July 31, 2012

July 31, 2012

This morning I got a permanent.  Yippy, Skippy!  I really, really, really needed one.  I was having too many bad hair days.  And once again, I can’t tell you why it is called a permanent when it is only temporary!

We went to Sam’s Club for pizza.  Bill also needed to check out the diesel pump at their station to make sure he could get the coach in OK.  Looks good!

On the way home we stopped to try to find a cache that we looked for the last time we were in Rapid City.  This time we were successful.  Yea!

By the time we got back home there were very dark clouds moving in.  And we did have rain...at least six drops.  It was disappointing because the area is dry and needs a good soaking.

Once again we spent the evening watching the Olympics.

July 30, 2012

July 30, 2012

We left the MH this morning just after 9:00.  Our quest for the day was to find a lawyer who could help us with some legal work that we’ve been putting off for too long.

After getting information from several people and talking to several lawyers we decided to take out problems back to Loveland to the attorney we talked with last year.

We practiced for our anniversary celebration at Burger King.  Bill was happy.  He thinks practice will make perfect.

Nap time was really welcome when we got back home.  We were really tired from all the wandering around Rapid City.  After resting, we spent most of the rest of the day watching the Olympics.  The dedication of the athletes and their families is remarkable.  

July 29, 2012

July 29, 2012

We went from a cloudy, rainy morning to clear blue skies, and back to rain, and back to sunshine.  I have no idea if it was hot outside or not.  I stayed inside of the MH all day long.

We watched the NASCAR race from Indianopolis.  It was a good race and one of the Hendricks’ drivers, Jimmy Johnson, won.  We were glad about that.

It is a tradition in NASCAR that the winner and his whole team kiss the bricks at the finish line.  (The only part of the “brickyard” that is still made of bricks.)  Well, Jimmy tried to get his little two year old daughter to kiss the bricks.  No way was she going to have any part of that.  She wasn’t about to kiss that dirty, grimy ground.  It was so cute!

The Olympics had some interesting activities today.  We usually don’t watch much of the Games, but now that we can record them and watch later, minus the ads, we have watched quite a bit.

July 28, 2012

July 28, 2012

Bill got up really early (I think!) to take advantage of Cabela’s dumping station.  So now we have empty holding tanks (I guess!).  Actually, I went back to sleep so I don’t know all the things that Super RVer was doing, but when I woke up we were 100 miles further down the road.

When we got to the turnoff for the Badlands National Park we took the road south to the small town of Interior, SD.  Meredith had ask us to stop at the KOA to meet the family that she and Dwaine bought their Loveland house from.  The whole Kyle family works in the summer at the campground and travel during their off season.  They were nice to visit with, but we didn’t stay long.  They were very busy keeping everything running smoothly at the KOA.

We arrived at the Elks Lodge in Rapid City at 1:30.  We have signed up for five days camping and can extend that if we need to.  

Today’s Travel Totals: Mileage, 280.     

July 27, 2012

July 27, 2012 

After leaving Council Bluffs at 6:30,  we pulled into the Sioux City Sam’s Club parking lot in time to eat a pancake breakfast at McDonald’s.  After “fueling” ourselves and the motor home, we continued north on I-29 and discovered an interesting bit of geography.  Sioux City is in Iowa, South Sioux City is in Nebraska, and North Sioux City is in South Dakota.  Hm-m-m-m!  We only crossed one river, but didn’t know it put us in South Dakota.  Several miles later there were billboards advertising thing in SD.  We completely missed a State Line Celebration!  Drats!  Oh, well.  Life goes on!

We parked at Cabela’s in Mitchell on I-90.  There was a geocache power run starting here with caches hidden every .1 of a mile.  Usually, each container is alike and hidden in the same manner.  When we finally got started we found all of them fairly quickly.  

You may know that I report critter sightings from time to time.  Well, today, besides seeing cattle on the ranches as we drove across South Dakota, I saw a tiny chipmunk in the parking lot at Cabela’s.  I have had some help today, though...from Meredith in Loveland, Colorado.

This morning, both of her dogs were setting up quite a ruckus in the backyard.  She called them and Joey came back to her.  Not Hapa!  She wouldn’t give up.  It seems the dogs had a raccoon in a tree and Hapa wasn’t about to leave her prize.  Meredith won out, in spite of the dog’s determination.

Later, Dwaine took the dogs on a trail for some exercise.  They met a couple who advised Dwaine not to go any further.  There was a bear taking a nap by the side of the trail.  That would have been a whole new kind of playmate for the two pups.  Yikes!

So my critter report was borrowed.  Thanks, Meredith.

Today’s Travel Totals: Mileage, 253---Geocaches found, 13.

July 26, 2012

July 26, 2012 

As we drove across Missouri we noticed how much drier it was than Mississippi.  So when we woke up to the sound of hard rain on the roof, we thought the “locals” must be very happy.  

Just after 7:00 we left Columbia.  Two hours later we stopped at a Rest Area to eat breakfast.  It was still raining, but not very hard.  As we continued our journey west toward Kansas City, the landscape became greener.

The storm clouds went away after we turned north.  By the time we crossed into Iowa (honk, honk, yahoo) we were under clear blue skies.  90° was the number!

We parked at Sam’s Club in Council Bluffs and took some time to rest.  Before the day was over the temp had risen to 99°.

We went out to find some caches in the middle of the afternoon.  I heard a strange noise, kind of like a rattlesnake shaking its tail.  The sound was off and on.  Bill couldn’t hear it at all and ask me where I was hearing it.  I said, “Right over here on my side.”  He said, “Oh, good.”  A knight in shining armor he is not.  Geez!  By the way, the noise was caused by my window not being completely closed.

Today’s Travel Totals: Mileage, 307---Geocaches found, 5.

July 25, 2012

July 25, 2012 

We left Blytheville at 7:00 and crossed into Missouri five minutes later.  That got Super Driver’s day off to a good start.  He loves the air horn!

We had planned to go to downtown Saint Louis to see the Gateway Arch.  I had even talked myself into riding the tram up to the observation area.  By the time we were about halfway there, the temp and humidity were both high already.  We decided to put the Gateway Arch on our “someday list.”

We took a shortcut to bypass some of the city traffic.  It took us to I-70 going west toward Columbia.  We had planned to park at Sam’s Club, but saw a Bass Pro Shop sign and decided to go there.  We are nothing if not flexible.

The generator and air conditioners had a workout today.  The highest temp we saw was 105°.  Ugh!  We went out for dinner in a cool restaurant and had the Honda AC up as high as it could go when we were driving.

If you were ever in doubt about our sanity or lack there of, this will help you make up your mind.  We went caching, finding one in the 104° heat.  The good thing was that the cache was in the shade.  It helped a lot.  One cache was all we wanted to try.

Today’s Travel Totals: Mileage, 321---Geocaches found, 1---Critter sighting, 1 turtle.