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Hamilton Ont. (Trip Day 95)

Yes, we arrived home on Friday afternoon (Aug. 27/10) on our 95th day of this adventure. An so the trip is over you think. Well not exactly. It seems impossible to me to have this experience, and then not share the adventure with family and friends. There is also a strong urge within me to reflect quietly within myself as to what I have experienced. This I admit in advance could be personal, but never the less I'd like to make it public. The easy part is to share the hard data of the adventure. As many of you may know I like the computer spreadsheet programs. An so this trip gave the opportunity to track a number of parameters in a spreadsheet. These tracked items then produced the following summary page.

As for reflection this enters a completely different arena. It strikes me now that I entered this caravan thinking that the only things I would have in common was that I was human, and owned a Winnebago product. Well the ownership of a Winnebago products was true. However the human connection became far more involved. We met fellow RV'ers who were more then humans. They quickly became friends, and we quickly started to share our pasts with each other. All of us have had highs and lows in our past. And it was amazing how we could relate to their joys and pains. And so as I ponder about this, I wonder why has this experience happened to me? Why have I been so richly blessed to not only be able to have this trip of a lifetime, but also been allowed to so quickly enter into the lives of these 14 couples? And have I left a positive mark on my fellow travellers? In the 49 days that the caravan was together as a group. not a single off colour remark was heard, and yes the daily asking of a blessing before our meals together for me was greatly appreciated. It seemed like the prayer before the meal tied the awesome vistas of the day's travel together. Haven seen the beauty of this vast land, on more then one occasion brought tears to our eyes, and deepen our belief that this world truly belongs to God. And so I leave you with this picture. Singularly we are nothing, and uniquely different, but as a member of God's family we still can be unique, but blend into a master piece.

And as  such I leave you with this open invitation. Stop by anytime, (in person, or via my email box) and lets share a story.

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Port Huron MI (Trip Day 94)

With and early start, (8:30 am) and a late stop, (9:30 pm) we have managed to drive 450 miles. Two and a half hours of this trip were spent listening to truckers on the CB radio, while parked or crawling on Interstate 69. Yes it appears that there had been a truck accident on the road early this morning at 6:30 am. When Papa and Garba came along at 5:30 pm the interstate was still closed. What a jam up, as we were all rerouted off the interstate, and around the accident scene.

The only other nerve rattling event was trying to park this motor home in the dark, in a campground I have never been in before. Its done, all the fenders are still on, and the supper bell is ringing. Hopefully Garba will get her last day of shopping in, before the border crossing, and then actually arrive back in Hamilton on our 95th day of travel.

Rock Island IL (Trip Day 93)

With a good night sleep behind us, Papa and Garba were again on the road at 8:30am. The route had been adjusted last night to hopefully get us home on Friday or Saturday.The weather has changed a bit towards the cooler side, and traffic conditions on the interstate was lighter then expected. All in all a pleasant day to travel, For most of the day, I've had to leave the radio off and listen to Garba repeatedly singing SHOW ME THE WAY TO GO HOME. Yes I've gotten the message, having been on the road for more then 1/4 of a year, I have surpassed Garba's limit.

Today's KOA camp site in front of a lake.

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Forest City IA. (Trip Days 88, 89, 90, 91, 92)

Well its finally happened. Another milestone reached. Our motor home has been returned to its place of  birth. Forest City Iowa.

Our purpose for returning the motor home to its birth place, are minor and curiosity. The technical issues for the service center are small, but our desire to meet the people involved,  and the staff at the WIT office are on an all time high. Yes, it[s an understatement that we are enthralled with the Winnebago Organization. Getting here was a short drive on Saturday (Trip Day 88) through the corn fields. A remarkable higher number of windmills  dotted the landscape after we crossed the state line into Iowa.

To say it simply, its darn hot here today. I knew of no other way to cool Lou down then to take her shopping. With no Walmart in sight, I found the following substitute.

Once we located the Winnebago Service Center Park a site was located under a number of trees. An there in front of our motor home  was a familiar Journey owned by the Booth's. I'm sure you all remember that Barbra and Tony Booth were our Alaskan Caravan Hosts. Its actually like were still on the Caravan. Where they are, we constantly appear with no prearrangements. We're going to be shell shocked when we finally say goodbye after the service center has dealt with both our coaches. Unless a miracle happens ,this will  be the last time our paths cross in 2010, since they are heading south, and we are heading east.
The temperature on Sunday (Trip Day 89) was no lower then yesterday. After church we both had a snooze followed by a delightful social with the Booths under the shade of a Forest City tree. Current affairs, food, Alaskan Caravan, and the Grand Circle Caravan  issues were dealt with in great depth among other things.

Monday morning (Trip Day 90) found Peter at the service center counter at 7;00am. You'll remember that I was on a standby list, first come first served for the customer service same day window. Every day the service center leaves a small window open for customers who drop in with no appointment. Having been told that the service department opens at 7:00 am, I decided to go early at 6:30 am. Guess what. It looked like and RV Rally. The place was swarming with Winnebago motor homes.Yes, most had prearranged appointments, but when the door opened it was a mad rush. When my turn arrived at the counter I was told that there was no opening for me in Monday's window. The best that could be done for me today was to come back for an update later in the day. With that settled we decided to go for the factory tour at 1:00pm. Reservations were made for us by none other then Tony and Barbara. I have to admit that this is more a guy's thing, but Lou did come along. Good sport that she is. I tried my best to not get into trouble, but you all know how difficult that is for me. It didn't take long into the tour, that I was asked to hid my camera. Picture taking within the plant is forbidden. How was I to know. So as a result I have few pictures to show you from the maternity ward.

Since the tour started and ended at the WIT Visitor Center Office, it was also here that we met Pam Urbatsch, and Laurel Erickson. It was these fine ladies that had organized and put the Alaskan 2010 Caravan together. From our enthusiasm I'm sure that they understood how appreciative we were of their work in preparing the Caravan. Application forms were obtain, and everyone left with smiles on their faces.
A quick trip across the street at 3:30 to the service center and we were told that our appointment was set for Tuesday morning . And as promise the motor home entered the service bay at 11:00am. on trip day 92 and reappeared at 3:30pm. In the mean time puzzles supplied by Winnebago kept Papa busy.

After a side  trip for groceries and supper we returned to our site,, and analysed the maps for a more direct way home.

Jackson MN. (Trip Day 87)

As it turned out last night decision to stay at Kennebec SD. was not a bad one. For most of the night there was severe weather warnings, for the area 50 miles east of Kennebec. As a precaution I brought the Flag Pole in. (Oh yes, my pole is up every night.)

For those that weren't on the Alaskan Caravan they won't understand the bottom sock. That sock was given to me during the caravan as a recognition symbol of my interest in wind socks. Just another sign of how we bonded. Our drive today was uneventful. Besides being awed by the view, we spend a lot of time thinking about the coolest view we had experienced during our Alaskan Caravan.

Yes the temperature was again in the high 90F, with the sun pouring in on Lou's side window for most of the day. A jump into Walmart late in the afternoon helped in more ways then one. Tomorrow's drive will get us to Forest City, the birth place of our motor home. We expect to be there for a number of days, and at this time do not really know if internet will be available.

Kennebec SD. (Trip Day 86)

The day had a wonderful start. I awoke to find Garba on the computer talking to 2 grandchildren. I'm still not sure who was happier. The phone conversation, and the one yesterday resounded throughout our drive all day. Another thought in my mind was did I really have pictures of the Dakota landscaper that Jerry asked about last night. So not to disappoint him I went on a camera shooting trip and took over 100 pictures for him. However before I wet your appreciate, I got to show you what I had to go through. I'm sure the kids will remember how Papa loves these critters.

Here then is a sample of the pictures taken for Jerry. Yes Jerry it did require another climb to 3000'. but what a view through the Badlands National Park. in South Dakota. Another real WOW encounter.

Just in case you think this was the only thing we did, I also stopped to show Garaba a piece of real estate that we could look into. It comes with free air conditioning. You'll have to guess what Garaba's response was.

Just in case Garba would say yes, I had checked out an appropriate hat in Wall SD.

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Wall SD. (Trip Day 85)

Today we made our dissent out of Spearfish Canyon. It wasn't until I looked at the map did I realize that our campsite was at around 7000' in elevation. Sixteen miles later we were crossing Interstate 90 to get fuelled up in Sturgis SD. A number of names popped up in my mind, as I saw all the Hardly Davidson bikes wis by. Strangely this was still at 3400' elevation. From here it was off to Mount Rushmore. Who would have thought it. Another climb. Pictures taken, and a short conversation with one of the original drillers, and the Blocklands were again on their way down hill. (This going downhill, should improve my average gas mileage) I forgot to add the sun flower picture for the florists that are following this blog. It was actually taken yesterday.

Papa trying on a new hat in Sturgis

Mount Rushmore

Old Gold Mining Town on way up to Mount Rushmore (Keystone)

Accommodations were found tonight in Wall SD. Interesting town of less then 1000 people, but with one well named store. Its called Wall Drug. This drug store was started in 1931 and made its fame because it offered free ice water to any wreay traveller that stopped. To this day the signs are still posted along the highway offering this free ice water.

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Spearfish SD. (Trip Day 84)

Our start today was delayed because of Skype. Skype you say. Yes, this is the computer program that allows one to make phone conversations with relatives and friends by means of an Internet connection. The program works well, but the undesirable variable is the Internet bandwidth at either end. As an example within a 12 hour period I was not able to share one legible word with Greg, and then had a 60 minute conversation with Lori.Guess its like vegetable soup, You never really know what your going to get. As for the drive today the only word that comes to mind is just plain AWESOME. The view through Montana, and South Dakota is constantly changing form flat lands to canyons. Hopefully the following pictures will wet your aprepriate,

The route taken was a southern route today from Intestate 94 to Interstate 90. Our stay tonight is in Spearfish South Dakota. Now this was interesting. Out of nowhere this Spearfish Canyon appears. What a picturesque drive for the driver, and a nightmare for the co-pilot.

Hopefully tomorrow we'll get a chance to drive through Mount Rushmore.

Miles City Mt. (Trip Day 83)

We started the day with saying our goodbyes to the Booths, and then headed eastward on I90. One may have suspected that we would have turned south towards Yellowstone Park. Yes this had been our intention. But like all good plans, some meet with a change. Yellowstone has been placed on a future trip. The landscape is a bit of a puzzle for me. I had a preconceived idea that the mountains would rapidly change into foothills followed by flat prairie farm lands. This really didn't happen during our 289 mile trip today. Yes the mountains did eventually change to foothills, but never disappeared. From the pictures you can see that they are always in the background. Some large farms were passed with wheat production. However on this route they were not sustained for a long period. Maybe tomorrow.

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Bozeman Mt. (Trip Day 82)

With a 10:00 am start we left Missoula this morning heading eastward down I90. Our preconceived ideas of the Montana landscape has not yet materialized.The landscape is a lot more mountainous.

Our coffee stop was in a strange place this morning (Deer Lodge Prison). Garba just had to take my picture with one of the locals

Later in the day the landscape started to change to what we had expected from Montana.

For the evening we decided to stay at another KOA campground. Our expectation was that the free Internet would be a lot better then last night. It is true that the Wi-Fi service is free. What they don't tell you up front is what your expected bandwidth will be. Last night I spent all night trying to post a comment on someone else blog with no luck. (connection yes. throughput zero). So with that expectation for tonight I didn't really pay a lot of attention to the rigs I was passing as we drove to our assigned site in the park. Once park I heard a familiar voice calling for my attention. You'll never guess who was also registered in this park for a couple of days.

Yes its Barbara and Tony Booth our Alaska Caravan 2010 Hosts. As you can see later in the evening we had a wonderful time socializing.

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Missoula MT. (Trip Day 81)

Refreshed from yesterday's down day, and restocked from our shopping experience, its time to again hit the road . Todays travel has us leaving Washington, going through Idhao, and into the state of Montana. As can be seen from the next picture the road is fairly hilly and windy. (Interstate 90). For a driver this was a beautiful road, maybe not the same for the co-pilot.

Trying to be sensitive to the situation I looked hard to find a good rest stop for our coffee break. When I saw the sign for Kellogg Idhao, I thought I had struck gold. Here  Garba could have a relaxing cup of coffee, and see how corn flakes are really made. WRONG Again. As you can imagine the coffee was passed up for a photo op.

(Oh I forgot to mention the coffee shop was at the top of the hill)

We left this place with me thinking how neat those trees looked. It may have been possible to actually look down at the tree tops. Never the less I'm again looking for another stop. It wasn't long before a state park invited us in. As it turns out the state was allowing everyone into the parks today with no entrance fee. Great bonus.

While we were having coffee with a sandwich, my mind again returned to the tree tops. So since I couldn't get above them, you'll have to suffer with a picture from below the tops.

The travel day ended for us in Missoula MT. With  little investigating we were able to find a church.

Kids, remember that last week's homily lasted  for 60 minutes, the service today was not a lot shorter. Today's homily lasted 45 minutes. Interestingly not one person got up to leave. Ain't it surprising how an

appropriate message can hold your attention.

Spokane WA. (Trip Day 80)

Not sure where today went. It seemed a slow get up and go,  followed by do this do that, and then it was 5:00 pm. Instead of travelling, we decided to have a down day, and do a bit of shopping.  Not that we needed anything special.

So with no startling events to write about, and not wanting to lose my new found writing skills, I'll draw your attention to the two icons on the bottom of my blog. The first, is a map that all visitors can see. It shows the number of visitor's that this blog has had each day. Secondly it adds a red dot for the visitors location onto the map.

The next icon shows the blogs visitors nothing. However it does show me various attributes about the connections made. It also displays a map of the last number of connections that looks as following.

Its not that I need this info. Its just interesting for a techie.

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Spokane WA. (Trip Day 79)

With an early start we left the Bavarian styled city of Leavenworth this morning, with one last trip down main street.

A coffee stop was found along the way, which gave an opportunity to stretch ones legs and take a flower shot for the florists back home. Question for the day. How many blooms are in this pot?

A coffee break is never complete without a small side dish of something sweet. This was located further down the road in a small village called Cashmere. This is where we found the Aplets & Cotlets Candy Factory. This factory tour became a must, since I figured Rheal will be able to relate to the pictures taken. Here are some examples.

Tour done its again on the road. Even though it was picturesque, the drop offs were not to Garba's liking. The surrounding started to look a lot like a desert.

Once we climbed on top of the ridge that you see on either side of this valley the landscape took another unexpected turn. The area now looked like what we would expect the Canadian prairies to look like. Gentle rolling hills with flowing fields of wheat ready for, and being harvested,