Back on the road and on the blog again. Had a great 3 months (January – March) in Arizona but due to technical problems like the computer crashing – had to put the blog on hold. Next we spent a few months in Texas with family and moving Jack’s mother and also brother into their new homes. Next we spent almost a month in Alabama working on landscaping our property. During this time we had great news – our son finally proposed to Meg and the wedding is December 4 in Rochester, NY. We could not have been happier. Two months were spent in Buffalo/Rochester picking out clothing, place for the rehearsal and seeing where all the activities are going to take place. But it is time for us to start back traveling and seeing the states.

Headed to state of Washington to meet friends but first we stopped in Moscow, IA to visit with Sandy and Darius as well as HWH for quick check on our leveling system. Sandy and Darius showed us all around the area, meeting not only their son but Carol and Tom Maxwell’s family. What a great group of people. Next we had to stop in South Dakota to renew driver’s license. You can’t drive across South Dakota, and not stop in Mitchell to see the Corn Palace which started in 1892. The idea was started by two men to showcase the crops grown in the area and to attract immigrant farmers to settle here. Each year a new decorating theme is chosen and the outside of the Corn Palace is stripped and redecorated with new corn and grains. Over 275,000 ears of corn are sawed in half and nailed to the building following patterns created by local artist, kind of a “corn-by-number” process. There are 13 different colors of corn, each grown in a separate field, just for the Corn Palace. The Corn Palace is known around the world as a folk-art wonder on the prairie of South Dakota. This year’s theme is Mode of Transportation, showing canoes, covered wagon, snowmobile, motorcycle and even a Sagway.

Our timing was great(?) as we were in South Dakota during the 70th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. You are surrounded by motorcycles as you drive anywhere close to the west side of South Dakota. Saturday we headed over to Sturgis for 5 hours to see some amazing motorcycles and even more amazing sights!! To say we saw some unbelievable motorcycles is an understatement. There were all types of motorcycles from old homemade cycles, one made with back end of 57Chevrolet Bellaire with a V-6 engine; a turn of the century motorized bicycle; a bike that looked like a John Deer tractor; and a three wheeler that had a beer keg for a fuel tank. Then you were astonished with the high price, professionally built and painted gorgeous motorcycles. Then the incredible sights which included a guy walking his dog around with a cat and a mouse on the dog’s back; several ladies showing sometimes more than you needed to see and guys wearing all kinds of head gear and ridiculous outfits. We were told since it was the last day, there would not be the huge crowd but we were still very impressed. Judging from the crowd that day, we could only imagine what it was like during the middle of the week. It was a Rally we will never forget and one that we would like to come back to – and with a motorcycle if Jack had his way.

Time to meet up with our friends in Riverton, WY and travel to Washington. Meeting up with Diana and Gene, we headed to Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park for a day. Jackson Hole is a little valley which is comprised of the towns of Jackson, Teton Villages and Wilson. Never made it to Wilson but Jackson and Teton Villages has many quaint stores and restaurants that we enjoyed. Camping in the middle of Grand Teton National Park was incredible. As always, we wished we could have stayed there for several days. But Washington calls so we head out thru Yellowstone National Park, traveling the western loop to Bozeman, MT. What a different view we saw of Yellowstone from the time we were here June 2009 when we only drove to Old Faithful. Here we saw many trees and sparkling streams. Traffic was heavy but the scenery was amazing. Was disappointed that we did not see any bear or moose, only elk. We arrived in Bozeman at Betty and Konrad’s ranch, spending the night there on the ranch surrounded by mountains. Bozeman is a cute town with many old buildings actually in great condition and being used. Had great hamburger/bison burger at Ted’s (Turner) Montana Grill. Ted has a ranch nearby and owns the most singly-own land in the US (not the best but the most acreage). The meat for the restaurant actually comes from his ranch and was outstanding.

Washington is still calling so we head out to Coeur d’Alene, ID for another night. Drive was long and roads where terrible (where is the stimulus package here) but Coeur d’Alene is another charming town. Spent the night at Blackwell Island RV Park on Lake Coeur d’Alene and had a delicious dinner at Cedar’s Floating Restaurant.

Washington is still calling so headed out for the last 8+ hour drive. It was great to see Brent and Kathy waiting for us at the gate to their park and to be able to settle in for a couple weeks.