One last summer fling

Didn't stay at home long just one week ...........Had a nice visit with Bill and Phylis then off the next morning for the Ontario Teachers Campground near Parry Sound. Had to try out the new generators :-) They have electrical sites (8) at the campground but we decided to dry camp.........well as dry as our 60 gallon on board tank would allow. Had fun visiting with Ed. Wilson, hiking and just relaxing around the private lake very peaceful (no motors allowed on the lake) Had a campfire every night and not a mosquito in site what a treat. Full moon each night but were able to see shooting stars and lots of satellites. Pics posted at Http://picasaweb.google.com/collindo99 click on the OTG folder for a few pics of the weekend.

Doug.

Trip end

Well we have had a day to relax and put things away. Thought I would put in a link to all the pics we took on this trip.
http://picasaweb.google.com/collindo99/calgary
http://picasaweb.google.com/collindo99/calgary2
http://picasaweb.google.com/collindo99/calgary3

Doug.

Home again home again

Had three lovely days visiting friends in Michigan. Relaxed, did some touring, chatted and had a good time. Left there Saturday morning and got up to the outlet mall in the early afternoon and Sue was immediately doing the rounds of the mall. We decided to get a campground for the night so I could clean up the rig a bit and flush the holding tanks real well. Sunday saw us arrive home around 5 p.m. It was still hot and sticky so we unloaded what needed to be unloaded and will leave the rest until tomorrow when it is forecast to be cooler. Then off to survey the house.......well seems Scott isn't so good at looking after the pool. He is a bit colour blind and what he thought was just brown mud in the pool is in fact green green algae it will take a while to get the pool back in shape. Other than that things are in relatively good shape.
Doug.

picking up traffic on the way home

Left Des Moines early this morning after another night of light shows..........thunderstorms all night. All the rivers and streams we past were flowing high and in most cases over their banks. As we travelled east we got into more and more people...... smaller farms and more towns and traffic and unfortunately rougher roads. We are in a Passport America park near Joliet about 1 hour from Chicago. Tomorrow we head to visit friends in Marcellus Michigan for a few days then off to Birch Run for a day of shopping for Sue before heading back into Ontario probably Sunday or Monday.
Doug.

Had to throw the anchor out

After a long day of driving we arrived at Griffs Valley view park just east of Des Moines Iowa. Beautiful park large concrete pad sites, beautiful landscaping. Very very hot 96 degrees F. yesterday and humid. The poor air conditioner was running all day and night. So much humidity had a bit of water from condensation drip down from the air conditioner inside the trailer.......nothing too bad though. Last night my weather alert radio kept going off issuing warning of severe thunderstorms, high winds and flash flood warnings. About midnight the storm started and the winds and heavy rains buffeted the rig. Great light show from lightning as well. In the morning things had cleared out and I was able to go retrieve my wheel chokes that the wind blew to the back of our lot. Quite the experience. Anyway off to explore Des Moines today staying here again tonight, then off towards Chicago for a night. Hope to be home the beginning of next week. Previous pics are located at http://picasaweb.google.com/collindo99/calgary3
Doug.

keepin our cool

We are still in Mitchell, South Dakota having decided to stay here for 3 nights (passport america park so only $15 bucks a night for full hookups). The temps are in the high 80's low 90's and our air conditioner is getting a workout. Yesterday we took in a movie, swam in the pool and went for an evening walk. Lots of bikers to look at as they all keep heading to Sturgis. Apparently about 1/2 million bikers make it to Sturgis each year with a lot of them following I90 which is right next to us. Lots of signs welcoming bikers and of course shops set up everywhere selling "Leather and Lace" biker stuff. We will leave here tomorrow and get to Des Moines Iowa for Sunday and Monday nights, then on towards Chicago.
Doug.

Motorcycles galore

Wall Drug was well Wall Drug. We left about 9:30 am and headed towards the bad lands. As usual the scenery was awesome. The rest of the day was a long drive through South Dakota to Mitchell. Lots of farms huge farms with few people. Mitchell is the home of the worlds only corn palace. Whoopee I thought Sue would be impressed coming from a corn growing farm family.... well ....... not so much. Anyway the campground is kinda nice and we may stay here for a few days to just relax.........seems we have had something planned everyday since we left and need some just well down time. I have posted the most recent pics here http://picasaweb.google.com/collindo99/calgary3
Doug.

Working the truck

We left early from Yellowstone and of course as we were on the west side had to travel through the park to get to the east side and on. We encountered lots of slow downs for animal pics and then up and down high mountains out the east side of the park. Yes Paul the Dodge ram exhaust brake was great. but that wasn't the end of the climbs lots of what I would call mountain climbs and descents but compared to what we have been doing just little ups and downs........again until east of Cody. Up over the Big Horn Mtns steep climb for about 5,000 feet then an 11 mile 8% downhill. If the truck isn't broken in by now it never will be. We got all the way to Sheridan, Wy. where we stayed the night at camp walmart. I have travelled over 10,000 Km since leaving and the truck keeps beeping at me that it needs an oil change so we tried the Dodge dealer but everything is booked up for at least a week..... sooo on we went the next day to Devils Tower National park campground for one night. After setting up the ranger came by to let us know we were under severe storm warnings.... which hit not long afterwards but we rode it out. After the storm the clouds cleared and it was a very pleasant day to hike around Devils Tower. We left there about 9 am this morning and headed into South Dakota where we again tried a dodge dealership near Sturgis S. Dakota but no luck so I went to a local Kwik Lube and got the Dodge serviced, then on east. Tonight we are in Wall South Dakota and have just finished touring the Wall Drug store. It will be nice to have AC and a shower here, the state park had no hookups at all. We will head further east tomorrow. See our recent pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/collindo99/calgary3
Doug.

Steam Baths

Today we explored the north end of Yellowstone and while we didn't see a lot of wildlife (just a few elk) we were continually "wowed" by the different landscapes we encountered. Geysers, mudpots, mountains, valleys, I will try to keep the number of pics I post to a manageable number. Sue took over 150 pics herself and I beat that number by a bit. Every time we stopped we were wowed. Long day we finally got back to the trailer again around 9pm. Tomorrow we leave early and travel through Yellowstone once again heading towards Cody and points east. We haven't made any reservations this time just kinda winging it. Hopefully we will find a reasonable campsite for the night.
Pics are posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/collindo99/calgary3
Doug.