The RV Hall Of Fame and Museum, Elkhart, Indiana

We have spent the last week emptying the fifth wheel as we prepare to take it in for a major repair. So, the last week has been less then inspiring. Finally, we got to the point where there isn’t a lot left to do and so we decided to visit the Rv Museum.

Not really knowing what to expect we were pleasantly surprised to see a large and new building housing the museum. As we entered we were warmly greeted and after paying the senior rate one of the staff gave us a short orientation lecture for the self guided tour.

The first room had a display showing the manufacturing setup of a typical RV trailer factory. It was really a good model that showed much of what we had seen when we toured the Heartland Bighorn plant, six years ago.

The next room was really the main museum and as we strolled down the paved road, we were treated to trailers and motor homes that represented all of the innovations of the past one hundred years. I think I was most surprised at how little the RV’s have changed through the years. Other then the relative recent introduction of room slides, the different trailers had pretty much the same basic necessities of life.

What was really amazing was the beauty of some of the different units. As far as I was concerned the Hunt Custom Star was the most beautiful camper. Made in 1938, the Hunt Star exemplified the art deco style of the nineteen thirties and showed the beautiful curves from that era.

Another trailer that caught our eye was the tear drop camper that we see new examples of today. Which poses the question, is there really anything new? We also got a kick out of the forty two foot trailer, pulled by a one ton Studebaker pickup, (which was a thing of beauty in itself).

It was really neat to see all the vintage homes on wheels. One especially brought back memories of my Grandpa Huber’s Mallard Camper,(not really sure if it was a Mallard),. He had it parked in an RV park on the Upper Mississippi River and we used it often, (Unfortunately the picture is blurry). Just seeing it reminded me of all the fish we had caught while staying there.

So the RV museum had turned into a walk down memory lane, and that’s good. As I read once, it brought a smile to my face of good times and the joy that those good times had happened. Isn’t that one of the reasons for the place? Clear skies

Taking a Family Break in Iowa, at Lacey-Keosauqua State Park

 

Renita called her sister Pam, and as they were going to be home we decided to stop and visit them. Now we usually stay at Lake Sugema but we decided to try Lacey-Keosauqua State Park and it turned out to be a great choice.

You kind of forget how peaceful a small town in Iowa can be and the state park is even quieter. Added to this was the cost at eleven dollars a night and that was for  a site with electric and water. So we took a spot in the new campground section and set up for three days of family catching up.

Roy and Pam visit us in the winter in Texas and Roy does lapidary and makes jewelry, (He started shortly after I did). We were both surprised at how much we enjoyed working stone and they even have a place in a local art store in Bentonsport, Iowa. It’s an artist coop, where the artist donates his/her time for a big discount in the stores commission.

So we went there and enjoyed visiting with other artists and viewing their different styles and mediums. As the Des Moines River is at an extremely low level I soon wandered off to look for rocks. I  quickly found a beautiful fossil rugosa coral. It’s the same coral that is called Petosky stone in Michigan and as we have collected and worked that, it’s a welcome addition to our collection!

Of course Iowa means breaded pork tenderloins and I had to try both of the town’s restaurants. Misty’s, the local malt shop was first and their tenderloin was the largest one I have ever eaten. It actually was so big that Renita tasted some and I had enough for another day’s lunch.

The next day we went out to the other restaurant in town and the tenderloin was also excellent but I do have to award Misty with the best tenderloin in Keosauqua award. However if you are ever there be sure to try both as they were both great!

We also took time for some site seeing and drove to Ely Fords Crossing, where the Mormon migration crossed the Des Moines River. It was a quiet spot and a great blue heron waded in the slow moving rivers current where thousands had once crossed on their way to Utah. Just a week before we had been at the Oregon Trail, at Sweetwater Station in Wyoming, another river crossing for the Mormons and while we are Catholics it is neat to view the history of another religion.

So we rested and visited and talked rocks and jewelry, Roy is now making multiple cabochon necklaces, like we are, and of course they are beautiful and unique. It’s Folk Art and is so unlike the jewelry mass produced and sold most places. It’s really about the joy of creating and making each piece, and that’s what it should be! Clear skies

 

(The last image shows the reintroduced long grass prairie in Lacey-Keosauqua State Park. The grasses are taller then I am and its so different then the western short grass prairie we are used to.)

Running from Snow

The doctor said my electrocardiogram hadn’t changed and so with some adjustments in medications we were good to head out. A massive storm front was approaching and so we left early on Thursday, driving over four hundred miles in a day, which is a really long day for us, but it was a wise decision.

Lander, the city we had been at, was forecast to receive 2-4 inches of snow but instead it got fourteen. We later met a couple that drove across the Loveland Pass and had to stop to remove all the snow, mud, and ice from their toad,(which for non rvers is what you call the vehicle behind your motor home).

So we made it to Sidney, Nebraska, and of course that meant Cabelas. I was able to try on different chest waders and bought a great pair that should last me for years. We also came across a great deal on a smaller Yamaha generator. The new one weighs less then fifty pounds which is way less than the one hundred and fifty plus pound weight of our old one, (hmm now I can add more rocks).

We stayed in Sidney for another day as the front blew through and then headed east across Nebraska. Interstate Eighty parallels the Platte River and the Platte was in flood stage as all the Colorado flooding had moved downstream to Nebraska.

Another day and we made it to the middle of Iowa where we are spending the night at a nice Casino Rv Park. Tomorrow we should make it to Pam and Roy’s, in Eastern Iowa and then it’s off to Indiana to get our rig rebuilt. It will be so nice to get it done as right now we are unable to use all of our slides.

So there’s not much else to speak of, we have all of our doctoring done for the year, and we are looking forward to our winter in Florida and Texas. Most especially we are looking forward to the new times with friends and family. Clear skies.

Rock Hounding Near Jeffery City: Mythical Jade, Sweetwater Moss Agates, and the Occasional Rattlesnake

 

Renita spotted the rattlesnake first. She was driving and it was crossing the road, ok the four wheel track, its long sinuous body stood out in sharp contrast to the light brown desert sand. It was a beautiful light brown green and had probably recently shed, with a striking and sharp diamond pattern. Of course I had to get a close up and so I jumped out of the truck as Renita yelled at me to not get to close.

We had just finished a successful day of hunting Sweetwater Moss Agates at Agate Flats. It was our most successful day there ever and we both had found large agates. Renita had found a particularly beautiful and large agate and we were both thinking about how we could highlight their beauty. They are already naturally polished and the one she had found displayed the beautiful black spots of dendritic pyrolusite, surrounded by white chalcedony, opalite, and adamite, (the picture is the actual agate as it appeared before she dug it out).

So like I said it had been a great day for agates. We love hunting them at Agate Flats because it helps us to forget the previous day’s unsuccessful jade hunt. That day we had scoured the hillsides along Beaver Rim and the Power Line, and while we found lots of pretty rocks, we didn’t find any of the stunning pure, (and mythical?), nephrite jade.

Even though we hadn’t found any jade it still had been a successful day as any day we get to walk the vast and empty reaches is a special day. Surrounded by the Granite Mountains, and loving the view of the beautiful Lamikin Dome, the high desert holds a special place in our hearts. The vast empty spaces here are where the wild things are, antelope, mule deer, the occasional horny toad and of course prairie rattlesnakes. Clear skies

ps the snake was of course left unharmed

An Uneventful Drive To Lander and an Earthquake Greeting

 

We left Star Valley and started on our winter journey. The first leg was to Lander, Wyoming where we plan to do some jade hunting as we wait for my cardiologist appointment.  Lander is really a nice place and so stopping here is always a pleasure.

Hooking up the fifth wheel, I had to scrape a heavy frost off the windows. Now that in itself was a problem as we got rid of our ice scrappers and snow shovels years ago. No problem as I had a plastic rv leveler that worked to rid the windshield of the hated frozen ice.

The truck worked fine as we crossed the Salt River Pass and the new truck brakes made a very noticeable difference as I applied them on the downhill sections. They worked so well that we decided to cross the Wing River Mountains at South Pass, thereby saving us a bunch of miles and fuel and more importantly a full day of travel time.

So we checked in and the first order of business was to order a pizza from Dominoes! My favorite is the Philly Cheese and Steak and it’s been three months since I last had one. Relaxing we went to bed not expecting the surprise the morning had for us.

A little after seven am the whole fifth wheel shook. My first thought was that Renita had fell out of bed, but she’s really not that massive and I quickly discounted that idea.  It felt like someone had run into our RV, but before I could run outside it shook again. I next thought that maybe we had been hit by a blast of wind but the trees were still.

Going outside I walked around and didn’t find anything, so I kind of forgot about it till our neighbor asked us if we had felt the earthquake.  It turned out we had a shallow earthquake about forty miles away. It was rated at a 4.9 and had an epicenter about three miles under the east flank of the Wind River Mountain Range.

Renita never woke up as she does sleep sound. Texting our son, he lives north of Pinedale, he said that he hadn’t felt it but his three dogs had became excited and had woke him up earlier than normal. So we have now had two earthquakes in two years. The first was a small one in Valdez and now a Wyoming event.

Perhaps I should add some graphics to our states visited map. Maybe I could draw a fallen building or a shaking tree? Of course if I start adding graphics should I put a tornado on the map for the one we saw in eastern Wyoming? Oh and what about the plumes of smoke from the Alaskan Volcanoes, do they deserve a symbol? Nah, I think I will just stick with the blog. Clear skies

A Birthday Buffalo Jam

 

The alarm went off at 3:15 am and we could barely drag ourselves out of a nice warm bed. Getting up, we got dressed for a busy day in Grand Teton National Park and left the Rv Park at 4:15 am. Now the reason for the early start was that Jenny’s flight, for Florida, left at 7:25 am and it’s about an hour and a half drive to the Jackson Airport. Arriving about six there was already a long line waiting to check in to the flight.

However the line moved pretty quickly and so we said our goodbyes, always hard, but it seemed a little harder as today was my birthday, (my sixty second in fact). Now after your twenty first birthday, the days seem less important until you reach retirement age. Then, at age sixty two you qualify for not only social security but also for a lifetime senior pass for all national parks and their associated campgrounds.

So rather than wait around the airport we decided to watch the sun rise on the Tetons. Driving to Glacier View Turnoff, we got the cameras and binoculars ready and waited for the dawn. It wasn’t the first time we have watched the sun rise in the park and soon there were other cars arriving. Everyone was setting up cameras and it made me realize how lucky we were to live part of the year near such a beautiful place.

As the sun appeared over the rim of the Gros Ventre range its beams were somewhat blocked by a small cloud and so the Grand didn’t awaken with the usual bright burst of sunlight. It was still a beautiful sight and it made me wish I had climbed the Grand when I was younger. I thought that perhaps it would be a goal for next year, after all others have climbed it at a more advanced age.

We decided to head to the oxbow area and hope to see some bears, but we soon found ourselves in the midst of a buffalo, (bison jamb). Bulls were fighting, and moms and calves were looking worried as some idiots forced their cars through the herd, (I can’t imagine being so busy to not take a few minutes to enjoy a buffalo jam). I was hoping a bull would take offense and do a little structural reengineering to their cars but no such luck. It would have made a great you tube video!

Arriving at the oxbows we watched mergansers and gadwalls, but no bears. A little further we met a young couple full timing in a popup pickup camper. They had gotten married and took off for a year of adventure. What a wonderful way to start off their life together!

Turning south towards Jenny lake we hoped to see more elk but it was not to be. Still we stopped to admire Mount Moran and of course I had to tell Renita the story of my climb up Mount Teewinot, (She had only heard it about fifty times before).

Our last stop of the day was at the park headquarters where I paid my ten dollars, showed my driver license, and got my lifetime senior pass! Now if the idiots in congress will not shut down the government and all the parks……

I had one more birthday plan and that was to fly fish the Gros Ventre River. I have always had success there and I was excited as I took my first step into the stream. Casting my favorite nymphs, I slowly worked my way upstream.

I was surprised that I had no takers as the setup works so well in all the western streams, but before I could try anything else a lightening filled storm cloud neared and it was time to call it a day. Renita drove back to Thayne though rain and the storms were far from over. As we neared home the sky blackened and it looked like the storm was building to a climax!

A dark wall cloud appeared and I could see a greenish coloring behind it. I watched for rotation but luckily didn’t see any so I went inside as the storm arrived. It started to hail and blow and we were in the heaviest hail storm we have ever been in. Luckily the hail was small, but it formed windrows and covered the ground. Finally the storm passed and the stars came out. It was the perfect ending to a hectic but great birthday. Clear skies

A Fall Visit to the Periodic Spring at Afton

If you read our blog you may remember the entry, in June, where we hiked to the periodic spring near Afton, Wyoming. It was a really pleasant hike, but the change in water volume, the periodicity of the spring, wasn't very apparent. The guide book said that the best time to see the change was in the fall, so yesterday we went back to see the difference/periodic change.

Accompanied by our daughter Jenny, we all enjoyed the short hike to the spring. It really is a pleasant and easy hike, at least until you reach the side valley from which the springs flow originates. Then it steepens and Renita and I both had to stop to catch our breaths.

We could see that the water emerged below the natural spring opening and so we were disappointed in that the spring was dry. Still we waited a bit and just as I was about to head back down, Renita and Jenny both heard a strong gurgling sound. It became so loud that even I could hear the splashing and moving water. The water soon appeared in the opening and quickly rose until I was kneeling in the fast currents flow.

It was one of the most amazing things I have seen in quite a while and we all just had to shake our heads and laugh at the sudden reemergence of the spring. It was truly an amazing site. Finally we headed back down, and by the time we reached the bridge the stream and spring had already subsided to its lower flow.

If you are ever in the area in the fall, you really don't want to miss the changing flow of the periodic spring at Afton. Where else can you see and hear a cold water geyser? Its well worth the effort and remember to get out of the way of the waters flow. Clear skies