In order to make our appointment to get the RV serviced early Monday morning, we moved the RV from Saratoga to Cupertino for the night. We were treated to a wonderful dinner and great company.
July 2, 2016 – July 30, 2016 – Saratoga, CA – Jim and Louise’s lower driveway
We’ve been in the Bay Area for 1 month helping friends but what is so amazing is that in order for us to do this, other friends have helped us! They say it takes a village and it truly does! One couple has allowed us to park in their lower driveway. Another family has loaned us a car. Two families have allowed us to shower and do laundry at their place. Another person helps pickup mail at the mailbox. People have offered for us to stay at their place while they are on vacation! Others, to use spare rooms. We are overwhelmed with the kindness and generosity everyone has extended to us. We could never repay or express our gratitude for all this help. We feel so blessed for all this help and support.
The view looking out into the trees.
On a funny note…we’ve learned a few things about being without a home.
- Libraries are your friends! They have WiFi, AC and bathrooms but they close at a normal hour. A real bummer for night owls!
Don’t pass up a flushing toilet – ever!
Being night owls in Cupertino is a bust…Your choices are the Donut Wheel or Paul and Eddie’s. Not sure either has WiFi.
Hospitals are open all night. They have free WiFi, tables and AC but the parking may cost you a bit.
Showers are a challenge. It’s difficult to find public showers. If you’re a member of a gym you’re set but other than that, you’re county parks or friends are your best bet. Bring quarters (not so much for the friends)!
Cell reception in Cupertino is some of the worst we’ve experienced in our travels! Voice mails arrive hours later. Text messages arrive whenever you hit a pocket of good reception.
Problems we’ve (mostly Terry) solved while hanging around:
LEVELING THE RV: We lost (Peggy left them at a campground) the wooden boards we use when we level the RV on gravel/soft dirt so Terry re-built them.
REFRIGERATOR: The refrigerator has been acting up since we left June 1st. Terry found that the ventilation on the top of the frig was blocked by insulation so he fixed it. He also added fans to move the air. The people (us) who installed the last refrigerator didn’t do it properly :-)
WIFI: Most RV campgrounds have poor WiFi. Terry found several inexpensive antennas that help improve the reception…Starbucks here we come!
WEDDING CLOTHES: Our son is getting married in October while we are still on our trip. We left in such a rush that we didn't have clothes or were missing “parts”. While being back, we’ve managed to assemble clothes we’ll wear so we’re both looking forward to celebrating this event and are excited to gain a new daughter-in-law and her family!
On the roof of the RV working on the refrigerator.
July 1, 2016 (Friday) – Reno, NV to Jackson, CA
Traffic was so bad coming into the Bay Area on Friday that we decided to camp some place and go in on Saturday, like Louise suggested (wise person!). Rancho Seco was our first choice but it has this DUMB rule that on a holiday weekend, you must camp there 3 nights minimum but we only needed one night and they had one site that was only available one night. BUT the rule prevailed and they would not give us the site! So, the site went vacant and we had to go in search of another place. STUPID! We ended up at the local casino, Jackson Rancheria RV Park – a bit more expensive but very nice facilities.
June 30, 2016 (Thursday) – Winnemucca, NV to Reno, NV
We enjoyed a short driving day and the chance to visit with friends in Reno.
June 29, 2016 (Wednesday) – Salt Lake City, UT to Winnemucca, NV (again)
BONNEVILLE SALT FLATS - there’s a rest area in western Utah on I-80 headed west. All you see is white, flat land. It’s where they do the speed trials for cars. We saw this faucet where people were washing their shoes off and I thought “What whimps! What’s a little salt?” Then we walked on it. The farther out you go the taller you get, as the salt builds up on the bottom of your shoes! By the time you get back, you have 1-2 inches of salt. That’s why they have the faucet…There are places you can go and drive on this stuff! Worth a short stop. Wonder what it does to a car and its tires?
Bella’s Restaurant, Wells, NV – on I-80 in the northeastern part of Nevada is a local restaurant that has the best Chicken Fried Steak we’ve ever had – coming from Texas that says a lot. The meals are big so split it with a friend. Worth a stop.
June 28, 2016 (Tuesday) – Laramie, WY to Salt Lake City, UT
Highway 210 between Cheyenne and Laramie, WY is beautiful. You’ll find yourself around 8400 ft. high with the road gently going through meadows with trees and interesting rock formations. This is a nice alternative to the interstate!
We decided to push through to the Salt Lake City area. We were searching online for a place to stay for the night and found the Oquirrh Mountain Inn and RV Park, in Tooele, UT, just west of Salt Lake City. The "RV Park" was exactly that - 10 RV spaces on a rear parking lot behind the Inn, each with electric (air conditioning!) and water hookups. At $20 for the night, this was the perfect overnight pit stop.
June 27, 2016 (Monday) - Custer, SD to Laramie, WY
MT. RUSHMORE: Since we weren’t able to visit Mt. Rushmore last night, we headed there this morning. Last time we were there we camped in a National Forest campground atHorse Thief Lake. It’s pretty and very close to Mt Rushmore. Keep it in mind if you’re in the area.
Like the Crazy Horse Memorial, Mt. Rushmore has become a BIG enterprise. They have escorted RV parking (a golf cart takes you to your RV parking space), multi-level auto parking and the visitor’s area is huge. We were there in the late 1970’s or early 80’s and just remember a small parking lot with a terrace view of Mt. Rushmore. There’s a nice walking loop trail called the Presidential Trail which is about ½ mile that gives you different views of Mt. Rushmore. Terry and I, as usual, went the opposite direction than most people around the loop. YES! We recommend going right, and go down the stairs first. Then when you finish, you have a nice stroll back to the main plaza instead of huffing and puffing up the stone stairs.
CURT GOWDY SP, WY: We drove south across South Dakota and Wyoming to get to Curt Gowdy State Park between Cheyenne and Laramie, WY. Most of the drive was across high plains with the wind blowing hard and lots of grass and ranch land. As we approached the park, it became hilly with a reservoir. The stars are bright and the ever-present wind has died. You can see the Milky Way Galaxy and it’s very quiet. It’s beautiful.
June 26, 2016 (Sunday) - Keyhole SP, WY to Custer, SD
We woke up smelling light smoke. Everything east of this lake is closed due to the Kara Creek Fire but I-90 is now open which is a good sign. We were not evacuated last night which was even better news!
JEWEL CAVE NATIONAL MONUMENT, SD: It was on the way into Custer, SD. We arrived a little after 1pm and were very lucky to get tickets for their last tour at 4pm. This cave is the third longest cave in the world. Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is the longest at over 400 miles but they think that only 3-4% of Jewel Cave has been discovered so far.
CRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL, SD: Our plan was to check into the RV park then go to see Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore today but we found out that tonight is the “Night Blast” at Crazy Horse. It only happens twice a year and you need to get there early. We arrived at 7pm, got in free and parked. We toured the site and then at 10pm they had a laser light show followed by explosions on the monument. It was like a huge drive in movie without the cartoons. Interesting but...the museum and history were more interesting. They’ve finished Crazy Horse’s face and are now working on his hand. They’re hoping to get a larger crew, split it into 2 groups, so one works on his hair and while the other works on the horse’s mane.
June 25, 2016 (Saturday) - Garryowen, MT to Keyhole State Park, WY
DEVIL’S TOWER, SD: Today we planned to visit Devil’s Tower National Monument on our way to Keyhole State Park. We traveled the smaller state Highway 212 and came into Devil’s Tower from the north. It’s a pretty drive across the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Reservations.
FIRE: We’re learning to read the sky/horizon more now since radio/TV/cell/internet is sporadic. As we got closer to Devil’s Tower we saw clouds that were coming up from the ground, not the sky, covering a large area towards Keyhole SP. Turns out there are 2 wildfires, one just east of the state park we’re supposed to stay in tonight (!) and they had to evacuate several campgrounds on Friday night. We called the park and they told us the park was still open. So, we decided to enjoy our visit to Devil’s Tower.
We walked the trail around the base of Devil’s Tower, listened to a ranger presentation and watched the prairie dogs in the meadow below the tower.
Another call to the state park verified that it was still open but roads to the east of the park were closed, including I-90. They gave us an alternate route and we got there safely.
LESSON: The farther you get from Google Headquarters, the less reliable Google Maps becomes. Pros: it’s great to supplement what you already have such as a different level of detail but double check it against your GPS and a paper map! Cons: All the cities/towns have the same size font so you have no idea how big they are. The routes it comes up with may include gravel or dirt roads! This happens more often in Montana and Wyoming where there are LOTS of dirt and gravel roads.
June 24, 2016 (Friday) - all day at Garryowen, MT
Once a year the Native American tribes celebrate their heritage. This weekend Friday-Sunday there are special events in the entire area to celebrate the Native Indian Days. We saw this around Glacier National Park when we were there several years ago. One of the events is the reenactment of the Battle of the Little Bighorn (Custer’s Last Stand).
Battle reenactment across the Little Bighorn River from viewing area.
CUSTER’S LAST STAND RE-ENACTMENT: Our Plan B worked! We got to the reenactment safely, saw it and got back to the RV safely. We were the ONLY people on bikes. There were places for horses, cars, pickups but bikes..not so much. The show was interesting. At one point, a herd of horses appeared. Not being horse people, that was pretty impressive – probably over 50 horses being herded by native Americans on bareback.
Herd of Indian horses at the reenactment.
CUSTER BATTLEFIELD NATIONAL MONUMENT, SD: Once safely in the RV, we drove to the Custer Battlefield National Monument, visited the Visitor’s Center, attended a ranger presentation then took our bikes down and rode the 10 mile (round trip) “auto tour” trail. It goes along the ridge and has pullouts with information. The electric bikes were great for getting up and down the rolling hills on the tour route. We could not have ridden it without the electric motor assist. It was a gorgeous day – sunny with a light breeze, which made for a very pleasant ride.
Little Bighorn Monument National Monument
STRANGE WIND: As we were returning, we noticed a strange dust or smoke in the horizon. Terry thought it was a fire. Peggy thought it was a dust devil. We stopped to look at the Native American Memorial, very close to the Custer’s Last Stand Memorial and only a couple of hundred yards from where we parked the RV and the end of our bike ride. Out of nowhere the wind was howling, carrying dust and stuff with it. The wind had gusts so strong they took our breath away. We ducked behind the large granite displays of the Memorial for shelter from the fierce winds. After a few minutes of being pummeled by the wind, we decided to ride on down to the RV. The gusts were so strong that they almost knocked Peggy off her bike (Terry, too). It was a wind storm! Neither of us had ever experienced anything like this. We managed to get the bikes put away and got safely in the RV when it really hit. The RV rocked. The gusts were over 50 mph. Our emergency radio had a calm lady’s voice saying to expect high winds with gusts up to 50 mph but the wind was 40-50 mph with the gusts going higher! We sat in the RV until the wind died down a little (still very strong) before we left the park.
LESSON: Pay attention to the horizon!
It was a fun day. The combination of the reenactment and the ranger presentation gave us a more rounded perspective of what lead up to the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Riding our bikes continues to be a blast and very useful in areas where there is limited or no RV parking. The wind storm is something we won't forget for awhile.