Sanibel Island, FL

Shell collectors out at low tide along the Gulf of Mexico facing beach.

Sanibel Island, Florida

We're spending the next 2 nights at Periwinkle RV Park on beautiful Sanibel Island. It was 80F today and we're expecting the same again tomorrow. We managed to ride the half-mile to the beach soon after arriving and spent a good few hours there until sunset. The beach was long and sandy and full of lazing Sunday afternoon vacationers. Us included. Denise did a long beach walk while Doug sat with the girls as they built alligators out of sand. Last night we stopped in at Collier-Seminole State Park and were surprised to see that it was completely full upon our arrival. Fortunately we had made a booking. It was fun to see a colorful and eclectic tent and RV city packed with families and bikes. We arrived there late in the afternoon because we'd taken time to stop at Shark Valley on the north end of Everglades National Park to enjoy a very close-to-nature bike ride along the path that is festooned with all sizes of alligators. Doug did a longer ride to the viewing tower as the girls turned their bikes around part way to head back. The girls lucked out on their return ride by seeing a clutch of 10-15 small 'gators with their mother. It was very cool to be so close to such large alligators in their natural habitat! The mosquitoes seemed to have retreated a little since the Flamingo Campground onslaught. We're all much relieved and planning to eat outside again this evening. It is homemade Sushi night.

Near Everglades NP

We pulled out of our 2nd night camping at Flamingo campground in Everglades National Park due to mosquitoes. A bug-free hotel room sure was pleasant!

Heading northwest today toward Naples, Florida.

Key Largo, Florida

We're at John Pennekamp State Park at the top of the Florida Keys, on Key Largo. A small storm has blown in -- lots of wind, some rain -- and it has "cooled off" to below 70F. We're hoping to get out to the reef on a glass bottom boat tour but it was too windy this morning. We'll try again tomorrow (Xmas Eve day) but the current weather report suggests it will still be windy. Hopefully the weather will blow itself out tonight...

Bahia Honda State Park - end of stay

Our last night at Bahia Honda State Park before we move to John Pennekamp State Park, also on the Florida Keys, for another 4 nights. We’ve hit some great weather (or perhaps it’s just “normal” for around here). The days are warm and sunny at around 75F then cool off a little in the evening to high 60’s. We have split our time between two campsites within the park to make for a longer stay here. Our van’s water pump that proved faulty on the first night ended up being an easy fix – much to our relief – so that the Key West return visit (about 30 miles from here) we had planned a few days into our stay turned into a fun one and was not ambushed with a van water pump search-and-replace mission. We took time to set up our big tent for the longer stay and it’s been great as a place for the girls to hang out during the day. Doug and Rose have also taken to sleeping out there where it is cooler, if a bit noisier as the sound of traffic on Highway 1 drifts across the Park. We’ve enjoyed the beautiful sandy beaches and the few Ranger programs we’ve attended. A surprise has been the Park’s increasing population of non-native Iguana lizards. The largest is very impressive, measuring some 4 feet in the main body length before her equally long tail. There are a ton of smaller ones as well – all apparently thriving due to the absence of any natural predators and a park with abundant greenery on which to feed. They are a pest to the Park but there is no current plan for their removal or extermination. Meanwhile, we’ve been enjoying the South American accent they have brought to our visit. Our second campsite (Site #12) backs onto a small lagoon and one large Iguana lazes in the sun on the mangrove trees across from our site. Also resident are some large parrot fish, fast moving pipe fish and thousands of small bait fish. At night the waters churn and splash with the sound of the food chain in full operation. Ruth got a new fishing line for early-Xmas and once we figured out that frozen shrimp was the best bait the girls have enjoyed their first dock-side catch-and-release fishing. As chief hook baiter, Doug was having relatively less fun fighting off an ever persistent swarm of No-See-Um’s and mosquitoes while working with head down in the pungent odor of rotting shrimp guts. Also in the mangrove trees are large Pelicans who come to rest for the day. We even spotted a shy Night Heron who roosts during the day before taking flight at sundown for her night of hunting. Of course the sundowns are magnificent. Within the park there is a lack of some of the raucous party atmosphere to be found at Key West but this is replaced with a quiet, respectful celebration each evening – in reverence of the vast painted sky that occurs as the giant orange orb of the sun drops into the ocean. It is quite a majestic marking for the end of a day and foreshadowing of the change to night ahead. Although we’d hoped to do snorkeling together as a family it has not really happened. There has been some attempts but not everyone out at the same time. In fact, Ruth has yet to go out. We think the girls might have over-imagined the perils of spending time in the ocean water after all the warnings and stories we’ve been told of what lives in and around these warm Florida Keys. They do not seem to appreciate that the stingray or poisonous jellyfish is not waiting just off shore to get them when they enter the water. We’ll continue to work on dispelling this notion for them. That said, it did not help that Rose lost the tip of her thumb today to an over-sized and overly aggressive Hermit Crab. Denise had found the magnificent Hermit Crab sample and brought it back to camp to share. When Rose was holding it, the angry crab apparently reached out and clamped a large pincer onto her thumb. The only release was to pry off the crab who took a large skin chunk trophy with it, much to Rose’s pain and horror. She still can’t believe she has lost the tip of her thumb (though her skin will certainly grow back). On the bright side, we’ve also seen some great live nature shows. At dusk one evening we checked out the local marina from the bridge and spotted three small squid. At first we weren’t sure what they were but while we were looking a predator fish came darting in from below to try and grab them. The reaction of one was to squirt the inky blue dye in defense before all three began rapid pulsing of luminescence near the waters surface. You don’t get to see that every day and it was a treat to witness up close and in the wild. As we’ve read and listened to weather reports throughout the country telling of extreme icy, snowy and freezing conditions we feel lucky to be camped out here in the Florida Keys in our shorts and tee-shirts. After our upcoming 4 nights at John Pennekamp State Park we have 2 nights at Flamingo in the Everglades National Park before heading further north up the Gulf of Mexico side of Florida. We’re thinking that our plan to spend all of January in Florida sounds just about right!

Key West (again)

For sunset. A perfect afternoon.

Bahia Honda State Park, Florida Keys

We pulled in mid afternoon and set up camp before scurrying off to check out the beach and surrounds. A beautiful spot though we're getting a sense of the Florida bugs in the evening. As a special event, we purchased some fish to grill for dinner along with the famous Key Lime Pie. Our evening took a small hit when we discovered that our water pump was no longer working in the van. With daylight gone we decided to tackle it in the morning but it made dinner preparation and clean-up a little more challenging than we're used to. However, the fish and accompanying homemade sauce turned out great. And the Key Lime Pie was delicious. Tomorrow we'll get the water situation figured out.

Key West, Florida

Pool swimming.

The girls were in the pool from 4:30 - 6:30pm yesterday, dragged "ashore" only for dinner. Today we did a morning bike cruise around Key West township while the girls complained of being "too hot". Meanwhile, Denise and Doug are loving the very warm, balmy weather that, at 75F, feels a lot like living in Hawaii or Brisbane.

Later today we head for a long stay at Bahia Honda State Park but have greatly enjoyed the day spent with a very welcoming family resident here in Key West. We're parked in their driveway and the pool has been the center of our visit. After the bike ride this morning the girls went back to the pool... and again straight after lunch. In fact they are swimming as this blog gets updated.

The good news is that Ruth has become very comfortable with her snorkeling gear. As a still cautious swimmer, we weren't sure how she'd go. Our concerns have been put aside. After just a few hours in the pool wearing her mask, snorkel and fins she is now swimming like a little fish. As a more confident swimmer, Rose (pictured above) is enjoying the pool lounging experience.

Hopefully the weather will hold so we can experience some reef snorkeling together!

Long Key, FL

Stopping for lunch on our way to Key West after a night at John Pennekamp State Park.

Outside Miami, FL

On the Florida Turnpike, heading to Key Largo area. Cheapest diesel fuel to date!! Just $2.35/gal. Highest has been $4.85. Onward to the Keys...

Lake Worth, Florida

We're spending a night at John Prince Park Campground -- about an hour south of Jensen Beach. The person we were planning to stay with tonight called to let us know she was feeling ill. We're hoping to meet her tomorrow for breakfast, then we'll begin our trip south to Florida Keys.

Jensen Beach, Florida

Two great nights visiting with (little) Werner and family. Weather has been stormy but the hospitality excellent. Moving on to West Palm Beach tomorrow.

Cape Canaveral, FL

It's hard to leave when you are camped beside a beach and it's 75F outside... so we stayed a second night. Moving on to Jensen Beach south of here today.

Cape Canaveral, Florida

A warm and balmy 70F today after a pleasantly warm evening last night.

Dinner and breakfast both enjoyed outside since we pulled in here yesterday afternoon. We have some time planned for the beach today - after the girls get back from chasing lizards and feeding the stray cats abundant here at this beachside RV park.

Later today we head for Jensen Beach and a few nights at the home of (little) Werner and his family's place.

Alachua, Florida

Staying a 2nd night with Nigel Watson, an old school friend of Doug's, and his partner Ruthie, on their 6 acre farm here in Alachua. It has been a great visit for the sunny weather, good company and hours of "horsey" entertainment for the girls -- especially Rose -- as they enjoy the two horses here on the property under (big) Ruthie's professional and watchful eye. We're about 30 minutes north of Gainesville and plan to head for Jensen Beach tomorrow with a night's stay in between (at a place we've yet to select but likely near Orlando).

Fort Clinch State Park, Fernandina Beach, Florida

We made it to Florida! The last two nights we were camped at Skidaway Island Park near beautiful Savannah where we experienced amazing southern cuisine (again) at Mrs Wilkes Boarding House. Denise and Doug ate there 12 years ago. The food seems only to have gotten better!! Today we cruised across the Georgia/Florida border just after 2pm during a balmy (69F) and sunny day. At our tree canopied campground we quickly parked then went for a 2 hour family walk along the long, white sandy beaches that wrap around the park. On our walk we saw two armadillo's in the woods, three jelly fish and a one puffer fish washed up on the beach, and dozens of huge dragon flies chasing mosquitos. We arrived back at our campsite for an evening outside around the camp fire. It's the first time in ages since we've been able to sit comfortably outside. Thank you, Florida.

Charleston, South Carolina

We pulled into Charleston on a wet and windy Sunday afternoon and found ourselves at a very pleasant campground on James Island at a fortuitous time of the year. The county run park has the Holiday Festival of Lights -- an annual event where millions of sparkling lights and hundreds of displays are available on a three-mile driving tour! All this is just adjacent to our campground and our camping fee includes price of admission to the show. Early on Sunday evening we did the driving tour with windscreen wipers on intermittent. The whole family was in awe of the wonderful light show we experienced as we drove around the park. It is a wonderful display of lighting and artistry where your head turns left and right to catch all the clever displays (many having an animated effect such as the circling shark that then jumps out of the water or Santa hitting a golf ball that then flies a hundred feet across an open space to "land" a hole in one at the flag or the falling autumn leaves as you pass through a small wooded canopy of trees). There are dinosaurs, christmas themes, underwater themes, deers and elves, bridges, flags and wildlife... the list is endless. It's all done so tastefully that we went out again tonight for a second viewing -- this time by foot since the rain had cleared. A $3/person train ride took us for a 15 minute tour of a "magic forest" that was particularly geared for kids. All in all, good wholesome family fun! We also spent some time today in historical Charleston and marvel at how attractive the town is. We splurged on lunch at a fancy restaurant to delve into the "low country" southern cuisine. All agreed that Fried Green Tomatoes was our favorite. Tomorrow we'll pack up and head to Savannah, Georgia. The rain has mostly cleared but the evenings remain cold. We're told it is unseasonably cold. Irrespective, we've had enough of cold nights and gladly await some (hopefully) warmer Florida evenings.

Leland, North Carolina (near Wilmington)

Arrived yesterday afternoon (Friday) to a beautiful day. Warm and sunny at last -- 67F. Awoke today to a light but steady rain and grateful to be able to visit with John, Gwen and the kids at their new home here.

Moncure, North Carolina

We are visiting our friend Patti in the small town of Moncure, NC which is southwest of the state capital, Raleigh - in the middle of the state. We'll be here through Thanksgiving, joining Patti and her family on Thanksgiving Day, before heading east toward the NC coast on Friday. Everyone is okay but we experienced a little high drama yesterday at the RV Park where we are camped. A ride-on mower cleaning up near our site shot out a rock that hit our van and completely shattered the van driver side window. We were all sitting at the table inside the van at the time and, given that it is hunting season around here, we were all rattled to hear what sounded like the crack of a gunshot as the window splintered into thousands of jeweled pieces. Fortunately the glass mostly stayed in place with only a few flying splinters ricocheting into the van. When we touched it the glass began to fall apart with pieces cascading down inside and outside the van. Rain was in the forecast and with slight sprinkles already in the air we quickly secured some plastic wrappers over the remaining glass and the whole window. We were concerned that the broken window would make the van cold overnight (we're getting down below freezing) but the van heater kept us warm and toasty regardless! Today is our 3-month anniversary of being on the road. It was filled with traveling to a nearby town to get the window repaired. We've delayed our anniversary celebration until tomorrow while we continue to clean small glass splinters being found inside the van and on our clothing.

"Dixie Caverns" near Salem, Virginia

We left Falls Church on Thursday morning after a very enjoyable 17 days off the road, staying in a home and relishing all that Washington DC has to offer. We did a short drive to Culpepper, VA where we stayed overnight in our van, camped on the Reiman's 150 acre property after a wonderful afternoon catching up with them and having an amazing buffet that night in Culpepper. Reimans are family friends for Denise since she was a little girl growing up in Hawaii where the Reimans lived across the road. Eager to help with animal feeding, the girls begged to be awoken at 6:30am so they would not miss out. (This level of early awake-up motivation has not been witnessed by either of the girls parents to date)! After a hearty breakfast for us humans we did the rounds -- feeding the miniature horses, the calves, peacocks and dogs. Then we made our farewells and departed for Fincastle, VA about 3-4 hours down the road where a great friend of Rose's lives. We stopped part way for a tour of Monticello - the plantation estate once owned by late, great Thomas Jefferson - and were appropriately humbled and delighted at his wonderful home and estate. The only negative was the icy wind that whipped off the mountains making any outdoor activity (especially standing in line waiting to do a tour of the Monticello home) nearly unbearable. Heading onward to Fincastle, we skirted for 15-20 miles along the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway that follows the famous Appalachian Trail and were rewarded with some amazing ice sculptures created by small springs that had dripped down the sides of exposed rock facing the road. In the late afternoon sun a sparkling veil was created along the face of the rocks that caused us to slow to 10-20 miles per hour to enjoy their natural beauty. When we stopped for fuel later in the day, the temperature was hovering at 28 F without the breeze. The wind chill factor brought the temperature down a good few degrees further and, not surprisingly, no-one volunteered to hop outside the van to help Doug with the fueling. Dixie Caverns park is the closet RV stop to our friend Dane who joined us for dinner tonight with his Mom before scooting Rose home for a sleepover. We'll join them tomorrow around mid-morning so the girls can go horse back riding at their farm. Our plan is to head on to North Carolina tomorrow afternoon.

Back in Falls Church, Virginia

We're back at Denise's sisters place in Falls Church. The weather turned on us yesterday -- not so cold but very rainy. We got a thorough drenching as we spent the day doing more "tours". In addition to the first few days of monument and memorial tours, we've managed to include the White House, American Indian Museum, Capitol, Library of Congress, and National Botanic Gardens. It's all very impressive and the girls are making the connections between places they've heard or read about and are now seeing in person. Security around the town is heavy with the impending change of presidential administration, as well as some of the international meetings taking place to address the global economic meltdown. It's admittedly getting a little old being regularly bag-checked and passing through metal detectors before entering all public buildings -- which is mostly what we've been doing in Washington DC -- but the security staff are generally pleasant in their task. The van is in getting a 20,000 mile service and oil change today. We expect to be hitting the road again, heading south by Thursday or Friday next week. The rainy, gray weather is making us think longingly of warm and sunny Florida -- especially when we read that is has been 80F down there this week.

"Massadoah" - Woodstock, Virginia

Yesterday we drove 90-minutes from Falls Church to Woodstock Virginia to stay at the beautiful farm house and property here called, Massadoah. Denise's sister is a partner in the 200-acre property. The farm house is the main draw card but not far away is the beautiful Shenandoah National Park - a location where many a bitter battle was fought during the Civil War. The weather has been kind and we've had another two warm days, though the evenings are getting cooler. On our walk yesterday afternoon we saw 7 hang gliders making graceful arcs in the sky above the mountain ranges to the south of the property. Many of the leaves have fallen from the abundant oak trees and it's clear that with the shortening days the weather will soon turn much colder for the winter ahead. We're staying here 2 nights -- heading back tomorrow. It is a wonderful break from the travel and "touristing" we've been doing. We saw a river otter last night as well as the obligatory wood peckers and various small wood birds. This morning a large flock of wild turkeys flew nearby the house. We can hear the occasional gun shot from hunters outside the property but otherwise it is quite serene here. The girls are currently building a fort in the yard near the farm house. It's amazing how the active imagination of young children and the abundant resources of a large farm are so conducive to an afternoon of endless play.

Falls Church, Virginia (just outside Washington DC)

We arrived here on Monday afternoon, Nov 3rd - the day before the Presidential Election. Most of Monday evening and Tuesday day was about settling in for what will be a longish stay here with Denise's sister in Falls Church - moving things out of the van and into the bedrooms we'd been given. However, the main event for all of us was the Nov 4th Election. Shortly after dinner we sat glued to the television watching the results come in and witnessing Americans young and old, from all parts of the country, call for real change. We celebrated greatly at 11pm (Eastern time) when Barack Obama was announced as winner. At only 9, Rose was caught up in the excitement of this special evening and stayed up with us to experience and celebrate the historic event. While we "champagned" she "apple-cidered" in a rousing cheer for our new President-Elect. It's amazing to think that if Obama stays in for two terms as President, Rose will be 17 when he leaves office. The remainder of the week has provided ample opportunity to visit Washington DC and we've spent a good few hours visiting the incredible monuments and museums of the nations capital. We have more trips planned including tours of the White House, the Capitol and the Library of Congress as well as a desire to see more of the awesome Smithsonian museums. The other day as we walked from the Abraham Lincoln Memorial past the Vietnam Veterans and World War II memorials to the Washington monument the girls were tickled to finally be seeing in person some of the sights made familiar to them in text books and television, such as the White House and the Capitol. We managed to get to the top of the Washington monument and enjoyed an excellent birds eye view across Washington DC (or, as we from Washington State like to say, "the other Washington"). We were especially delighted to be visiting while the weather has been above 60 F. Today it even hovered around 70 F, bright and sunny. Wonderful. We have more exploring to do and, fortunately, a good amount of time to do it.

Strasburg, Pennsylvania (Penn. Dutch country)

Camping again, and again in Amish country. We found a quaint RV park in the more rural part of the popular Pennsylvania Dutch Country and are all quite tickled to see horse and buggy's along the road as we drive. It's a cool evening. Tomorrow we head for Falls Church, Virginia - near Washington DC -- and eagerly await the outcome of Tuesday's US Presidential Election.

Honesdale, Pennsylvania

Boo! Happy Halloween. We pulled into Honesdale yesterday afternoon after a great stay in Yonkers, NY. The trip was surprising for the snow lying in the hills and on the side of the road an hour or so outside NY City. Locals describe this as "a little early in the season for snow". The sun shone brightly but it was a cool (44 F) and clear day. We are planning to stay through Sunday morning then begin heading the 300 miles or so toward Washington DC area in time for the Presidential Election on Nov 4. (Don't forget to vote - we did already!).

Yonkers, New York City

Arrived today and are getting ready for 3 days of visiting the Big Apple.

Long Island, New York

We're camping at Smith Point County Park at the eastern end of the Fire Island National Seashore. No-one told us about this well kept secret! We crossed a small bridge to get here and have a bay to the north of us (100 yards) as well as the open beach to the south (50 yards across a dune). Our site has power hookup and the rates are very affordable. This is also the commemorative site of TWA Flight 800 that exploded in mid-air in 1996 killing all 230 people on board. We did a somber tour of the site today. Tomorrow we are visiting a fellow Sprinter Westy owner and her family in Stamford, Connecticut before making our way to Yonkers and a 3-night homestay with relatives of some Seattle friends where we'll base to do our New York City exploring.

Stormville, New York

We arrived at Cousin Joanie's place a few hours north of New York City on Friday evening and will be here for the best part of a week. Doug goes up to Burlington, Vermont for a meeting Tuesday morning (about 6 hours drive one way). Travel updates for the past week or so will be posted soon...

Westborough, Massachusetts

We’re stopping overnight in Westborough for a meeting here on Friday morning before heading to New York State to visit family for a longer stay. We've been camping at Cape Cod for two nights (Tues & Wed), at Nickerson State Park, after spending two nights in Boston (Sun & Mon) and spending a fun time with our niece Laura and her boyfriend, Mark.

Cambridge, Mass.

Near Boston.

North Hampton, New Hampshire

Our friend Elaine lives a few miles from the beach in New Hampshire – which is hard to do since New Hampshire only has a small coastline. We last visited here 12 years ago. The house has grown larger – thanks to a remodel - and the family now includes a lively 9 year-old, Tess. We are boon-docking (or dry camping) on Elaine’s driveway and socializing in her house. The girls are having a blast checking out new books, dolls, and toys and playing their fantasy games with another girl of their own age and mindset. Last night the girls did a sleep-over with Tess in her room. Amazingly they were all asleep within 10 minutes of lights out after an exhausting day of play that had ended with a fine “surf and turf” meal by all. We arrived in North Hampton on Friday night (Oct 10), a little after 8pm. Tess was at a friend’s place enjoying a birthday party. Elaine greeted us warmly as we pulled into her driveway. We’d spent the day making our way from Acadia National Park to Augusta, Maine’s Capital (where Doug had an early afternoon meeting) then onto Freeport to visit the LL Bean flagship store. Everyone loved cruising around the LL Bean store. Excitement rose when the girls spotted one of the Dad’s from Ruth’s kindergarten class – handsome, stylishly dressed and attractively smiling from a huge poster on the wall behind Men’s Shirts. He is a part-time model for LL Bean! We opted to eat in Freeport before hitting the road again on our final leg to North Hampton. After some deliberation we decided to have McDonalds for the first time on our trip. It was the first time we’d eaten McDonalds together as a family and the first time ever that Ruth had eaten a McDonald’s meal (largely avoided up until now because of her food sensitivities). During the journey, Ruth seems to be getting stronger to her food sensitivities. We’ve been introducing originally controversial items back into her diet – like corn and wheat – on a test basis once per week. So far it seems to be going very well and we’re hoping for good things by the end of the journey. The last leg from Freeport to North Hampton was all night driving. Sunset is coming earlier these days (soon after 6pm) and it’s noticeable both for traveling as well as setting up camp. We’re increasingly eating in the dark and decided to invest on a good lantern for our campsite. We returned a LED-powered lantern purchased at Wal-mart earlier in the trip because it just didn’t throw sufficient light. We were enamored with the idea of it’s 3-way charging options – including solar – but it just wasn’t doing the job. Sticking with a LED solution because of long run-time energy efficiency, we upgraded to more powerful model but have yet to fully test it in a campsite situation. Inside the van it seems to work great! Arriving in Elaine’s street in North Hampton, Denise leapt from the van to read the house numbers. Our GPS, (who we fondly call, FIONA) is not always accurate when it comes to indicating the exact house location. To everyone’s delight we eventually found the right place and pulled into the long driveway that allowed us plenty of room to unpack on a nice level surface. We peeled out of the van to enjoy some “house” time which we hadn’t had since the last week in September in Ohio with the Comstock family. Tess arrived home late from her party and we all agreed to make a bigger day of it on Saturday. Saturday (Oct 11) was a beautiful clear and sunny autumn day. After a leisurely morning of showers and hanging out, the group decided to go apple-picking. Doug stayed home to work. Although plans were made to go to the beach in the later afternoon, the girls were so thoroughly engrossed in playing and simply playing around the house that we decided to focus on making a fun evening meal instead. Doug and Elaine worked on some house projects that included a run to Home Depot and a side trip to the local market for some “surf and turf” dinner supplies. Cooked by Elaine and Denise, the meal of barbequed swordfish steaks and marinated steak strips with stuffed haddock (fish), rice and green beans was delicious. A freshly homemade apple pie with ice cream for dessert topped off a perfect meal. The girls moved their bedding into Tess’s room and made ready for the night. After light reading, we packed them all into bed. Sleep soon followed… for the adults as well.Today (Oct 12), we are planning to head toward Boston when Elaine and Tess head for church. We’re planning to visit with Laura, Denise’s niece, who is living there. It’s a short travel day and we hope to spend Sunday and Monday with Laura – who has Monday off for Columbus Day.

Acadia National Park, Maine

Blissing out on beautiful Fall weather.... Internet and cell communications lacking.... more updates later. We'll be here through Friday morning, Oct 10, then heading for New Hampshire.

Boothbay Harbor, Maine

We made it! Our trip from Seattle on the west coast to Maine on the east coast was completed today as we entered Boothbay Harbor in Maine. It has taken us 42 days and 4,700 miles since we left Seattle. We arrived on a day with the sun breaking out of the clouds but with a cool Fall breeze in the air. We're staying two nights here the RV Park that is just outside the quaint lobster and fishing town of Boothbay Harbor. We had spent a second day in Quebec City doing a very engaging walking tour of the walled city. [More will be added about this day in a later update]. A Farmers Market just 100 yards from where we were camped in the Marina had quickly become a favorite spot to visit with its sheltered roof and rich aromas of fresh bread, pastries, fruit, vegetables, and cheese and assorted other products. We passed through on the way to and from the walled city walk taking note of a few items we’d get before we left town. The past few days of inclement weather of cold wind and squalls that had forced us into the van more than we’d like was beginning to wear thin. In between showers it was was great but sometimes our van was heavily buffeted as we sat around waiting for the harsh weather to pass. A call to a relative in Maine telling us that they had clear skies was enough to prompt us to break camp and carry on our journey to Maine on Sunday. We did a final shop at the Farmers Market picking up some Apple Butter (made by local farmer), 15 quail eggs (that we were curious to try) and the last of the great French-style pastries. We decided to break the 300 mile trip to Maine into 2 days driving and headed for the US border following a slower, scenic route south of Quebec. We crossed the border without incident, passing through a low-traffic crossing with amenable border patrol guards who were thorough in their job but happy to chat. Our travel leg between Quebec and Maine was rewarded with captivating fall colors as we followed the Kennebec River most of the way until our stop in Bingham. We lucked upon a deceivingly large RV park that was not evident from the road. They had showers (a must by this stage after a few days of Marina parking lot living), electrical and water hook up and a dump station – all for $24. The park was mostly geared toward river rafting and All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) users in the summer then snow-mobile users in the winter. We’d arrived at the river rafting end-of-season weekend. To our surprise and delight the rafting guides were meeting that night at the park with a huge bonfire planned. We hooked up our van to one of the 8 sites that looked across a lush green field approximately two football fields large – the only vehicle on the property. Near one end of the field was a shower block and volleyball net. Off to one side of those, safely situated in the middle of the open field, was a 10’ high stack of wood ready to burn. Later that evening as the girls were being read a book just before lights out, we heard a few loud cheers and looked out to see the bonfire alight. We quickly put on warm clothes (it was getting down to freezing outside) and, like moths, fluttered over to check out the brilliant huge yellow flames that were licking some 30 feet into the air. After a few mesmerizing minutes watching the fire and feeling its warmth some 30-40 feet away, we headed back to the van and to bed. Breakfast on Sunday morning was quail eggs and wonderful French bread. We quickly learned that quail eggs have a brittle shell and tough membrane. They do no "crack" as easily or cleanly as chicken eggs. Nonetheless we figured out how to fry up the eggs and enjoyed a meal of these delicate small eggs. Our original goal was to arrive in Acadia National Park (in Maine) but an opportune gathering of some relatives who would soon be heading home nudged us toward the Boothbay Harbor area south of Acadia National Park. We’ll stay here a few days before heading north to Acadia National Park, likely catching the last few days that the national park will be open and the weather hospitable to be there. We did a quick driving/walking tour of Boothbay Harbor village this afternoon and have promised ourselves to come back for dinner tomorrow night – to enjoy some of the famous Maine lobster!

[Photo added later at our Lobster meal]

Quebec City, Quebec – oui?

Leaving Niagara Falls on Sunday (Sept 28) we decided to make a big day driving and push past Toronto without stopping, though we picked up some fresh food at the Organic Garage on our way past. Driving in occasional rain, we stayed a little long on the road. We had a strong desire to stay at one of the beautiful Provincial Parks we’d heard so much about so pulled off the main highway and traveled another 10 miles north/inland to arrive at Charleston Lake Province Park. It was past dark so we really didn’t see much that night. Quickly arranging the camper for sleeping we drifted off to absolute silence that night. The next day we realized that we were only one of three campers in a very large section of the campsite. The silence was attributed to both the remoteness and the lack of other campers. Nearly everything was self-serve – registration, paying for fire wood, picking a camp spot. The remoteness also meant no cellular and very limited internet connections. Getting our bikes out, we decided to explore the few hundred site campground in the morning and do home schooling in the afternoon. Our bike ride took us to a beautiful lake shorefront. There we shared the beach with small flock of Canadian Geese frolicking in the water – preening and cleaning – assumedly in preparation for their long southern migration ahead. Fall colors were taking hold in the park and at one stage, during a quiet walk down the road, a light breeze sent a “rainfall” of leaves twirling and cascading to the ground around us sounding very much like normal rain. Eventually we spotted some other campers, said our greetings but mainly all the campers kept to themselves – enjoying the quiet and solitude. After completing our ride to another beach and a small dock (in search of elusive turtles) the girls spent some time playing on the Adventure Playground. Then home for lunch. That afternoon we were forced into the van due to heavy intermittent rain, where we stayed for the evening for the last day of September. Trying for an “early” start (the notion of “early” being somewhat relative), we were on the road by 10:30am on Wednesday (Oct 1) and heading toward Montreal. With the rain persisting we decided to make another long day of driving – in the hope of getting much closer to Quebec City -- but committed to being off the road by 5pm so that we had daylight to set up camp and prepare dinner. During the day we crossed the Ontario border into Quebec and stopped at a very helpful and efficient Quebec tourist office – picking up local maps and guidebooks. With barely a shred of French language understanding between us we still managed to interpret road sign meanings and read the guidebooks. This was the home of the Canadian French and no longer was there the luxury of having signs written in both English and French – it was all French now. We picked a campsite out of the guidebook based on our location at 4:30pmand pulled into a small 10-site campground, Camp Royal, right on the St Lawrence River around 5pm. The rain had been on and off all day but held off as we set up camp and got a fire going. The girls played croquet (loaned from the office) while dinner was prepared then we sat around the fire chatting before bed. Armed with more information from our campsite manager about what to do and where to stay in Quebec City, we noted that we’d managed to get within 70 miles of Quebec City so decided on a later start the next day and a drive all the way to our destination. Tonight we’re camped (more accurately, “parked”) at the Marina Basson Louise just outside the beautiful and charismatic, old walled city of Quebec which celebrates its 400th anniversary this year. It’s a regular parking lot down by the Marina but you can purchase a 24-hours pass ($45) so we pulled in alongside 2 other much larger RV’s beside the bike path. The city lights are visible from our van. And the walled part of the city is within easy walking distance to explore. Denise and the girls did preliminary reconnaissance (including dinner out) while Doug worked in the van for a few hours. We’ve planned to stay two nights here. After a torrential afternoon downpour we are hopeful that the rain will clear out for a while so we can enjoy a dry visit in this wonderful city.

Niagara Falls - US and Canadian sides

Just a few hours after we left Erie, PA we passed through Buffalo, NY and arrived in Niagara Falls area. We had initially thought that the toll roads approaching Chicago were a little brutal but New York has managed some brutality of its own -- and more. We paid nearly $10 to travel on the road coming around Lake Erie to Niagara. Then we got hit with another $2 toll near Buffalo… then an $8 fee to park on Goat Island right near the falls on the American side. After that, pretty much anything beyond looking at the falls from the walking trails cost money (which we chose not to spend). To our surprise, there was very little "free" information about the falls -- even at the Visitors Center. We asked and were told we'd have to pay for most things but eventually found a wall display with some geology and historic information with pictures. We were surprised to learn that this was America's first State Park. The majesty and power of Niagara Falls cannot be adequately described -- or even photographed -- to capture the amazing volume of fresh water that pours every second of every day over the falls. We joined thousands of tourists marveling at how 20% of the earth's fresh water is located in the Great Lakes and here is was pouring out on it's way to the St Lawrence river and out to the ocean. This was the place where the continental divide we'd seen in Glacier National Park in Montana had separated out the rainfall from those mountains and east beyond to fall over these falls in front of us. Just amazing... We did as much free walking and looking as we could before deciding we'd set up camp on the Canadian side of the Falls for a few days. Paying (yet another) toll to cross the quarter-mile bridge that allows us to exit America and enter Canada, we forgot that we were carrying firewood until asked by Canadian border patrol. They quickly turned us around to return the wood before coming into Canada. We joined a long line on the American border patrol gate and finally were able to ask an official what we should do with the wood (assuming this was a fairly common occurrence -- as we'd been told -- and they'd have a place for it). Apparently not. We had to drive around Niagara Falls town looking for a bin to deposit our firewood. A half hour later we were back at the toll booth to go across to Canada pleading that we'd only recently paid the $6.50 -- showing receipts and paperwork to prove it. Our pleas and petitioning were met with bureaucratic head shakes and an extended hand -- not of friendship but of another toll collection. Grumbling, we paid another $6.50 and continued on. We selected an RV park not far from the falls, set up camp and called it an early night. The next day (Sunday 9/28) we got some home schooling done, made some calls and Ruth even "skyped" a friend back in Seattle. After lunch and two family rounds of mini (or putt-putt) golf at the park, we caught a shuttle bus into see the falls from the Canadian side. As everyone told us, it is more beautiful. From the Canadian side you get a better angle on the 2 main falls and the vista is more complete. We strolled along the park that overlooks the falls then decided to grab a meal before heading back later in the evening to see the light show that creates a color wash on the falls at night. Finding a dinner location took us up Clifton Hill Road and an abundance of crassly commercial outlets with their bright colors and lights and alluring sounds - a wax museum, ice cream stores, a huge Ferris wheel, movie theaters, pubs, etc. The girls kept looking around at all the distracting sites. Returning to the falls, we watched as the smaller Bridal Veil falls was washed in a blue then purple hue while the same effect was delivered in different colors across the American and Horseshoe falls. Kind of cool but not captivating enough to watch more than 10-15 minutes. We returned home on the shuttle bus and were in bed late that night. Today we are planning to begin our trek toward Quebec City, Quebec. We figure we'll get half way to Montreal in a day, passing by Toronto. Then to Montreal in a day, and Quebec in another day. But we're weighing whether to stay 2 nights at each stop to enjoy the local surrounds -- weather and mood will dictate. We had our first sprinkle of rain the other day but otherwise it remains quite warm during the day, cooling off at night. Now that we're in Fall/Autumn, we're starting to see some color making its way into the trees and look forward to seeing more of it on the road.

Wal-Mart in Erie, Pennsylvania

Our first Wal-Mart "boondock" (or free camping). We called ahead and the Assistant Manager said it was okay. We checked again when we pulled in as the signs quite clearly say No RV Camping. He confirmed it was okay. And besides, we'd just spent over $100 in the store getting all manner of items -- 12v oscillating, clip-on fan; 2x fly swatters; paper towel holder; compass for Rose's math work; new back seat cover for van (old one is seriously trashed); cat food (for the as yet un-met stray cat that will visit us in a future campground); large and small LED lanterns for early evening use now the days are getting shorter (the large lantern has solar recharging option as well as 12v and plug-in -- cool); lightweight string hammock; etc. Lights out now for an early ('ish) start tomorrow.

Ohio - Comstock family and Amish country

Our campervan got a good "tune up" at Airstream -- a new side panel to replace one that was cracking; the heater is working again; a new skylight remote was provided by a fellow Sprinter Westfalia owner and an Airstream technician helped us program it so we can open the skylight again; plus the tighting of a few loose parts and the loosening of few parts that had tightened up. We had thought we'd have all this spare time to catch up on website updates, home schooling, etc. Luckily we got the home schooling done -- but not so much of the other stuff. Hard to say where the days go! Work was complete on the van by noon on Tuesday but we had already decided to stay that night and use the time to re-organize the van and trailer, doing some re-packing. We had earlier received an invitation from the Comstock family to visit them while we were in Ohio. We'd met the Comstocks in De Smet, SD at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead. Traveling with their 5 children -- age 13 years to 18 months -- Rose had made friends with Abbie, their 10 year old daughter. Jason and Pam (the parents) were self-employed and home schooling so there was plenty to discuss. Now that we'd spent a good few days driving through endlessly flat corn and soy fields of Indiana and Ohio, we were curious how families might spend their time in Ohio. Part of the attraction of the visit was the promise of meeting 74 chickens owned by the eldest girls -- Katie and Abbie -- and run as a small business by them, selling the eggs. As it happens, the Comstocks lived just 50 miles from the Airstream factory. After being in one place for 3 days, this felt like the right level of stamina required for our first day of driving again. We pulled into their driveway around Noon on a sunny and warm Wednesday. Within minutes Ruth and Rose were getting a tour of the chicken coop. And soon thereafter they appeared with freshly collected eggs. Although Rose would go off and play with Abbie around the house and yard, Ruth was transfixed on the chickens and the eggs. Along with the younger Comstock children she collected eggs for the rest of the day, rounded up chickens, played with them and did all manner of farm-girl activities not readily available to us in Seattle. She was in heaven!

Later in the afternoon we treked to the back of the six acres where a small creek ran through as a border to the property and the kids splashed around to cool off. Later that evening we shared a delicious barbeque outdoors with 6 kids (including ours) at one table and the adults (plus little Rebecca) at another table. The adults were even able to chat a little after dinner. Rose ended up doing a "sleep-over" inside the house (meaning, not much sleep) while Doug, Denise and Ruth slept in the van Wednesday night in the Comstocks long driveway. The next morning a home cooked breakfast greeted us! Today was Thursday, September 25th -- we'd been on the road one month and decided we'd make this a special day to celebrate. Denise and Doug grabbed showers then we made our farewells and departed with plans to visit the nearby Amish country so we could experience the rural, horse-and-buggy lifestyles of the second largest Amish community in the US. We arrived mid-afternoon in a little touristy town of Berlin and went out for lunch. The Amish-style home-cooked meal was wholesome and traditional -- meat, potatoes and greens. The fresh baked pie for desert was excellent! We looked at some shops and decided to camp in the general area with a goal to get to Lehmans Brothers Hardware store in Kidron because of it's fame in supplying a lot of the non-electrical appliances to the local Amish farmers. We checked in at an upscale RV park (upscale for us, at least). It had pool, hot tub and all the hook-up amenities for RV's included in the $44/night price -- power, water, and cable TV and free showers. We quickly set up camp, grabbed our "beach bag" and went for a swim. Dinner was a simple affair with Doug cooking while the girls watched some TV -- the first time in a month! We ate together then packed off some very tired girls for an early night. Checking out around Noon on Friday, we had decided it's time to push on toward Niagara Falls as our main destination. We figure it will take 2-3 days. We stop at the Lehmans Brothers Hardware store just 5 miles up the road from our RV park and are all captivated by the store. There is a nostalgia about the hardy, craftsman design of the fireplaces and heaters that look like appliances of yester-year but are available for purchase today. Incredibly stylish and looked like they would last a lifetime. Amidst all the household goods for sale are high quality, handcrafted furniture and work tools provided by local Amish. The store goes on forever and we easily spend more than an hour there. Doug gets a leather belt, the girls a puzzle game and Denise an apple slicer and spoon. It's time to hit the road so we grab a quick lunch in the van and head toward Erie, Pennsylvania as a possible overnight place.

Airstream - Jackson Center, Ohio

We pulled into Jackson Center, Ohio -- home of the Airstream factory -- mid-afternoon on Sunday. This quiet little town was preceded by miles of corn and soy bean fields (and we expect it is the same on the other side of town). The weather remained warm and sunny and we were pleased to be on the road only two hours after our overnight stop in Indiana.

We had booked the van in for some warranty work on Monday morning so knew we had to clean it out a little and re-arrange our living quarters. It was a little surprising to learn that Customer Service opened at 7am -- kind of early for us city folk! In the spirit of factory work hours (staff go home around 3:30pm), Doug was volunteered to report to the service desk early to get the work started on the van.

Airstream makes their "Terraport" available for those coming in for service work. It's a free parking/camping area right on the Airstream ground. We parked there but also set up our big tent on the grassy field nearby to create a bedroom at night (so the kids could sleep in) and school house during the day (so the kids could stay on top of their home schooling).

Apparently, at the end of the Airstream workday, various rigs are returned to owners with any incompleted work started again the the next day. Sure enough, our van was ready for pick-up at 3:30pm. Day 2 work begins early tomorrow.

We're trying to catch up on school work (for kids) and email/work/website update for parents. For better or worse, there is not a whole lot to do in Jackson Center. Fortunately, there is a laundromat. This will be a prime visit tomorrow (woohoo!). This afternoon we did the Airstream Factory Tour which could have been incredibly interesting but lacked a certain bounce and energy. To be precise, the kids called it "long and somewhat boring". Probably the best part was walking through some of the near-finished units at the end of the tour. We did learn that the Sprinter Interstate (by Airstream) is a big seller for them. The Interstate is based on the longer, 22 foot wheel base (our Sprinter Westfalia is 18 feet) and a bigger engine -- the Sprinter 3500 with V6 and dual wheels -- while ours is built on the Sprinter 2500 with 5 cylinder engine. Nonetheless, we're proud to own one of the just 250 Sprinter Westfalia's sold in the US... and delighted to be getting a little over 20 MPG towing a 5' x 8' trailer on the more than 3,000 miles of our journey so far and across some very mountainous parts of the country.

Overnight in Indiana

We pulled off the road around 6:30pm local time -- we're on Eastern Time now. In terms of timezones, we made it across the US already! We passed a little ~10 RV campground that only had 3 visitors and doubled back to check it out. We decided to stay. It's a warm evening. The mosquitos are out but not too bad. Again, a stray cat has befriended us (and been befriended by the girls). Now I understand why we always have a can of catfood on our shopping list. Tomorrow we complete the ~80 miles to the Airstream facility (around 2 hours drive) and set up camp for a three nights. Our location tonight is at the crossroads of Indiana Route 69 (running north/south) and Route 18 (running east/west).

Brookston, Indiana

Passing thru.

Great visit Chicago!

Chicago has been a great visit! Just as we were preparing to move the van on Friday morning we saw a woman park behind a gated open style carpark just across the street from us. The carpark had room for 40-50 cars but only 3 parked there. Denise rushed over and asked if we could park there for the day. The woman told us it belonged to her boss, who lived a few doors down, so Denise accompanied her to meet the boss. It turns out he was an very warm and generous person (living in a very beautiful house). He gave Denise the gate opener -- there was only one opener -- and asked that she return it when we'd parked the van. A beaming Denise returned to the van with opener in hand. We quickly pulled away from the curb and moved into the carpark -- lots of room and security as well! For the day we'd planned to ride our bikes into the city -- along the waterfront -- and visit the American Girl store. We unpacked our bikes, packed up supplies for the day, returned the gate opener and hit the road. The waterfront park has an excellent bike track. It was about 7-8 blocks from our van and we made our way past little restaurants, bakeries, beautiful homes, corner pubs and a host of "city living" amenities. There was a little "reverse cultural shock" after living in the wilds of national parks and the plains for most of the past month to be suddenly traversing a large city. The noise of cars and trains as well as the press of people was all somehow alien to us (even though it felt familiar). To our delight, in just a few miles we rode past Lincoln Park Zoo which is free to the public. We locked up our bikes and spent a few hours there wandering around. Then on to the city. Another surprise. The bike path brought us out right beside a "beach". None of us had expected this. The beaches reminded us of those in Manhattan Beach in LA with the constant grooming and light brown/yellow color. The difference was the fresh water "ocean" provided by Lake Michigan - one of the five US Great Lakes. It was a sunny, warm, balmy day so we continued our ride. The bike path was being enjoyed by walkers, joggers and riders of all shapes and sizes. It is a wonderful asset in Chicago. We eventually arrived opposite the street for American Girl so left the lake side bike path to walk our bikes a few blocks to the store. Entering the store, Rose also entered a semi-euphoric state since she had basically arrived at American Girl doll heaven. The store is cleverly laid out with their real customers in mind -- 5-12 year old girls. More than half the girls -- Rose & Ruth included -- were carrying their own previously purchased American Girl dolls around the store. Doll clothes and accessories were laid out in fashion-house style along with matching outfits for little girls (their owners). There were very tasteful displays of past American Girl dolls of the year and shelves stocked with all kinds of American Girl "stuff". Rose notes that in the bathroom there was a little rack to hang your American Girl doll while you used the bathroom. By the end of the day we managed to escape with just the latest American Girl catalog and a Dad much more informed about the style and heritage of the American Girl juggernaut. We grabbed lunch at Tempo's -- a local's downtown eatery. We highly recommend it for fresh, simple food and generous servings. It's cash only. We did another shorter visit back to American Girl then rode our bikes home along the bike path via a stop at the beach and a playground in Lincoln Park. Dinner was at a local Mexican restaurant with Denise's college friend, Marianne Kerrigan. One irony last night was having the police knock on our van around 9pm and ask us a few questions because apparently someone had called in concerned about lights going on and off. They soon realized we were on private property with the permission of the owner so wished us a goodnight and moved on. We all slept like logs. Today we start our haul to the Airstream facility in Jackson Center, OH -- approximately 300 miles from here. We're planning to break up the trip into 2 days of driving after we do a mail pick up at a friends parents house a little north of us here in Chicago.

Chicago!

We made it to Chicago after a long day on the road -- about 7 hours (including stops) -- and met up with an old college friend of Denise's. We did a walking tour of the Lincoln Park neighborhood and ate outside at a small local bar/bistro then called it an early night. We're currently parked on the neighborhood street trying to look like we're not really camping/sleeping in the van. Traffic and pedestrian noise has picked up and we're feeling a little self-conscious of a need to lift up our shades and potentially re-park the van so we're not in front of a construction site. We're planning to move the van then park it for the day and do a bike riding tour of the lakeside of the city today.

Overnight at West Salem, Wisconsin

Pulled into a little campground near a lake just off Interstate 90 near the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota. We traveled down the Wisconsin side of Route 35 for most of the afternoon, crossing over then following the Mississippi River. We've made our main turn toward Chicago now and will likely pass through Madison, WI tomorrow on our way the Windy City in Illinois. Tonight is our 24th night of travel. We have clocked 2,763 miles so far with nearly 1,000 of those miles traveled in the last 4 days. Including our home state of Washington, Wisconsin is the 7th state we've visited.

Delano, MN - 30 miles west of Minneapolis

We made it to beautiful Delona, Minnesota late in the evening. A local business contact had suggested a wonderful RV park. We pulled into a green, leafy and well-maintained park with hardly anyone else there. Doug went to a dinner meeting on Tuesday (last) night. Today we're going to look around the park (it's very large and includes a lake) while we consider our options for traveling the ~750 miles to Airstream Factory in Jackson Center, Ohio via Chicago. We need to be there Sunday evening (Sept 21) for some warranty work scheduled on the van Monday and Tuesday.

Little House on the Prairie - De Smet, South Dakota

Barrelling along Interstate 90 in east South Dakota and trying to make good distance toward Minneapolis in Minnesota, we started seeing signs for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead - location of Little House on the Prairie. Denise and I looked at each other and shrugged it off. But the more we thought about it, and thinking how much the girls had been enjoying the Laura Ingalls Wilder books that we were currently reading to them, we asked if they'd be interested. A rousing chorus of "Yeah" greeted us from the back seat. So, with just 100 yeards before we passed the turnoff, we made the turn and headed the 50 miles north to the homestead. We pulled in and the place was closed but we figured we'd take a quick look around before finding a place to camp. Earlier in the day we'd passed into a new time zone and the day was later here than when we started out. To our delight, two little kittens met us on the front porch of the homestead. And they were friendly. While Rose and Ruth played with them, we looked around and discovered just on the other side of the building was an RV camping spot for 4-5 RV's. One spot was open so we decided to pull in. Another beautiful clear evening on the Plains. This time we were surrounded by all the buildings and trappings of real pioneer living. And, we were camping in the same place as the stories we would read about in the later books of the "Little House" series. The girls (and parents) loved it. The next day, we paid for our camping and spent the morning looking at "Ma's Place", the "Sod House", the Chicken Barn, the Cow Barn and touring the actual homestead which had been converted into a shop and museum. The girls made "rope" and also made some corn cob dolls - just like Laura had as a child. Now we're pushing on to Minneapolis.

Badlands behind, heading east

Yesterday the Badlands shone in the bright, warm sun and we got to look around in unexpected ways. For weeks now we've been traveling inside National Parks and are careful to follow some of the main mantra's: keep your distance from wild animals, stay on the trails and don't leave food out to attract bears. Suddenly we're inside the incredibly beautiful Badlands National Park on the South Dakota plains and we're invited by the Park Rangers to "make our own trails". Apparently the geology of the park means it is eroding at about one inch per year so the impact of trails is minimal compared to other parks. We took the liberty of going on our own "trail scramble" through a dried up river bed and climbing on the mounds that form the colorful and bizzare shapes that characterize the hills within park. We kept a watchful eye open for rattlesnakes and fossils but were disappointed to see neither. However, our search turned up some dried up bones of more recent animals, as well as a live frog and a toad and some beautiful rocks - all of which we left in the park. Given that we exited the park near the town of Wall, we did an obligatory visit to Wall Drug before beginning our travels east along Interstate 90. Last night we visited a KOA Campground in Belvidere East (somewhere in South Dakota) to fill up our rapidly depleting propane tank and decided to stay for the night. They have a great playground for kids so Rose & Ruth were able to blow off some steam and slept liked logs last night. The general area is known for the filming of "Dances with Wolves", starring Kevin Costner. Over dinner last night, as we sat around the picnic table with the sun setting across the never ending horizon and a full moon rising behind us, it definitely gave us a feeling of what the early pioneers must have felt entering this great, vast land of the American plains.

Badlands National Park for the day

After a windy day on the road, visiting Crazy Horse Mountain and Mt Rushmore we pulled into Rapid City to do some shopping. By now the winds were very strong -- apparently around 50 m.p.h -- kicked up by Hurricane Ike hitting Texas. We'd spent the previous day enjoying Custer State Park with the girls working on their Junior Ranger Program equivalent (Junior Naturalist Program). Rain had rolled in early in the afternoon so we hung out in the van reading and writing. We decided to hold-off on doing Crazy Horse and Mt Rushmore for the following day. Now, in the shopping parking lot we had to decide whether to stay in Rapid City or push on. The store clerk had said the winds would be stronger outside the city and we risked being "blown over" (especially with our 11' high profile). Kind of intimidating. Fortunately, we had a good internet connection and did some research (and also a Skype call to Rose's good friend, Julia, back in Seattle). The forecast was for winds to decrease later in the evening after peaking mid-afternoon. We had a quick dinner and decided to push on the nearly 2 hours to Badlands National Park campground. We arrived at 9:30pm -- very late for us to get off the road. The winds had abated but still meant keeping hands firmly on the steering wheel for the occassional wind buffet. Everyone needed to get a good rest so we called it an early night. Today we've awoken to bright blue skies but with a cool plains wind blowing. We're going to look around the park for the day then head further east this evening for a destination not yet known. Our goal is to get to Minneapolis area by mid week, so we have some big days driving ahead and want to get some miles behind us. The great American plains lie ahead of us as we leave the mountains of the west behind.

Inside South Dakota - Custer State Park

We arrived late in the day at Devils Tower. It was impressive to see the rock both from a distance and then again up closer. We opted to camp at the foot of Devils Tower, inside the park. It was a very well laid out campground with lots of space - though our neighbor was accustomed to running his generator a little late into the evening for our liking. We all slept late, ate a hearty breakfast then opted to ride our bikes the 2 miles to the visitor center and do a quick tour before heading off for South Dakota. The road up to the visitors center was a steady climb made more challenging by a surprisingly busy road. Many cars and RV's passed us on the narrow road on the way up. Rose and Ruth did great riding their bikes and following the safety tips called out ("yelled") by their watchful parents. The fun part was bombing back down the road on the return trip to our camp ground. We had seen our first Prairie Dogs that morning as well as passed a few deer on our ride. We chose a scenic route to get us to Custer, South Dakota. The route took us through some very attractive farmland. We arrived in Custer late in the afternoon and drove on through to Custer State Park - an incredible 71,000 acres of very well kept park, teeming with wildlife. We were fortunate to get a campsite as -- much to our surprise given the time of year -- the place was filling fast. Tonight we had BBQ chicken cooked on the campfire, rice (cooked in the rice cooker since we have a powered site) and fresh snap peas. Mmmmm. Fortunately, a family we had met in Thermopolis with 2 children about Rose and Ruth's age are camping here also so a child reunion took place on the playground before dinner. Tomorrow we plan to visit Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monument. We're thinking of passing on Wind Cave National Park since we stopped at Jewel Cave National Monument today on our way to Custer. This will give us more time to check out the local area before moving on to Badlands National Park. We're in Custer State Park for two nights - Thursday (9/11) and Friday (9/12).

On to Devils Tower in eastern Wyoming

Thermapolis was a ton of fun. We got warm sunny days and stayed at a small RV park with its own mineral hot pools. Rose and Doug went for a warm swim before breakfast both mornings we were there (Ruth and Denise went later). During our one full day we topped up our food supplies and got some mail posted. While the girls went to one of the commercial hot pools in the afternoon Doug did some work from the van in a nearby park, joining them later. For more than 3 hours the girls swum and zipped down the long slide at the inside pool. When Doug finally caught up he was dragged onto the super slide. A very fun, wet and energetic afternoon. Ruth slept late the next day! At our campsite three cute stray kittens caught our attention. We fed them and gave them milk but were unable to touch them. (Unfortunately, the kitten story ends sadly and will be saved for another update). Currently we're cruising along Interstate 90 heading east to hopefully stay at Devils Tower national monument. For those of you who were watching movies in the late 1970's, Devils Tower is the geological star of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Just as Yellowstone is United States first National Park, Devils Tower is apparently the first National Monument. We're planning to stay just 1 night before heading eastward to South Dakota and the beginning of our Mt Rushmore / Crazy Horse Monument / Wind Cave & Badlands National Parks visit.

Arrived Thermopolis, WY

Denise is taking a 20-min soak in the 104F public hot pools - free to the public as part of the land gift from the local tribe. Girls are playing in the park outside the public pool.

Tomorrow we're going to buy tickets to the private pool next door to enjoy the slides and swimming pools (at temps down to a more kid-friendly 90F). Planning to stay 2 nights here.

A little east of Dubois, WY

On our way to Thermopolis, WY.

A day on Jackson Lake at Grand Tetons NP

Today we stayed close to camp at Colter Bay for our first (and only) full day at Grand Tetons National Park. What started out as an attempt at a hike turned into a short and leisurely bike ride down to the marina and along the lake shore.

The sun was out and we all enjoyed the warmth of the day... so much so that we decided to rent a small runabout and go explore further down Lake Jackson to Half Moon Bay where we were told good wildlife spotting might occur. Both the girls had fun "driving" the boat though it proved a little challenging "without a steering wheel", as Ruth noted. We saw deer in the bush at the lake's edge and a few flocks of Canadian geese sensibly heading south for winter. After 2 hours on the lake in the runabout we returned to attend a very interesting Park Ranger guided tour of the Museum of Indian Arts at the Colter Bay Visitor Center. What made the event so compelling was our Ranger's personal stories of growing up on the reservation. He really breathed life into the art and artifacts we were viewing. We all loved the interactive presentation. We're planning to head to Thermapolis tomorrow on our way east to South Dakota. We've been told (by our Seattle renters who are Wyoming locals) that Thermapolis has a huge hot springs but, most importantly, a very cool slide for playing in the warm pools. On the way out of Grand Tetons the girls will check into the Visitors Center to collect their 3rd Junior Ranger badge (Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton). The Junior Ranger program has been a great home schooling resource while making our national park visits more meaningful. More Junior Ranger programs ahead!

Leaving Yellowstone, Grand Teton NP tonight

We've had some great hikes and wildlife viewing experiences here in Yellowstone... too many to mention in this quick update. We finally got another Internet connection at the car park at Old Faithful, which we watched erupt twice, once from the boardwalk in front of the geyser and another time at the lookout in the hills about 1 mile away. The image at left is Yellowstone Grand Canyon. And below is a quick snap of Doug and the girls visiting Artist Paint Pot as part of the Norris Basin Geyser area. There is no end of photo opportunities here. At an upcoming stop we're hoping to sort through the best photos (and videos) and load them up to the main site.

On to Grand Teton National Park for 2 nights - hopefully at Colter Bay, if camping spots are open.

Hopefully it will be a little warmer at night (it's been down to 26F on the cool nights!)

Camping inside Yellowstone

We made it! We spent our first 2 nights at Mammoth Campground at the north end of the park. Cool at night but thankfully our van heater has kept us cozy. We've seen plenty of Elk and cruised over the Mammoth Hot Springs as well as attended a few informative ranger talks. This morning we went to the Boiling River for a swim - kind of hard to consider as we left our campground in a slight drizzle and 40F outside temperature. The Boiling River is a spot where the geothermally heated water enters the river at a scalding 130F. Mixed with the flowing fresh river water, the perfect pool can be found for lounging in. A great start to the day which included a close encounter with a big Bison as he made his way slowly along the road we were driving on. We made our way to Canyon Junction where we've set up camp for 2 nights here and plan to do some hikes and looking around tomorrow.

On our way to Yellowstone

Stopping off at Bozeman, MT to have a great lunch at the Food Coop here in town. (And testing to make sure we can email pictures to the blogsite). Lunch was great. And the emailing seems to work. Yayy.

Introduction: Where Are We?

Convenient access to a reliable/affordable Internet connection on the road has not always been working in our favor. We're traveling faster than our ability to update the main website -- http://www.onegreatjourney.com/ -- will allow. This satellite "blog" site allows us to send a quick message via mobile phone (cellular coverage permitting) so we can do a quick update -- a "ping" -- to let you know where we are as soon as possible! ;-) Let's see how it goes... Doug, Denise, Rose & Ruth