out to the airport to catch my 9 am flight.
    As I was waiting in the terminal I happened to run into one of my favorite church friends, Jan Akins! And more surprisingly, she was booked to fly from Fresno to Minneapolis as well!
    Our flights went smoothly and we both enjoyed our time together at the lay over in Dallas. We couldn't sit together because she was flying first class. But so fun to be able to chat and catch up in the boarding areas!
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  • Shuttle to St Cloud

    10. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    The flight got into the airport on time, picked up my luggage and caught the shuttle to St. Cloud. Arrived at the drop off point and Tom was right there with the Jeep. He was able to nav back successfully for my return pick up!
    Quick dinner on the way back to the park, and in bed by 10 pm, exhausted!
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  • Regroup in St. Cloud

    11. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    SO glad I have an additional day in St. Cloud after returning from Fresno. I needed the time to catch up!
    Had some fun calls in the morning, Charlie play time and then tackled laundry; clothes, towels, bedding, sofa cover, everything!
    Took time to even thin down contents in RV by packing "extras" into bins and putting under in storage. End of day included a run to the grocery store.
    I even made dinner tonight so we will have some leftovers for traveling. Still not entirely sure where we want head tomorrow?! It will be west!
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  • Heading west, wow, we picked Sioux Falls

    12. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    We were pretty well ready to take off on our drive, if only we could decide where?? Was pretty sure we were going to head to Fargo and then west on 94 thru North Dakota. But we really did take this route last year and then hit snow at Medora and had to head south...so at last minute decided to head to Sioux Falls and travel west on 90. Hoping this was God's prompt!

    It was a great day for driving, nice and cool. Traffic was light. We ended up heading southwest on Hwy. 23.
    Lots of lakes! But still relatively flat and wooded! Tom still feeling fatigued, no symptoms, but just weak, so I am driving again. And I really don't mind.
    After a couple of hours we took a brief stop at Green Lake. Stretched out legs and Charlie had some water time.

    Back on the road and got to Granite Falls after noon. Decided to have our lunch break here. They have a little park by the Minnesota River which flows along side the downtown main street. Even though it was Tuesday, it was so quiet it seemed like Sunday. Found a cute little bakery open, bought a wrap and headed to the river to picnic. By now the sky had cleared up and it was sunny and beautiful! Enjoyed the pedestrian suspension bridge and the "falls"!
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  • Camped for the night

    12. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    Spent the rest of the day driving, refueling in Pipestone. The drive was great, excellent weather, light traffic and lots of corn and soybeans...silos and graineries every where. Ended up parking in Blue Mounds State Park. Mostly empty, but now a days you have to go online and pick a site before you get in the park. Ours was fine...But...it could have been better?!
    I'm sure Steve will sympathize with Tom. Restrooms pretty good, supposedly had Wi-Fi but I couldn't find the network. Nice quiet evening!
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  • Blue Mounds State Park

    13. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    Beautiful morning! This state park is sort of different because they actually have a bison herd grazing on this chunk of protected prairie. We saw them off in a corner of the fenced in range.

    On the way out we stopped at the other end of the park for a short hike. This area was home to the plains Indians, and they left this very long rock alignment (in the ground) that aligns with the sunrise and sunset locations at the equinox. (Who really knows?). Anyway the hike took me by an older quartz quarry, the stone is a thousand shades of red and very hard! This hike use up a little bit so the views were awesome. Lots of sunshine, and a great breeze! Charlie joined me while Tom worked on our screen door which isn't latching properly...Lue lisää

  • Falls Park in Sioux Falls

    13. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    After the morning walk, we headed west towards Sioux Falls. We still don't know what we want see, or where to stay, so we just keep making it up as we go along.

    I DID want to see the falls that Sioux Falls is named for, so we did stop here. I am really glad, because it is a beautiful park, lots of green grass, walkways and lots of different water falls in the quartz rock. It's just a lot of different layers of rock with water tumbling over. Tom could tell that there were lots of rises and stairs, so he did the visitor center and the observation tower to get a feel of the park. Charlie and I roamed the park, taking pictures and meeting other dogs that were visiting the park as well. Oddly enough we had a little episode on the pedestrian bridge spanning the river and I had to actually carry her across.

    Thoroughly enjoyed this visit, would love to see the water in the spring!
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  • Overnight on the Missouri River

    13. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ 🌬 82 °F

    Still struggling with where we want go and when...as most people know, I struggle with selecting an item off a menu. I want them all! So after dithering about we decided to keep moving west so that were can get to Yellowstone before it is too cold.

    Grabbed some sandwiches and the way out of town and got back on I-90. Since it was a later afternoon start to our drive we only got a couple of hours down the road. We were looking for free night to stay so it look liked (from notes on travel apps) that travelers were using the SD Welcome Center and rest stop. Glad we pulled in here, it had a nice visitor center and great overlook of the Missouri. We only got about 15 minutes in building but doesn't some time enjoying the view. Staff told us that there was only a 3 hour maximum, so we looked online for other alternatives. Found a dispersed camping option on the other side of the river. Easy to get to, (only a short distance of dirt roads), hardly anyone was around and we got a spot on the rivers edge.

    It was so peaceful, quiet and Charlie got some water time!
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  • Across South Dakota

    14. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    Back on I-90 heading west across South Dakota. This interstate really runs across the southern side of the state and it's all about the crops. Corn, soybeans, sorghum, and lots of sunflowers. (Sadly past bloom, but all the brown heads still bent towards the sun) on and on...

    Drove into some weather, had some rain, but it wasn't cold. Even though it's a major stop for tourists, I still had Tom stop at Wall Drug. Perfect lunch break (bison burger) and had a 5¢ cup of coffee with the deep fried, fresh donuts! While Tom went back to the RV to nap, I got to meander thru this huge store. Just tons, and tons of souvenirs and gift items. Of course they have several kids areas that include a jackalope and a dinosaur 🦖

    Just was fun to walk around and watch all the tourists walking around... And even though it was over cast, the weather was nice.
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  • Into Spearfish

    14. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F

    Tom drove all morning (he felt that much better) so I took the afternoon shift. Great highway out here! Weather still overcast, and had rain a couple of times. But when the sun came out it was beautiful!

    Spearfish is at about 3,500 ft Soo we have come up in elevation. Oaks and lots of evergreens. It's in a really pretty part of the state.

    Got a site in the City Park. Really pretty, there is really a lot of space in the park, except in the RV Park area. So it is really nice to walk around with Charlie. We liked the park so much that we immediately booked a second night so we could stay and do some bike riding!
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  • Spearfish Canyon Scenic Drive

    15. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    Since we decided on a second night we had to hang around in the am to move to another site. This park is generally fully occupied on the weekend. But Charlie was glad because we spent some time in the fenceless dog park (doubles as an ice rink in the winter) with her frisbee AND creek time! The creek moves along pretty well some there are bubbles that are created over the rocks. She is such a water dog!

    Got moved right before lunch, had lunch, and while Tom napped, I went to the grocery store.

    Got back and we jumped in the jeep to drive the Spearfish scenic byway thru Spearfish canyon. Beautiful drive, beautiful weather.

    There are a couple of waterfalls on this drive, so we were looking for a turn out to the first when we came up on a bunch of stopped cars. Anyone who has spent time in a natl park knows stopped cars can only mean one thing- wildlife! Sure enough there was a momma mountain goat and her baby munching grass at the side of the road. And the were conveniently eating near the pull out for the first waterfall, Bridal Veil.

    So tame! They must be used to tourists because neither of them stopped eating to check us out. Snapped out pics and then walked over for pics off the falls.
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  • Roughlock Falls

    15. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Back in the jeep to continue our drive in the canyon. Just drove slowly to put our eyes on the cliffs looking for mountain goats or climbers. Didn't see anymore.

    About halfway through this 15 mile plus drive you arrive at little town of Savoy. Big lodge, and a couple of restaurants and lots of ATV rentals! I think this state has a lot of back roads thru forests and abandoned mines. We drove about a mile back from the lodge on one of the forest service roads to get to the Roughlock Falls. We could have hiked it (?), but it would have been all uphill getting there. So we stayed in the jeep and gave the hikers a 👋. (Linley will be so proud of us!)

    We really loved this series of falls. And they have this well developed path that follows the creek as it moves from the upper to the lower falls. Nice canyon setting. Still a couple of weeks before seeing some of those wonderful fall colors. Plus we are only at about 4,000 ft. (Really hoping we get to see some color in Yellowstone! 🤞)

    Finished out drive by completing a loop thru Deadwood and back to Spearfish. Deadwood might be fun if you have time to spend, but our "drive thru" impression is that it is highly commercialized. Lots of shopping, restaurants and lodging. So many visitors that there are several parking garages to accommodate all the cars. Definitely another level above Virginia City, but that sort of feel.

    Got back about 5 and gave Charlie some more play time with her frisbee and the creek!! We really like this little City Park!
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  • Creek time in Spearfish

    16. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F

    Nice morning-again! Blue skies, lots of sun, but not too hot, yet! It is our goodbye morning and had to include this footprint with a video of Charlie enjoying the creek! I gave her water time twice a day; enough that she knew where to go when we went out to play! So cute!Lue lisää

  • DC Booth National Fish Hatchery

    16. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    After a great catch up phone call with Cindy and Aunt Chris, we finally got out of the park...but only one block away. Right next to the city campground it's the DC Booth National Fish Hatchery. This is one of the oldest hatcheries in the US and still spawns and releases trout.

    It is a beautiful property and includes so many exhibits of functions that supported the hatchery. The had a reproduction of a rail car that was used to deliver the trout thru the Black Hills, the boat used on Yellowstone to collect trout eggs, the home for the superintendent, D C Booth, an ice house, museum, information center and a beautiful park setting.

    If you are ever in Spearfish make sure you include this as part of your visit. Frankly I love visiting this area and town. We were here once before and that visit included the Western Heritage Center which is also has a lot of history and artifacts unique to the Black Hills area. I hope to be back and spend an extended visit to include some more hiking. It also has a cute main street!
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  • Into Wyoming

    16. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    Tom insisted that we finally leave Spearfish...it was almost noon and we still needed to get ⛽! (Never a fun stop, we typically spend over $200 filling up- ouch! 🤑)

    Back on 90 West. Road in pretty good condition, except for the periodic lane closurers in place for road construction. My "favorite" time to drive is hurtling down the freeway at 65 mph (with jeep in tow) in a single lane separated from the lane going in the opposite direction with orange lane barriers. Oh, and with Gusty wind conditions! My hands and shoulders are exhausted at the end of day!

    Made a quick stop at the Wyoming Welcome Center.
    Another beautiful building with nice exhibits, and of course, with ALL those maps, guides and brochures. I usually have to get a bag to leave-- it drives Tom crazy! (I love welcome centers !)

    We are still headed to Yellowstone, but via Sheridan, Nonnys birthplace. Not too far out of the way and sets us up for a drive thru the Big Horn Mountains. Nice warm day and as we got into Wyoming we are driving thru high plains, prairie looking topography. Rolling hills, lots of cattle ranches and less farms. We had a lot of views of those small prong horn antelope.

    Decided on a FHU park instead of Walmart because it was 80° with no breeze. I do much better with AC at the end of the day. Pulled into the RV Park about 4:00. Nice park, but no trees and pretty tight sites again. Had a nice big area to run Charlie!
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  • Big Horn Mountains and Shell Falls

    17. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Headed out of Sheridan, north on 90 until Ranchester and then headed west on 14 thru the Big Horn Mountains. Wow, you immediately started climbing and you have some fabulous views of the valley below. Great drive, very steep, you end up at almost 9,000 ft. Just off of the top you hit Burgess Junction which has the Big Horn National visitor center. Got out, stretched our legs and I put Tom in the driver's seat because we were going to drive down almost as much as we went up. Downhill braking makes me nervous! Gorgeous drive, lots of ranches, cattled being gathered and ATVs with hunters (we think?). Still not a lot of color change, but every now and then we saw pops of yellow.

    Towards the bottom of the drive we stop to see Shell Falls. Had not expected much, but was so glad you see. Pretty large, powerful water fall that has cut thru rock sand created a pretty deep canyon. Nice walks that allowed different views.

    Hwy 14 pretty much follows Shell Creek all the rest off the way down. At the falls we were week above the creek and by the time we got down the grade we were driving next to it. 18 miles of downhill!
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  • Cody overnight

    17. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    The last part of our drive was the long, flat plain going into Cody. A lot of this is either reservation or BLM land. A long quiet drive. Out in this area you can still find wild mustangs. We did see a herd of horses, 🐎🐎🐎, and based on a goggle search about them, feel that this would be about where we might see them. They were too far away to really get a sense of whether they were or not... But we chose to believe they were!

    And then next thing you know we were in Cody. We had reservation at a KOA on the outskirts of town so we could catch up on a little laundry. This was a "holiday" property (which means it is nicer then most based on amenities) but this campground has been in place a long time (pre KOA) so was pretty tired. It was a really warm day though so we were glad to have power for the AC!
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  • Breakfast in Sheridan

    17. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ 🌙 66 °F

    Decided to have breakfast in town since I wanted to get a tiny feel of Sheridan. The RV Park owner suggested the Cowboy Cafe which sounded totally appropriate. Driver into town, to Main street. Unfortunately Main St was totally torn up with construction. We found some parking and walked part of the street, but it has construction fencing everywhere. Which was a shame because not only did the street scape look cute (lots of old building restorations, and fun boutiques), but downtown is known for it's use of sculpture to create a lot of public art to enjoy. Only sort of positive, it was Sunday and almost every store was closed, (we are in the mid-west) so I didn't miss shopping.
    Good breakfast, walked some of the sidewalks and enjoyed a varied collection of sculpture pieces.
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  • Buffalo Bill Center of the West

    18. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    This is our second visit, and for us, it will always be a stop on any trip in this area. So many museums in one. Natural History, Bill Cody, Whitney art, Plains Indians and Firearms museums all under one roof. You really need more than a day...
    We spent most of our time in the Bill Cody (Buffalo Bill) section and the Whitney art museum, which had a wide spectrum of paintings and sculpture that pertained to this region. Buzzed Natural Science and Plains Indians sections and saw part of the Raptor show while eating lunch!

    Just a fabulous visit, finally left at about 2:30 knowing we had a couple of hours to drive to get into our reservation at Fishing Bridge RV Park. The only spot in the park with hookups! We have three nights here. Feeling pretty blessed, I only called for reservations 3 days ago! And park is full as far as we can tell. It must be cancellations....?🤞
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  • Into Yellowstone!

    18. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    Gorgeous drive from Cody to Fishing Bridge which is located by Yellowstone Lake. This drive followed the Shoshone River into a canyon setting. Steady rise in elevation. Lots of lodges, and campgrounds sprinkled along our route. Weather was clouding up and we very intermittent bits of rain.

    Just short of the east entrance we had our first wildlife glimpse! You always know when you see multiple cars pulled over and people are out with cameras. There was a small group of big horn sheep. Pretty close to the road and did not seem to mind our presence.

    On into the park, another 25 miles to our destination. But we enjoyed the drive with the last third or so following the lakeshore.
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  • YNP: Upper loop #1, Hayden Valley

    19. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 52 °F

    Wow, gorgeous morning for sightseeing. Decided to do Upper Loop today ( about 70 miles), and Lower Loop (about 110 miles) tomorrow. Our biggest challenge is getting out the door- it is vacation, right? So you want to sleep in?

    On the road by 9 which is very good for us. Stopped at the Fishing Bridge Visitor center, very nice (big) view of Yellowstone Lake. All these park facilities seem to be original structures, updated, but most seem to be on the historical register.

    We are using the Guide Along app which gives us an audio narrative and recommended stops. Very helpful.

    First stop, Mud Volvano which was mostly mud pots and steam vents. Small mile loop walk, great first stop and intro to all the thermal activity we will be seeing.

    On thru Hayden Valley, with the road following the Yellowstone River. In our visit here we used those route numerous times, and we always found bison...it is just a gorgeous drive.

    At some point along this drive we also happened on some sort of bird release. Several rangers with large birds (young trumpeter swans?) in their arms, ands that at some point they were all released into the Yellowstone. Never got details...
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  • Upper Loop #2, Upper Falls, Yellowstone

    19. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    Continued up the road to Canyon Village. Technically we haven't started the upper loop, at this junction we do.

    We didn't go into Canyon Village, but did do the South Rim drive of the Yellowstone waterfalls and canyon. Just breathtaking, I just think these falls, in the canyon setting, are more stunning than Yosemite Falls. We stopped at overlooks for both the upper and lower falls.

    Back onto the upper loop road, just as we were beginning to pull away from the canyon we were stopped by traffic, and that always means wildlife. We found a pull out and could see some prong horn antelope across the road. I got out of the passenger side of the Jeep to take a picture and ran into this little antelope right on the retaining wall. So cute, pretty clear he didn't quite know how to get across the road with the rest of the group. So he just kept posing for me! Took a million pics, plus video. Then a ranger turned up and asked us all to return to our cars. ( I did so immediately...)
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  • Upper Loop #3: Mammoth Hot Springs

    19. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ 🌩️ 64 °F

    Back in the jeep heading to Mammoth Hot Springs. This is our first visit up to the northern part of the park. Quick stop at Tower Falls. 130 foot drop of Tower Creek to the Yellowstone River. Volcanic spires inspired to name. Nice short walk to overlook.

    Next stop Mammoth Hot Springs. Was surprised to realize that this night only the northern entrance, but the park headquarters and a lot of housing! The old Yellowstone fort is still here as well.

    The Hot Springs are spread out over two terraces, and are massive bubbling pots of water that flow out and create all these mini terraces. Used the boardwalk trail to get to many of them. Lots of walking!
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  • Upper Loop #4: Norris Geyser Basin

    19. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    Over halfway in our drive of the Upper Loop. Last stop of the day was the Norris Geyser basin.

    We have been so blessed with great weather for this visit, we can almost wear short sleeves, except for this really nice breeze.

    End of day, Tom did the short loop while I did the longer. You know I just love these areas, so weird seeing steam roil out of the earth, and all the odd smells and sounds, the dead trees against a beautiful backdrop of green pines. Thoroughly enjoyed our time and headed back to camp. (Poor Charlie ends up in the RV all day)

    Back through Hayden Valley (Yellowstone River) which always had some wildlife to spot. Really mostly bison. Saw a lone wolf in the distance.
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  • Lower Loop #1: West Thumb Basin

    20. syyskuuta 2023, Yhdysvallat ⋅ ☀️ 46 °F

    We tried to get up and going this morning, lower loop is approximately 110 mi to complete.

    First stop was the Yellowstone Lodge. We didn't have a chance to go inside, but wanted to have a peek at it. Definitely a yellow building, could be interesting. Maybe next time?

    Our first real stop of the day was the West Thumb Basin. Again, many hot, boiling springs and almost "wannabe" geysers. What makes this basin so interesting to me, is it is juxtaposed to Yellowstone Lake. Steaming hot pools, next to a huge cool, blue lake.

    The colors in some of these pools were gorgeous. I just simply enjoy looking at these very interesting, abnormal thermal environments.
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