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X-country adventure
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  • Daniel Korot
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  • Corduroy Hat
  • Daniel Korot

X-country adventure

We will be heading cross country to be attending two very special weddings Read more
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  • X-country adventure
    11

    Why? Oming…..

    May 22 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    Things finally slowed down a bit today. We woke up to blue skies and a nice stiff breeze off the lake. We did a short walk along the beach. Very interesting sand dunes as this lake is man made, and only about 70 years old. Lots of low growth, and because the lake is so low, there was a lot of exposed sand to walk on.
    Next activity of the day was something rare for Wyoming and Melissa, we went mountain bike riding. The trails were mostly smooth, but it was a tight single track with some exposed edges. Melissa struggled with this and we turned around. After Melissa was safely at the trail head, Dan went back out on the trails and rode out for about an hour and still didn’t cover 1/3 of the trail system. Melissa came back to the camper, did some research on changing a few of our stays, and went for a walk.
    After Dan got back, we drove into Glendo to get some lunch and some groceries. We decided the Bull Frog Grill was a good choice for lunch, but I think we missed the mark a bit on that one. The town is really small with only one expensive gas station, and one general store that didn’t carry much and was also expensive.
    Driving back to the camper, we took in some of the sites, the marina and the dam. Afternoon consisted of another walk on the beach, reading books in the sun, and watching the campsite go from almost completely empty, to completely full. I felt like a 5 year old boy watching all the big campers and trucks pull in. It is always the same dance watching them pull in… The woman jumps out of the truck and guides the man driving the truck to back the camper into the camp site. It is always interesting to watch the interactions.
    Melissa cooked an amazing dinner, and we ate outside in the sunshine, cleaned up, read a bit more than went inside to play Rumikub as the sun set and it got cold outside.    Read more

  • X-country adventure
    11

    Car Keys and Dirt Roads!

    May 21 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Today was another travel day, but it started with a few extra surprises. First was there were two large male bison wandering around the camp site. Not inherently dangerous if you give them space, but not everyone has the appreciation of just how powerful, fast, and ornery a bull bison can be before his coffee.
    Second, instead of walking together, we did our separate things, Melissa did a work out with the bands, and then went for a walk. Dan got on his mountain bike and did a gravel ride down Lame Johnny road. The ride had some hills, and the elevation caused a little heavier breathing on the uphills than expected, but the scenery was wonderful and found an equestrian campsite and some horse trails that would make decent single track.
    While Dan was on his ride, he got a phone call from Bryan saying that he had sold the little camper. It is a little sad to say goodby to the little camper that we had so much fun it, but we now have our Casita and are making grate new memories with it.
    When Dan got back from his bike ride, Melissa was just returning from the shower with the good news that she had misplaced her car keys. This turned into an all-out tear it down and put it back together search of our camper and car. Melissa retraced her walk twice (once with Dan) to no avail. After resigning to the fact they were lost, we packed up the trailer, and went to pull out, when Melissa found her keys UNDER the car. This brought great closure to a couple of OCD people!
    Once we got done with the dump station, we went to a National Park that neither of us knew existed before this trip. Wind Cave is a National Park with a huge cave system underground and some spectacular prairies above. We tried, but were unable to get a cave tour, so we drove out into the park and hiked Cold Brook Canyon Trail. It was not too difficult, with some absolute scenery and rock formations. There were some very ugly clouds that wandered near us and the sound of thunder spend up our return trip to the car. A very enjoyable hike.
    The drive from Wind Cave National Park to Glendo State Park in Wyoming (yup, that’s where we are now) was all on local roads running through some very BIG SKY country. No trees, just green rolling hills and some angular rock structures dotted the landscape. Very large ranches with free range cattle and a lot of prairie grass, for several hours while we drove to our destination.
    About 1 hour away from our campsite, Google Maps had us turn off onto a dirt road. We bounced down a single lane, way out there, dirt road kicking up a cloud of dust just like you see in those western movies. Dan wanted to take some movies of it, but it was too windy to put the drone up.
    When we finally got to the campgrounds (through the back entrance), the campground office was closed. We drove around until we found some potable water, and filled the camper. Then we set up camp, made dinner, and stayed inside the camper because of the wind and rain that moved in. Made some tea at watched a movie together snuggling on the bed. Life is good!    Read more

  • X-country adventure
    Top of the mine shaftOpen pit mineMachine bringing up the cages from the bottomOld DC motorDeerBridal Veil Falls in Spearfish CanyonSylvan LakeNeedles Eye TunnelDriving on the Needles HighwayIron Creek Tunnel

    Neutrinos and mining

    May 20 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    It was cold last night (into the thirties) and halfway through the night, we woke up cold…the heater had turned off and the camper was forty five, brrrr. Dan did some troubleshooting at 2 am and discovered one of the vents was off so it overheated and shut down. Opened the other vent and viola heat. Spent the next four hours trying to sleep and warm up. Went for a short walk around our campsite this morning, then headed north for a field trip.

    We went to the Sanford lab, the deepest underground science laboratory in the US. It goes a mile underground . It is in a former gold mine. Sanford labs is conducting experiments on dark matter and neutrinos in conjunction with the particle accelerator in Chicago - FERMI-Lab. We studied all the information at the visitors center covering mining and particle physics. Next we took a tour to see the machinery driving the shaft elevators that took loads of rocks out of the mine and is now used to take people and equipment in and out of the mine.
    After the tour we stopped at a local shop where the owner recommended we drive the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway. What an unexpected treat! Driving through the canyon along the creek had spectacular views.
    We stopped at a local restaurant for dinner. Made it in time to see Sylvan Lake at dusk then headed to Needles Highway. Probably not the best drive in the dusk and dark, hair pin turns and one lane tunnels made for a white knuckle drive.    Read more

  • X-country adventure
    Mt Coolidge
    Fire tower1Stockade Lake3Ready for our trail rideA little music with dinnerVittles1Bison cow and baby called a cinnamon

    Horses and Jeeps in Custer

    May 19 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C

    We started out hiking up to Mount Coolidge Fire tower. Under 2 miles up with about 500ft vertical climbing, but we ended up over 6000ft so we could feel the altitude. Absolutely stunning views from the top. We could see the Badlands off in the distance, and we were even able to see Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse from the summit.
    We descended to get back to the riding stables where we went for a ride in the beautiful countryside near our campsite. Crossing streams and climbing up to viewpoints on the horse was a great adventure and workout.
    Next we headed out to get some drone footage on one of the near by lakes, and then went off across the park, to catch a jeep ride around the Wildlife loop road (and a few off road adventures) before having a BBQ steak dinner complete with beans and corn bread at Parker Canyon. It was chilly outside, but the food was delicious. Cold ride back to the car and then a warm up back to the campsite made us sleepy.    Read more

  • X-country adventure
    1Mt Rushmore22Love me some stampsCrazy Horse

    Rushmore and Crazy Horse!

    May 18 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

    It was raining again when we woke up, so we decided to pack up, and hit the visitor’s center on the way out of Badlands national park. After the visitor’s center, we left the park through the south entrance and drove a local road all the way to Rapid City (where we stopped for fuel) and then up to Custer State park.
    Another visitor center with a good introduction movie and then on to set up the camper. Had leftover taco’s for lunch and then headed out to see Mount Rushmore. We took the scenic route looking at lots of wild life and mountain views and finally got to Mt Rushmore just as the welcome center was closing. There were very few tourists there and we took our photos and headed out to see the Crazy Horse monument.
    It is a Rushmore sized project, but totally privately funded by the Native American community and other donors. The museum was impressive, the statue is about 30% complete and has been a work in progress since the late 1940’s. It serves as a reminder how the American Indians had several treaties with the US government, and how the government kept backing out of those treaties for control of the land. Crazy Horse (a popular American Indian warrior) was killed while negotiating a treaty with the US Government.
    A quick stop in the small town of Custer to pick up some dinner augmentation, and then back to the camper for dinner and bed.    Read more

  • X-country adventure

    Bad Lands in Bad Weather.

    May 17 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 10 °C

    At night, after a bunch of wind, in started raining…. Hard. Not great for vacationers, but according to the rangers, the area really needed the rain. It also helped bring out the colors in the landscape which was a bonus. It also allowed us to have a “slow morning” reading in bed and cooking a nice breakfast. As the rain continued through the late morning, we collected our laundry and went to the near by town of Wall, the home of the famous Wall Drug, and home to about 950 people. We found a laundromat and did two loads of laundry, did a small grocery trip, filled up the car with gas, had lunch out, and stopped by Wall Drug to see the grandaddy of all tourist traps. Didn’t find much we couldn’t live without, but did pick up a deck of cards, scissors, a cord lock for Melissa’s hat, and a bumper sticker for less than $8. The rain stopped in the afternoon and we drove back to our camper via a couple of nuclear missile silo’s which are now decommissioned and are open to visitors. Unfortunately, the are closed on Sundays and Mondays so we only got to see the outside of the silos, which are buried underground, so they look like a big concrete man hole cover with a mean looking fence around them, and a small visitor kiosk that we couldn’t get close enough to read since they were closed. One more pass through the Badlands National Park to check out a few more view points, a short hike, then back to the camper to cook the steak that we bought in Ohio. Not a bad day for a 3/4 wash-out.Read more

  • X-country adventure
    3
    2Yellow Mounds112

    First National Park: Badlands

    May 16 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 25 °C

    Spent the whole drive rearranging some dates to get the windshield fixed in Salt Lake City. We got a small ding from a rock, but the crack is continuing to grow, not in Dans line of vision, but not worth the risk. After we arrived at the park , we checked the weather and a front moves in tonight, and maybe rain tomorrow. We took the rest of the afternoon and rode the Badlands Loop Road, it took us about 2 1/2 hours stopping at all the viewpoints. Stark harsh landscape, animals we saw deer, bison, prairie dogs, and a big horn sheep with an infant. One of the rangers at the visitor center told us about a taco food truck in town of Interior just outside the park. We grabbed dinner and dessert and chatted with some locals (town population 94). Hope to so some hiking but we will see about the weather.Read more

  • X-country adventure
    Zen state
    2Another train passing by while hiking1Sioux Falls1Sioux Falls

    King and Queen Trail

    May 15 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    We took the morning to explore Palisades State Park. It features dramatic Sioux quartzite cliffs and formations along Split Rock Creek. Our favorite was the King and Queen trail which leads directly to massive 1.2-billion-year-old Sioux rose quartzite pillars that rise from Split Rock Creek, offering panoramic views of the water and surrounding cliffs. Came back to have lunch at camp. After lunch we headed to Sioux Falls to see the falls and we walked around downtown. Ran to the bike shop, grocery store and hardware store to stock up. Tacos for dinner.Read more

  • X-country adventure
    2
    Dan does not struggle often1He succeeded to monut the 🦕1That is me between his legs55 foot Jolly Green GiantSplit Rock Creek1Mississippi River1Always a percussionist

    49 out of 50!

    May 14 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Another travel day… we woke up early and went for a walk around our harvest host’s property. An absolutely beautiful property and peaceful start to the day. We then quickly packed up and drove into town to Denny’s Cafe, not the Denny’s chain you are thinking of, but a really eclectic local cafe with lots of memorabilia, and great coffee. After fueling up our bodies, and the car, we hit the highway. It was a straight forward drive right across interstate 90. We left Wisconsin, drove through Minnesota, crossed the mighty Mississippi, and into South Dakota. I have now been to 49 of the 50 states. Only North Dakota left, and we are planning on going through ND on the way home. A stop at the Jolly Green Giant and a visit to the Jolly Green Giant museum broke up the drive a bit. We also stopped at a Sinclair Gas Station with a real plastic dinosaur . Not too many of those left. Wind picked up on the last half of the drive, and a little white knuckle driving as we got blown around quite a bit by 50 mph wind gusts. Finally arriving at our camp ground, Palisades State Park in SD, we were able to take a hike, make dinner, and clean up.Read more

  • X-country adventure
    31

    Heading to Wisconsin

    May 13 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Today was a move day, but only about 4 hours driving. Woke up and went for a walk, packed up, and was rolling by 10:00. Along the way we stopped in Madison Wisconsin and did a bike ride around the lake loop. This loop goes around Lake Monona which is right in downtown Madison. Great ride, all pavement with Great Lake views. About 13 miles long and bike lanes for most of it. Madison boasts that it is one of the most bike friendly cities and they have plenty of bike routes to prove it. After our ride we went to our first harvest host site for the night. What a great spot, it was in this guys yard, with water and power hookups. He had two white English cream golden retrievers and built us a campfire after dinner. We had a chance to relax with them and tell stories. It was a lot of fun and felt so warm and welcoming.Read more

  • X-country adventure
    22

    Starving Rock, Day 2.

    May 12 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    It amazes me how easy it is to burn a morning. We got up fairly early, but didn’t get to the trail until 10ish. I guess good breakfast camp cooking takes longer than I expect. Once we got to the trail, we hiked St Louis canyon and then drove to another parking lot and hiked to LaSalle, Owl, and lone tree canyons, we also hit the sand stone overlook. All totaled it was almost 7.5 miles. We came back to the camper to clean up and lunch up. After lunch it started raining so we grabbed the laundry and went to town, and hit Kroger again. Set up the camp kitchen again to cook dinner and built a fire to burn the rest of the wood, and just as the fire was lit, and dinner was ready, it started raining hard, so we ate comfortably in the camper. As we were finishing dinner, the friendly campground raccoon came by to clean my grill for me. Had to rush out and put the outdoor camp kitchen away to get the little guy to stay away from us. The campfire survived the rain and we got to sit outside and enjoy the fire and fresh air. This is turning into a nice evening ritual.Read more

  • X-country adventure
    Circle of rocks
    Illinois River

    Starved Rock State Park Illinois

    May 11 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Got up this morning and went for a bike ride to find the circle of stones, a meeting place for native Americans. Dan got to fly his drone to get some overhead shots. Headed back to pack up and head out. We did meet our neighbor who was also driving a Casita, we compared notes and ideas. The drive was amazing, we stayed off the major highways, beautiful farm country, wind turbines and many four corner towns. Arrived at the park went to the visitor center to get some info, lots of hiking and waterfalls to see. We were told to drive to Jacks for firewood and essentials, felt like we payed way too much for the wagon of wood. Later while Dan was setting up our fire some college students came looking for wood, so we sold off some of ours, recouped some of our loses. We did a quick little hike to see Starved Rock. Had some pasta for dinner and a fire to sit by, really need to get some s’more ingredients.Read more

  • X-country adventure
    1

    Lafayette, Indiana- Boilermakers!

    May 10 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Woke up to a beautiful bluebird morning. We took our morning walk to the working farm on Prophetstown Park. We saw cows, horses, hogs, chickens, goats, and a cat that nearly scared Melissa out of her skin. After walking back to our camp, we made plans for a Mother’s Day lunch in the old city of Lafayette. After a great lunch, where our server was a recent mechanical engineering graduate from Purdue, heading to Connecticut for his first engineering job, we crossed the Wabash river and toured the Purdue campus. Driving back to our campsite, we found another Casita trailer in the site next to ours. Unfortunately we didn’t get to meet the owners as they haven’t returned before we wound down for the evening. Second campfire of the trip was great as the evenings cool down to the low 50’s.Read more

  • X-country adventure
    1
    Our family camping plates1

    Prophetstown IN

    May 9 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Had a short hop today to the other side of Indiana. Before we left Ouache State Park we watched a bison feeding and got in our walk. Arrived at the park and did a full setup with outdoor furniture. We did a bike tour of the park which includes a working farm. Planning to go back in the morning, since we got there right at closing time. Wonderful steak and potato dinner, and hopefully a fire tonight, to look at the stars.Read more

  • X-country adventure
    1Bison enclosureBluffton BBQ

    Ouabache State Park in Indiania

    May 8 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Nice relaxing day in the park. It rained over night so everything was damp. We went for a morning walk to go see Bison. Not as muddy as Punderson park (2 days ago), but still worthy of cleaning your shoes. It rained through lunch, so we ate inside, napped, and then it cleared enough to get about a 7 mile bike ride in before it started raining again. We cleaned up after the bike ride and then made a trip in to the thriving metropolis of Bluffton where we ate dinner at a great BBQ place, and did a little food shopping at Kroger. We even got a membership card which saved us almost $8.Read more

  • X-country adventure
    1

    Travel to Indiana

    May 7 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Pretty uneventful travel day. Started with a local walk, then hooked up the camper and started driving South West. Stopped about 1/3 of the way at Malabar Farm, another beautiful Ohio state park and campground. This park celebrated Louis Bromfield, a famous American author from the 1930’s, who was also an agriculturalist, something very fitting right after the 1920’s dust bowl caused in part by unsustainable farming techniques. Louis Bromfield was a key advocate in changing the way farming is done in America to more sustainable methods. We ate lunch from the camper, but in a beautiful field with beautiful blue skies, green rolling pastures, horses, and birds. Was even able to get some significant solar charging done :). As we headed west, things got much flatter and straighter. There was a bit of wind, so top speeds were around 60mph which only costs us about 10 min per hour of driving, but saves on gas. Stopped at Walmart to pick up some little things for the camper, and some tortillas for dinner. Pulled in to Ouabache State Park in Indiana. Cooked chicken quesadillas for dinner, cleaned up, and then went for a walk. When we returned, we realized we threw away part of the garbage can, so it was time for Dan to go dumpster diving to get our trash back. Still not sure how I got nominated for that job since I didn’t throw it away to begin with but….. happy wife, happy life!Read more

  • X-country adventure
    1
    2Entrance into the Rock and Roll Hall of FameFelt like I should give Dan a break and drive, no camper

    Rock and Roll Hall of Fame🎵🎸

    May 6 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Rained all night so the ground was a bit wet to hike or bike. We drove to Cleveland and enjoyed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It had great exhibits, we really enjoyed the SNL 50 years of music exhibit and the Soul train exhibit. Picked up some groceries, dinner and laundry at the campground.Read more

  • X-country adventure
    Mangia!

    Ohio

    May 5 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    Today was a travel day. We have driven about 1/6th of the way to California, and finally got out of New York State. After a nice breakfast, we packed up and drove to the Pennsylvania border and went for a 2.5 hr bike ride down some old rail trails and rolling hills. Beautiful scenery, with lots of farms and woods. Back in the car to finish our drive and the rain started. Melissa got a a free pass and waited in the camper while I set up in the pouring rain. She felt bad I got so wet and took me out to dinner (although I think I paid). Looks like a cool park we are in, hope to get better views of it tomorrow.Read more

  • X-country adventure
    2Upper Falls
    Middle FallsSo surprised the train went over us

    Letchworth State Park, NY!

    May 4 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    You will never guessed what we did today! (I guess it is in the title). A short drive from our campsite was Letchworth State Park. We originally thought the campground but up against the state park, but actually we are about 8 miles away. Still beautiful farm country dotted with tiny four corner towns. Hike in the morning with fantastic waterfall views of a deep gorge, lunch out of the park in one of those tiny four corner towns, and a second hike in the afternoon to really get our forest bathing on, all with my favorite person. Home for dinner, a shower, and watch the sun set sitting in folding chairs in front of the camper….. This life is pretty great some times.Read more

  • X-country adventure
    2
    Playing with the big boysIce cream, yummmmyFirst dinner in the camper1Dan won

    Getting underway!

    May 3 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Finally rolled out of the driveway a few minutes before 11. Melissa was unhappy in the break in schedule, but, hey, we are retired and heading out on vacation! No appointments today other than drive, park, eat, and sleep. We stopped for gas, quick goodbyes, and we were off. Listened to an audiobook most of the drive. Set up went smoothly, we got pretty good at it last fall. Cooked dinner, went out for ice cream, and a mean game of connect-4, little walk, and bedtime!Read more

    Trip start
    May 3, 2026
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