Winter Excursion 9, Day 277

After all the driving for the past week or so, today was a day of rest. We did manage to go to Wally World for a few supplies, but for the most part we just hung out at camp.

I was able to fix the stone chip in the camper front window. I used a windshield repair kit made by Rain-X. It worked great!

All is well in the Boss Camp! 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 276

Today's 260 mile drive was fine until we got across the Mississippi (gee that's fun to type). That's where I-90 and I-94 come together. It's also the highway to the Wisconsin Dells, a tourist hotspot, think Dollywood/Gatlinburg area!

Here's our new site at Taken Creek County Park/Campground. We were in this exact site 6 years ago with Jacob.

We said Hi to the Camp Host across the street from us. She knew where we had hosted last year at Dames Ferry and also where we live in Lowville. She knew where Miller's Meat Market is! Small World!

We will be here for three days. It will be nice to not have to drive everyday!
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 275

Our original route planning had us doing a 400 mile day when we leave Blue Mounds State Park. We decided to leave a day early and drive 175 miles and spend one night. Here's our new campground, Albert Lea / Austin KOA Journey, MN.

We didn't even unhook the truck. This stop will make tomorrow's drive a lot easier.

Weather is still nice and cool, but we have very bad air quality due to the smoke/haze from the Canadian wildfires.
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 274

We drove into town this morning to tackle our favorite camping chore...LAUNDRY! We actually knocked it out very fast. The laundromat wasn't crowded. We did a little food shopping and headed back to camp.

I'm not sure when it happened, but we got a stone chip in the camper's front window. It's about the size of a nickel.

I got a repair kit while we were in town, but it was missing a part required to use it. I'll have to get another kit during our travels before the chip spiders.

Back at camp we watched the campground fill up as it is Friday afternoon. People watching is one of our favorite pastimes. 
  

Winter Excursion 9, Day 273

We left Richmond Lake Recreation Area at 0930 and made the 230 mile drive to Blue Mounds State Park, MN. Here's Site #24.

We were in this exact site 6 years ago when we made the Family Reunion Trip with our Grandson Jacob. The site and the area have been renovated since then and the campground is really nice!

We spent the late afternoon and evening relaxing and enjoying the 70 degree weather.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 272

I got the new stabilizer jack installed this morning with no issues. I'll be more aware of curbs at gas stations from now on!

We went into Aberdeen, SD around noon. First stop was a car wash. The truck looks good again. We went to The Lager Inn for lunch.

The sign on the outside read "Coldest Beer In Town". It was correct and the food was good.

Next stop was the grocery store for some supplies. We had asked our waitress what was the best grocery store in town. She said "Kessler's". She was right, this store is on par with Publix. We spent over an hour there.

Back at camp we watched some TV and had an early snack dinner.

We enjoyed the Aberdeen area, but will be leaving tomorrow for more points east.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 271

We left camp early this morning enroute to our new campground, Richmond Lake Recreation Area just north of Aberdeen, SD. Here's site # 3E.

This is a really nice campground, well kept, and plenty of room between sites.

The drive today was once again on RT-12 through North and South Dakota. This is a secondary road and not crowded at all. We do get to drive through a few towns, but they are few and far between. We stopped for gas and I got a pick of me and my buddy.

We were amazed at how green everything is! We usually think of South Dakota as the Badlands and the Black Hills. Most of the drive was through cattle country and huge farms. Some of the fields of corn, soybean, and sunflowers were hundreds of acres in size.

We drove into Aberdeen to an RV parts store and picked up a new stabilizer jack. I'll replace it tomorrow.

We will be here for just two days.
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 270

We spent the day in camp for the most part.

We had a storm blow through mid morning. I got some really good pics. Here's a few.

We were at the southern end of this storm as it came by. We got some pea sized hail and a little rain. If we had been a few miles to the north we would have been hammered.

In the afternoon we did some camp maintenance and started to pack up as we leave in the morning.

We planned on getting dinner at a food truck that had a five star rating, but they were closed. We ended up back at the burger joint we ate at a few days ago. They are the only thing going in this tiny town. Once again the food was good and the beer was cold.

 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 269

We had a lazy morning and then went to a local joint for burgers and beer. Back at camp we watched a few movies and relaxed.

Temps moderated in the late afternoon and we got a nice breeze, so we sat outside. I got the drone out and got a few pics of the area.

Here's our current campground. We are on the bottom right.

And a close up of our site and camper.

The next four are looking north, south, east, and west from 300 feet above us. First pic is the little town of Bowman, ND.

We did some air fried chicken wings for dinner, caught another movie, and hit the sack. It's been a nice relaxing day.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 268

We left The Fort at 49 Campground and Restaurant, Custer, MT around 0900. We drove I-94 north to near Miles City, MT and picked up Rt 12 heading east. This is a two lane road, but was in good shape most of the way. We stopped for gas in a small town and I dinged one of our rear stabilizers leaving the gas station. I'll have to replace it. It's bent pretty bad!

We arrived at The Ridge Campground in Bowman, ND around 1400. Temps were in the 90s. We had reservations here and the last email said to pick any site. Out of the 17 sites only two were open! Here's site #17. No frills, but FHU!

We will be here for three nights after driving everyday for the past four days. It will be nice to just chill out.

We had a bad storm blow through around 2300 that was not forecasted. The weather radio went off and we had winds around 60 mph! There was tons of lightning, but very little rain if any. The camper got a good shaking!
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 267

We left 2 Bar Lazy H RV Park around 0830 and arrived at The Fort at 49 RV Park and Restaurant in Custer, MT around 1430. The drive was uneventful except for the gas stop at Big Timber, MT. The place was crowded and folks were "parking" at the pumps to go inside and shop or eat. We sat behind a truck with a boat at the pump for 20 minutes! We finally backed up and drove around to another pump, of course the guy with the boat showed up as we were moving. The new pump I pulled into was broken. So around we went again and finally got a working pump. We spent over 30 minutes at this gas stop!

Here's Site #12 at The Fort at 49 Campground and Restaurant, Custer, MT. When we arrived the place was empty. Owner said take any site you like only three of you will be here tonight. Sites are level with FHU! I'll get a pic of the restaurant this evening as we are eating there and the owner has some good stuff on the menu!.

 Here's the restaurant pics. The food was fantastic! 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 266

Today is a mile stone in our travels. It is camping day 2000 since we started 9 years ago with our first travel trailer  If you do the math that's 5.475 years of camping in 9 years! If you round that up it's five and a half years of camping!

Today was a repeat of yesterday. We left Wolf Lodge Campground in Idaho this morning at 0900 and drove the 272 (YAHOO) to 2 Bar Lazy H RV Park, MT. After the time change we arrived at 1530 (lost an hour). We stopped at a Rest Stop for lunch and had this little guy begging for food the entire time. He "chirped" constantly!

We did not feed him as he was to fat from others feeding him junk food!

We stopped for gas in Drummond, MT and got this pic across from the gas station.

I'm not sure what you can do with a "used cow"! Maybe some sour milk!

Our new site is just a "Plain Jane" It doesn't even have a picnic table! We did not unhook the truck again. It's another one night "stop n' go"!

It does have FHU (Full Hook Ups) that is great for pooping!

Winter Excursion 9, Day 265

We had an easy if not long drive today. We left Ft Lewis, WA around 0900 and arrived at Wolf Lodge Campground, ID just east of Coeur d'Alene at 1530. On the way we stopped at a rest stop in WA along I-90 to eat lunch and got this pic. Notice the mountains in the background.

Here's Site #9 at Wolf Lodge Campground, ID just east of Coeur d'Alene, ID. It's a Good Sam CG and just right for 1 night. The site is totally level, we didn't even unhook! Makes for a fast get-away in the morning. Sites are a little tight for our liking, but will do for a night!

We did 345 miles today. Tomorrow will be a little easier, only 272...YAHOO! Notice it rhymes..LOL!
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 264

The day started out a little rough! I was typing up yesterday's blog entry when I noticed the Camp Host pull our site tag. I went out and asked why. His answer was "you are leaving today"! I was stunned at first, but said we were not leaving until tomorrow. He said we would have to talk to the clerks at 0900 when the office opens. I was first in line. Seems they made a mistake and checked us out a day early! There was already a new camper coming into our site, so we had to move. Here's site #301. Probably one of the most unlevel sites we've ever had.

The rest of the day went a little smoother. We loaded up on supplies for our trek home and then relaxed at our new site.

Tomorrow we will be heading east.
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 263

We are still at Ft Lewis, but in a new site at the campground. We moved from 207 to our usual 103.

We spent the day doing laundry, washing the truck, and relaxing. We did make a run to Camping World this morning for a few supplies.

The camp Host stopped by around dinner time. He noticed the Army Aviator decal on our truck. Turns out he was an OH-58 Maintenance Test Pilot! Small world! 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 262

We were up at 0530 as we are allowed to leave the ship at 0630 because we are handling our own luggage. We were near the front of the line for disembarking, but there was a delay due to a customs issue. We stood in the line with everyone else until 0800! I felt sorry for folks trying to catch an early flight. I'm sure many people missed their flight. We took a shuttle to where the Seattle Cruise Park parking lot is, picked up the truck, and was back in our camper at Ft Lewis by 1000. All is well with the truck and the camper.

It was good to be back to our "tiny house" as Cath calls it. We just hung out here all day, We will be here for three days and then start our trek back home.

 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 261

We slept in this morning and woke up on the way to Victoria, BC. It was a late night and we lost an hour, we are back on PDT now. We were at sea all day and arrived at Victoria around 2000. Many of the passengers disembarked, but had to be back on the ship 2245 as the ship is leaving for Seattle then.

We spent the day onboard people and whale watching. Cath & finally saw a bunch of whales. We did take in a show around 1600. The Beatles show was very good, you would swear the Beatles were on the stage.

After an early dinner dinner we packed up our luggage and then watched a movie.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 260

We woke up this morning in Ketchikan, AK after the cruise from Glacier Bay.

We all went on a Wildlife tour. It was just the 10 of us and a great driver/guide. Here's a few of the group.

First stop was to check out the Bald Eagles. These birds were not the least bit afraid of us. I was probably 15 feet away from this one.

Here's a pic of a juvenile. He will get his adult feathers around 4 to 5 years old.

Next stop was at a small waterfall. Some of our group hiked up to near the top.

The best stop was to check out the bears.

We were hoping they would do a little salmon fishing. There was fish in the stream, but I guess they were full!

This is a Steller's Jay. They are all over the place. Looks like a bluebird with a black head.

The tour was only 3 hours and ended at an old abandoned saw mill. It now has totem poles. We got a short brief on what some of the totem poles are for and some of the meanings.

Back at the ship we left for Victoria, BC, our last stop on the cruise. 

We had a nice dinner with everyone then hit the casinos and bars for the evening.

Last pic I got just before bedtime around 2300. I took this off of our balcony.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 259

This morning we woke up in Glacier Bay. When I opened the curtains here's what greeted me. 

This Bay (National Park) hosts many glaciers. We spent the whole day here. The Park Rangers gave a lot of info about the park (glaciers) and it was all piped over the intercom system. I took lots of pics, here's a few.

Here's the view out of the front observation deck window.

All those little dots are sea otters. Many folks also saw whales. Cath & I were not so lucky.

There was no shore time while we were here. Cath and I chilled out in the room in the afternoon. As usual the whole family got together for dinner. We had a great meal at the sushi joint!

Winter Excursion 9, Day 258

We took a walk into Skagway this morning. At first it was not too crowded, but that changed quickly. It is a small town and there are three giant cruise ships in port!

The town of Skagway was the starting point to the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897.

Back at the ship we grabbed some lunch and then headed for the train depot for climb up White Pass, the trail the "Stampeders" took. It's a 2000 ft climb! The mountains, valleys, and the river were spectacular.

While in Skagway I got a pic of the biggest snowblower I've ever seen. I'm sure our North Country friends will appreciate this.

On the way back to the ship again we had a passerby take this for us.

And I forgot to mention that these guys woke us up this morning. This is the view from out stateroom balcony.

All is well in the Boss Camp....I mean cruise!