A Little Adventure

Often, when we meet people and they learn we are full-time RVers, we hear, "Oh, the adventures you must have; the stories you could tell!"

I just smile and nod and wonder how to answer them. The whole full-time RV thing IS an adventure, but what stories? Do they mean boat trips and zip-lines, or wildlife safaris? Our sight-seeing is pretty tame (read: whatever is low-cost or free, with the exception of a very rare splurge). We're happy, but adventures? We wander around historic districts and visit a few museums and look at the scenery a lot. Not many hair-raising stories there.

The closest we come to an adventure is when something unplanned happens, which we pray won't. Like last week, when we almost got caught in that early October snowstorm that hit Wyoming/South Dakota/panhandle Nebraska. We barely outran that.

Or when something goes wrong with the trailer or the pickup truck. Like yesterday. We were headed south from Elk City, Oklahoma, toward Texas, when we realized our air conditioner wasn't blowing cold; not even cool, and it was warm out. Not knowing the cause, and keeping to our practice of addressing mechanical concerns immediately, we used the Smartphone (yes, again--love that Smartphone!) to find a Ford dealer in Altus, Oklahoma, the next town.

Yes, they could look at it. We could drop the trailer in their adjacent parking lot.

As I said, it was hot, but it was also very windy, so even without electricity for air conditioning, the trailer stayed comfortable with all the windows and the door open and the wind whipping through it.

Not wanting to lose a chance to make good use of the unexpected stopover, we got Damien busy on a math lesson. He wasn't thrilled.

All afternoon we waited, hoping for a good outcome. We had heard of air conditioner service costing in the high three figures, and such a bill would definitely force us to be even more frugal. Finally, at the end of the afternoon, it was done. They'd recharged the Freon, and the bill was only a hundred dollars and some cents! It was too late to get to our destination, so they kindly let us dry camp in the parking lot overnight.

So, this is a story of an adventure that turned out well. In other words, nothing much happened. And that's the way we like our adventures.

(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66

We got out of Dodge and headed south to Elk City, Oklahoma, battling a fierce headwind almost all the way. Even though the terrain was pretty flat, the transmission cooling fan kept coming on, just as if we were driving uphill. When we fueled, we found our towing mpg was down by at least a quarter, somewhere in the neighborhood of 7. Oh, well. I guess that evens out the tailwind we got traveling east in Nebraska.

Here in Elk City, we discovered we were smack dab on the (in)famous Route 66, one of the great American road trips. A must-see is the National Route 66 Museum, which is part of a museum complex that includes Old Town Museum, the Blacksmith Museum, and the Farm & Ranch Museum, set in a complex of a facsimile old town and adjacent to a beautiful park.

This museum stop is a MUST if you are in the area, and the admission fees are very reasonable. We spent a couple hours here and could have spent much longer without a 13-year-old rushing us.

Jan fits right in with the Popeye collection, don't you think?

These little teardrop travel trailers have made a comeback. You can even buy plans to build your own, as many travelers did 60 years ago.

Damien got to try a fireman's pole.

Here we are traveling down Route 66.

 Complete with roadside attractions!

Oh, look! It's the Joads, of The Grapes of Wrath.

Some views of the grounds.

An interior scene.

There's a rodeo hall of fame--Oklahoma is BIG rodeo country.

There's way too much to cover in a single blog entry!

I used to have one of these! This is a 1950 International Harvester pickup truck. Mine was a 1951, and yellow, and, by the time I bought it, was using almost as much oil as gasoline.

Anyway, if you're passing through Elk City, which sits on I-40, make time for this museum. It's only closed four days a year (guess which!).

Get the Heck Into Dodge!

At least that's what the billboards and brochures say, and we took their advice, traveling from Gothenburg, Nebraska, to Dodge City, Kansas, in a single day's drive. It was the furthest we've gone in one day, and we were happy to see the end of the trail when we pulled into Gunsmoke RV Park. We're staying in Newly's Circle, right across from Festus Parkway.

After a good night's rest, we spent the morning on Damien's school lessons, then set out for a little sightseeing.  We headed down Wyatt Earp Avenue to Boot Hill, where there is a museum and visitor center. At the visitor center we picked up a couple brochures and a couple decks of playing cards, gratis. Kansas had the first state-owned casino (it's just up the highway) and now has a couple more. By law, each deck of cards may be used only once, so the visitors' center has a constant supply of once-used played cards to give away.

The Boot Hill Museum is set up like an historic western town.

Incidentally, Dodge City is situated on the old Santa Fe trail. Thousands of wagons traveled through here. Nearby Fort Dodge was established to protect wagon trains, and a few years later, in 1872, Dodge City was founded .  Named for the fort, it was initially a trade center for buffalo hunters and wagon trains. Then the railroad arrived, and for five years buffalo was the primary "product" shipped out, until the huge herds were destroyed.

Soon, Texas Longhorn cattle were the primary cargo, as Dodge City was the destination of the great cattle drives until 1886, when the drives had ended. Meanwhile, Dodge City had earned the reputation of being the wildest town in the west. It was during these times that lawmen Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp became legends.

Across from the museum is engine No. 1139. The sheer size of this engine is amazing.

Further down Wyatt Earp Avenue, a Longhorn looks over his former domain

and Wyatt Earp stands larger than life.

About 16 miles of the city's streets were paved with bricks in the early years of the 20th century. At intersections, a diagonal pattern of brickwork helped the streets hold up to turning vehicles.

Medallions set into the sidewalks commemorate both local historic figures and actors who starred in the Gunsmoke television series and in movies set in Dodge City.

We enjoyed our brief visit, and the best Internet we've had at any of the RV parks we've stayed at this year, but tomorrow it's time to get the heck out of Dodge.

Scottsbluff, or Scotts Bluff, Nebraska

So which is it? Well, if you're talking about the city, it's Scottsbluff. And if you're talking about the rock formations, it's Scotts Bluff. Scotts Bluff was an important landmark on the Oregon Trail, visible from miles away, and when travelers saw it, they knew they were 1/3 of the way along the trail.

We camped for a week at a very nice city-run full-service campground, with a beautiful view of Scott's Bluff.

This was an exciting stop for us, as there was a large box waiting for us at the post office, filled with school books for Damien. We decided to spend a few days getting up to date in his studies before sight-seeing. We had managed to do quite a bit with the online resources that were available to us through the Calvert School, but there were some gaps we had to address.

Mistake. We planned our visit to the Monument for Oct 1, and were greeted with this sign.

The campground had television, and we'd been watching the news. It had just not occurred to us that this was what they were talking about.

So, we viewed it from afar, and Damien wasn't able to get his NPS passport stamped.

After a week in Scottsbluff, we headed for Sidney, Nebraska. I snapped this picture of Chimney Rock on the way, knowing that, due to the "shutdown," there was no use stopping.

After spending the night at the Cabela's RV park at the company's store and headquarters complex, we literally fled east in the morning, the oncoming storm on our heels and giving us a nice tail wind. We had completely changed our plans, canceling our visit to relatives in the Denver area. Between road and bridge closures (floods), park closures (the shutdown), and the unfavorable weather forecasts, we decided it would be smart to head east and south instead.

As we left the storm behind, we learned from the radio that Scottsbluff was hammered by a storm and snow, and we couldn't help wondering how our tenting neighbor we'd left behind there was faring.

We traveled almost 150 miles, stopping at Gothenburg, Nebraska, where the city has a nice campground on the shores of the (currently drained) Lake Helen. We extended our stay there to two nights, as there was a high wind advisory and the next day was forecast to be not quite so windy. I was checking the weather forecasts almost hourly on the Smartphone. It has become so indispensible.

Most of the attractions were closed for the season, but we were able to visit the Pony Express station in town, where it had been relocated to serve as a museum, with a nice little gift shop where I spent a few minutes pondering my Christmas list.

The Pony Express story is such a part of our national lore; it is hard to realize that it lasted only two years! We learned that most riders were under 18, with the youngest being 11, although the oldest was 42. The main reason for this is that the company was looking for small, lightweight riders.

A Night at Wind Cave National Park

It was still the last days of September, before the National Parks shutdown, when we left Rapid City and made our way to Wind Cave National Park near Hot Springs, SD. As we entered the park, we were surprised there were no checkpoints, and, indeed, there don't seem to be any entry points. We saw trucks using the roads to travel through the park area. I read on another blog that one can still drive through, that the government hasn't gone out of its way to barricade the entrance, as they have some other NPS sites. Perhaps it's because of the traffic that uses the park to get from point A to B.

We made our way to the campground, where we found a spot for the night. We enjoyed a nice fire while we listened to the elk bugling just over the ridge, so near we thought we could see them if only it weren't dark. It sure is starting to get dark early, and we are conscious of the need to get further south before we find ourselves caught in the approaching winter weather.

The next morning, Jan and Damien went on one of the cave tours. There was a fee for that; Jan was half-price with his Senior pass, and Damien was charged the reduced youth fee. I stayed with the dogs and readied the trailer to go, perfectly happy to do so. My going would have doubled the fees, and I don't need to go to every cave.

The caves are remarkable for their size and also for their multiple levels. Several tours through the extensive system are offered, but at this time of year, only one tour was available. Above ground, there are thriving bison and prairie dog communities.

Some people just don't heed the wildlife warnings.

A Day in Rapid City: Chapel in the Hills

We finished up our day of being tourists in Rapid City with a visit to the Chapel in the Hills. This is an exact replica of a stave church built in Norway around 1150.

This project was conceived in the 1960s, and was related to the radio program Lutheran Vespers, which was broadcast from Rapid City at that time. The program moved to Minnesota in the 1970s, but the church has continued to host visitors, as well as weddings and other special ceremonies. It remains Lutheran, with pastors from local Lutheran churches presiding over services.

This is the leper's window, where the afflicted could also receive communion.

Adjacent to the chapel is what would have been the storehouse at the Norwegian original. It has a sod roof. Inside this structure is a gift shop with many Scandinavian gift items.

I've come to enjoy the little gift shops at the attractions we visit, because I hit upon the idea of filling my Christmas gift list with mementos of our travels. With a dozen grandchildren and a couple great grandchildren to shop for, perusing the shops' offerings is an enjoyable task. Before I thought of this, I walked past the gift shops because we live in an RV and where would I put things?

And next to the gift shop is a little museum. The items on display are a mixture of items from from all the Scandinavian countries.

On our way "home" (FamCamp at Ellsworth AFB), our shadow was long as I gazed at the passing South Dakota scenery.