Day 86: Forest City IA to Dodgeville, WI

The day started early, as we had to be up and prepared for a 7:30 appointment for the RV to be serviced.  Ranger and I took our morning walk around the parking lot at Lichtsinn’s in a light drizzle.  Once the Navion was in the shop, we all waited in the customer lounge area, which Ranger thoroughly enjoyed.  I let him wander around inside, and he was quick to discover that the friendly service reps at the counter kept dog treats in a particular drawer. 

By late morning, we were on our way again, with oil change complete and malfunctioning panel lights fixed.  The forecast was for a front to move in from Canada with much colder air, and indeed the wind rose and the temperatures dropped throughout the day.  Our route took us along back roads of Iowa, through corn fields and small towns.  We crossed the Mississippi at Prairie du Chien, WI, where we stopped at a grocery store and then continued on to Dodgeville.

We vaguely remembered having been at Governor Dodge State Park forty-some years ago, when we lived in the area, but I had not remembered it being so big.   There are two major campgrounds, with two lakes. Ours is about two miles from the entrance, and it is thickly wooded and on quite a slope,  making leveling a challenge.

The wind and cold made sitting outside unpleasant, so we had an inside meal of spaghetti and salad and spend the evening reading and enjoying the benefits of being plugged in and having the heater running.  

Day 85: Lake Vermillion SD to Forest City, IA

Dan commented while sitting outside the RV in the evening: “Humidity. That’s what’s different”.  And indeed, in moving from the west into the Midwest, we are back into humidity.

And humidity we had, in the morning---99%.  It was very foggy, and I waited for the fog to clear as the sun began to shine.  No luck.  After a late breakfast and packing up, I waited for the fog to clear as we left the area around the lake, heading for the interstate.  No luck.

We traveled through the rest of South Dakota, past Sioux Falls, in the fog.  As we headed across Minnesota, the fog became less dense, though the clouds remained.  The weather forecast was for rain overnight, possible thunderstorms as a cold air mass moved in from Canada, with tomorrow’s temperatures about 20-25 degrees colder than today.

The GPS took us along some narrow farm roads, south into Iowa, and into Forest City, IA, the home of Winnebago/Itasca---the “birthplace” of our Navion.  We have an appointment early tomorrow (7:30) for routine maintenance.  Meanwhile, we’re camping in the Lichtsinn Motors parking lot in Forest City.

With rain threatening, we gave up ideas of grilling our dinner outside and went for a lunch/dinner at a sports bar within easy walking distance and had a cold beverage and a meal---pizza for Dan, a salad for me.  Now we’ll spend a quiet evening, waiting for the storm to hit and getting some sleep before the early morning appointment.  Not much fun for Ranger, but at least they will allow him in the customer lounge while the Navion is in the shop. 

Day 84: Wind Cave National Park to Lake Vermillion State Recreation Area SD

Today we passed from the west into the Midwest.

The view by the end of the day was of cornfields, soybeans, and wide expanses of farm land.

The day began with views of the grassy, rolling hills of western South Dakota.  We passed through the pretty town of Hot Springs, where many of the buildings downtown were built in the late 19^th century from the local red rock.  We took Route 79 north to connect back to I-90 near Rapid City, riding with the Black Hills off to the west.  Then it was mile after mile of plains, dry and featureless.  We passed the usual numerous highway signs for Wall Drug and rode on past the town of Wall.  Shortly after that, we passed the turn-off for Badlands National Park, but we continued on I-90 so we did not see much of the scenery of that area.  Gradually, the dry range land gave way to farm land.  All in all, we traveled about 380 miles today, which was considerably more than our usual.

We stopped for the night at Lake Vermillion State Recreation Area, a little west of Sioux Fall, South Dakota. The park is about six miles south of the interstate, so it is quiet out here.  The registration process for the park was frustratingly slow, done on the telephone mounted at the entry booth, but once in, we found the park to be very nice, clean and fairly new.  It has electrical hook-ups, no water, but it is good to be able to turn on lights to read and so forth. The evening sky was full of swallows diving around the edge of the lake.  There are only a few other campers here; there is a full moon rising; Dan says the showers are decent.  Ah, life is good!

Day 83: Buffalo WY to Wind Cave National Park, SD

It was an easy day’s drive, only 200 miles, with the first part on I-90 in eastern Wyoming.  Flat, dry rangeland with not much to see except the occasional antelope and quite a few cattle.  The posted speed limit was 80 mph!

We stopped for some groceries in Gillette, then at Moorcroft we took Route 16, heading southeast toward the Black Hills.  As we approached the Wyoming/South Dakota border, trees finally reappeared, just lots of conifers, but still they gave a bit of shape to the land and some interest.  In South Dakota we were slowed by road construction as we entered Black Hills National Forest and the road became windy as the hills became steeper.

At Custer City, we headed south on Route 85 to Wind Cave National Park, our destination for the day. Entering the park, we immediately saw lots of prairie dogs and also along the road were bison.  The campground is tucked into a valley with some trees, and it’s a little odd in that the RV sites are set up parallel to the road.  Dan had quite a time finding one that was level enough, but after some struggle we were parked and set up. 

Having arrived around 2 o’clock, we had a relaxing Sunday afternoon.  The thermometer that was in the direct sun measured 108, but there was a breeze and shade, so it was pleasant.  There are trees and shrubs alongside our site, so Dan watched birds up on the hill while I read and Ranger lounged in the sun, enjoying the lush green grass.  In late afternoon, Dan built a small campfire, and while sitting around it, we watched a doe and two fawns make their way along the hillside, munching on the shrubs and at one point being about fifty yards from us.  Better than TV!

We visited with the couple next to us for a while in the evening.  We had noticed that they had neither RV nor tent, and it turned out that their tent had been totally destroyed in a windstorm in the Badlands.  They were traveling from Florida but they decided to push on, sleeping in their car.  A little strange, but they seemed very upbeat about it all.

Tomorrow we cross South Dakota. 

Day 82: Yellowstone to Buffalo WY

How many different ecosystems can a person pass through in a day?  Lots, as yesterday showed!

We left Canyon Campground fairly early (31 degrees) and went south along a park road that went through open prairie, with quite a few bison to view.  The road followed the Yellowstone River---some ducks and Canada geese along it.  

At Yellowstone Lake (which is huge) we turned east on the road to the east entrance; that road ran along the lake shore.  When we stopped briefly to clean the windshield, we could hear coyotes howling in the distance.  A short time later, we came upon many cars pulled over to the side of the road (sure sign that there is a critter to see) and there was a grizzly bear in the field,  not far off, entertaining the park visitors.  

Once it left the lake shore, the road rose into mountains which were covered with the remains of trees from a wildfire---that went on for miles.  Upon leaving Yellowstone, we entered  Shoshone National Forest, so it continued to be mountainous and wooded.  (I noted that the campgrounds there permitted only hard-sided campers due to the prevalence of bears in the area.)  Gradually the road went down into a dry, open prairie as went got to Cody WY.

The stretch between Cody and Greybull was typical western desert, flat and rather boring, mile after mile.

After Greybull came the surprise of the day.  We took Route 14 toward I-90 near Sheridan, which looked rather windy  on the map.  It went right through Bighorn National Forest, and it was a spectacular road!  The western end began running along a creek with cottonwood along it, while the road itself was wedged between towering rock walls.  


It gradually rose in a series of switchbacks and traveled along the edges of cliffs for miles.  We stopped for lunch at a place called Shell Falls, which the explanatory signboards described as an oasis, very green and lush.  Continuing on, we ended up on high plains, real "cowboy country" with warning signs about "watch for livestock on road".  And yes, we did have to slow for cows that didn't seem to mind the cars at all.



As we approached I-90, the road went down and down and down in a series of switchbacks.  From the entry onto the interstate, it was a short drive to Buffalo, Wyoming, where we are spending the night at a very nice private RV park.  The owner made several suggestions for dog-walking areas, so Ranger and I got out and stretched our legs after the long drive (about 250 miles) and enjoyed feeling WARM after our visit in Yellowstone.  

Some photos from Yellowstone

Now that I have fairly strong internet, here are some pictures from the past few days in Yellowstone National Park.

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River

Us at Artist Point in Yellowstone

Upper Falls 

Day 81: Yellowstone…another day

Another great day at Yellowstone, though the weather continues to be very cool, 30 at night, 60 in the day (but no rain---hurray!)

We returned to the Grand Canyon after breakfast to check out the north rim.  We took the North Rim Trail from Grand View to Inspiration Point, a little over a mile, and a very different trail from the South Rim---through spruce and fir forest, with occasional glimpses of the canyon itself, with fewer hills to climb.  Returning to the RV, we gave Ranger a brief walk, then hiked in the opposite direction on the North Rim Trail to see the view from Lookout Point.  The Red Rock Trail started at that point, going down into the canyon to give a close-up look of the Lower Falls.  Dan opted out, but I went down---which was fine on the trip out, quite exhausting on the trip back up!

One of the few places in the area where Ranger was allowed is the Canyon Village (restaurants, shops, and so forth), so we went there next to give him a longer walk.  While there, we bought lunch and ate outside in the sun, which by then was feeling very warm. 

In the afternoon we again did some touring in the RV, going south toward Yellowstone Lake.  The road followed the Yellowstone River and went through open area where we saw many bison.  We stopped at a place called Mud Volcano and looked at some of the thermal features.

We did a bit of bird-watching at the lake, checking out the Lake visitors area and the Bridge Bay marina along the way, then turned around and drove back, again seeing bison.

We had a good hot campfire which was much enjoyed as the temperatures again dropped close to freezing.