2016/06/30 - Thursday - Vacation - Day 14 - Underground

I got up and got ready for work.  Now that we are in Mountain Time, the meeting is at 9:00,  I was able to to get on and start the meeting.  The family got up while I was on the meeting, so I did not get onto the next meeting

We got going about 10:25, We headed up 14A.  First stop was at Bridal Veil Falls.  We saw a sign for another fall so we headed up that onto a dirt road.  The water was so clear we could see the fish and we viewed Roughlock Falls from both sides of the bank.

We were passing through Lead and on the radio they were talking about free hotdogs, so I turned around and headed to Homestake Mine Visitor Center.

The next stop was Thunderhead Falls, but when we got there it was closed, so onto the next stop.

Black Hills Caverns, we all did the longer tour which was about an hour.

On to the next... Wonderland Caves.  The Moms did not joins us on the tour which was about 45 minutes.

On the way back to the RV, it was time for dinner, so we stopped at Lucky's 13 Pub.

I worked on getting all the photos off loaded from the cameras.

Cheryl went and worked on laundry.

2016/06/29 - Wednesday - Vacation - Day 13 - Heads

We left about 5 till 9 so right on time...

Next stop was for gas at a Pilot, when I pulled away from the island, I forgot about the time, so I had to go find a spot for lunch.  I found a so called city park to pull into and we had lunch.

Next stop again was for gas (but closer to the end of day) at another Pilot.

We stopped at a Camping World and spent way to much.

As we were approaching our night stay, we could see a fire in the hills.

Our base camp for the next 5 nights will be Spearfish KOA, that was the only one that Amanda found that we could easily check to see if they had openings for us.

We jumped into the van and headed for Mount Rushmore. On the way there we ran into a major down pour.

Amanda found out that this year JR Ranger badge has a year in, so she filled it out and got her badge.  We also got dinner.  We stayed for the illumination program.  They asked for all prior and current serving persons to come down on stage at the end of the program.  Eric by chance helped with retiring the colors which was cool!

On the way home I filled up the van.  As we got closer to camp, we can see the red glow from the fire.

Back at the RV, I had to work and produce the necessary report.

2016/06/28 - Tuesday - Vacation - Day 12 - Getting to Next Destination

We got a late start today to our travel today, but for a very good reason,  a family member came over to say goodbye, which we really appreciated.  We finally got on the road a little befor 10:00.

We got gas in Preston, while there we also ate lunch.

The next gas stop was at Flying J's in Sioux Falls.

Next stop was for the night in Mitchell at the KOA just outside of town.

I unloaded the van so we could go into town.
Mom D was not feeling well, so she stayed back at the RV.  We drove by the Corn Palace and went to eat dinner at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery.  The service was not that good and the food was just ok.

Next stop was Walmart to stock up on things.

Back at the RV, I did some work while everybody relaxed.

2016/06/27 - Monday - Vacation - Day 11 - More Family History

We left about 8 minutes till 9, so basically right on normal time.

Next stop was gas at Costco for both vehicles.

We finally made it to Elkader, got set up and then headed for Decorah to meet at a museum and view some of the stuff that is there from the family.  We did stop before getting there for lunch at a Subway.

Once done we went to Seed Savers Exchange to see what they do.

On are way back to the RV, Cheryl was making arrangements for the night.

We did some relaxing, which included Eric, Cheryl and myself walked over to a tank so Eric could check it out.

We went over to one of the families house had dinner and good time talking.

2016/06/26 - Sunday - Vacation - Day 10 - Family Day

 Before the day started, there was a major thunder storm moved through the area around 3 to 4 in the morning.  Some really good lighting.  Turquoise went to Eric to get confront, but the Thunder shirt really helped to keep him calmer then in the past.

We finally got moving about 10:30 to head for the Mather Family reunion.  A lot of talking and story telling.  We also had lunch (some people brought stuff for the luncheon like a potluck...)

I took the family group photo, so need to make sure people get the link once it is uploaded.

After that we went to the local cemetery to see several of the older generation graves.

Next was visiting the local family farm operations - there is somebody that is a 7th generation that is running the farm.

Now it was time for dinner, so the family and us that are camping in the same campground went into Iowa City for dinner.

Back at the RV we both got the vehicles ready for tomorrow travel day.  The other family retired into their RV while we stayed out and worked on things . . . . . . Fireflies . . . (sorry back to writing the blog)

We even let Moonstone out on a leash (we did that last night also), so he could explore a little bit.

..... Fireflies....

It is getting late so time get things ready for travel tomorrow.

2016/06/25 - Saturday - Vacation - Day 09 - Moving to Family

We left the campground about 8:50, so almost on time....

Next stop was near Springdale for the next two nights.  We arrived about 11:30.

About 15 minutes later a distant relative of Cheryl's pulled into the campground, so we greeted each other.

The arrangement for today was to go to the historical society, we headed to Iowa City and found the place, but because we where hungry we wented to find a place to eat for lunch.  Pop's "Old N' New" Bar-B-Que.  Most of us had light snacks to tide us over until dinner.

Back at the Historical Society, we looked over a big collection of stuff from Cheryl's family side.

Once it was closing time, we left and we wanted to find a place for dinner.  Pullman Bar & Diner was recommended to us, so we went.  They did not have a place where all of us could set so were split into three groups. (total of 12 us)

Back to the campground, more genealogy was discussed around the picnic tables until it was dark.

Tomorrow is the main event for the family reunion.  The last number I heard was at least 25 people are planning to be there.

2016/06/24 - Friday - Vacation - Day 08 - Dancing

The three usual people slept in a little bit today while the other three got up early like usual.

Before getting to the Event Center, I had to go find Starbucks for Cheryl, so she would be happy.  We finally made it to the Event Center to dance a few tips.

For lunch we went across the street to Buzzard Billy's.

Back to the Event Center to dance and drop off a book for a caller (one of Cheryl's co-workers wanted a book to be delivered to a caller)

For dinner we left and went back to the RV, made sure the dogs were taken care of and then headed out to go eat at Twin Peaks.

Once back to the RV, Mom D and Eric stayed back while the rest of us went back to the Event Center to go dancing.

While we were dancing Eric did a few loads of laundry for us which was very nice of him.

After dancing, we headed back to the RV, we put the clothes away and got a few things ready for departure for tomorrow.  I went ahead and processed the necessary records for work...

Notes:  I had to fix my red neck rain gutter, I had to add another towel to help wick the water better, the humidity has been high.  So far this has stopped the water from dripping out and socking the ceiling and floor (I guess I really should take a picture of it so other may see my so called fix...)

2016/06/23 - Thursday - Vacation - Day 07 - Arrived and Walked

Today we slept in (well me and the kids, Mom M seems to be always an early riser)

I had to get ready for work, trying to get the printer to print was a challenge, but finally printed the 22 page report. I helped co-chair my normal Thursday morning Change Advisory Board Meeting.

I was getting text from Cheryl about where they were at in their travels.

We went out for lunch, Cheryl and Mom D had us order something to bring back to the RV.  We returned back to the RV and did a few quick things before leaving again.

We headed for the airport to pickup Cheryl and Mom D, even though we left late, we still had to wait for them.

Cheryl and Mom D ate their lunch

We went into the Square Dance Convention and did our shopping and got all the necessary spending taken care of (hopefully...)

One the why back to the RV we stopped for dinner, good Italian place (even had gluten free stuff for Cheryl).  We also stopped for gas for the van and Mom M got some milk.

We changed and headed back to the convention. We tried to look for the photographer but could not find one, so hopefully there will be one tomorrow so we can get our group photograph. We were able to chat with old friends!

2016/06/22 - Wednesday - Vacation - Day 06 - Arrived

 Before we started to head out on the road, I noticed that the pin for the tow dolly is missing, which means that sometime yesterday I lost the pin.  So I found something in my storage to somewhat fix the issue.

We got going about 9:00.

So we changed plans again to find a Camping World and the next town had one.  Amanda changed the route and we headed for it.

When I passed it on the freeway, I noticed that it looked to have a very small parking lot.  So finally I was approaching the location via the frontage road, I stopped in the middle of the road to check out how I would be able to turn around. No such luck, so I opted to not to pull in and stop (so for anybody else wanting to go to Camping World of Kansas City and they are flat towing or tow dolly do not stop you will have to unhook!)

Next stop Flying J's for the necessary juice for the RV

I did stop at lunch time at one of the rest stops.

Once we got close to Des Moines another stop for Gas at Costco - this one had nobody waiting!

We have arrived at Timberline Campground to spend the next 3 nights here.

With the van, we went into Des Moines to find where the National SQ is located and the parking is going to be like.  We also delivered the CA State Council display so it can be put up by somebody that know how to set that thing up.

We picked up our packets and paid for AM and EM and got a program.  We will have to pickup the kids badges when we go back in tomorrow.

We returned back to the RV for dinner prepared by Amanda and we also relaxed.

Mom M did a load of her laundry, while I did my work,

For the internet we had to use our Mifi because the campground wifi is really bad.  Most of our devices could not get to the internet using the campgrounds wifi.

2016/06/21 - Tuesday - Vacation - Day 05 - Fort

We were a little late to leave 9:15... :) 

First stop was at Flying J's across town.

Next stop was at Fort Larned National Historic Site.  DM's son and family came and joined us at the fort.  We walked the grounds and of course Amanda got another Junior Ranger badge.  She also helped out the two little ones with their programs.  All three of them got sworn in together.   This is also where DM will leave us and spend the rest of the week on his vacation while we continue on ours.

After spending to much time at the fort we started researching and determining that the stops that I had planed would have gotten us into Des Moines late on Wednesday.  So the route was changed, the stops removed. 

The change in plans resulted in us stopping in Topeka for the night, hopefully making tomorrow an easy drive.

I did get a phone call from work, hopefully my backup can do most of the work that needs to be done everyday.

We stopped at KOA about 6:00

Amanda made dinner and Eric was coerced into doing the dishes.

After dinner I checked on work, I still had to process records. :(  

Other wise we relaxed for the evening.

2016/06/20 - Monday - Vacation - Day 04 - Valcano

It was hard for me to get up this morning, not sure why, but based on Fitbit it was not to bad of a night...

We got on the road at 8:50, but our first stop was for gas about 5 minutes later.

Next stop was at Capulin Volcano National Monument, of course Amanda did get the paper for the JR program.  We did unload the van so we could drive to the top.  Once done and back down, Amanda got her badge and we ate lunch and of course loaded the van...

The roads in OK were very ruff!!!!

We stopped for the night just on the outskirts of Dodge City, KS, around 6 o'clock.

We unloaded the van and head for dinner at a local casino.

Once back at the RV, the little dog had an accident, so not good.

The new TV pickups over the air very well.

I worked - processed several records that needed to be processed.

2016/06/19 - Sunday - Vacation - Day 03 - On The Trail

The RV park offered continental breakfast, so DM, EM, Mom M, and I got there at opening time of 8:00, not a lot to choose from but it was not terrible.

We were on the road by 8:40. 

Now from this point in the trip, I have not traveled these roads, so all new views..

Our first stop was at Sam's Club to get some go go juice for the RV.  And while we were there they went into the store to get a few items.


We stopped at Pecos National Historical Park, which is on the Santa Fe National Historic Trail.  Amanda of course did the JR Ranger program and we did part of the walk to tour the grounds.  Total time there was about 2 hours

Once back at the RV it was lunch time so we had a late lunch (around 1:00)

On to the next stop, for some reason I thought it was closer but nope.

We stopped at Fort Union National Monument.  There is really no specific place to part the RV, so I pulled into an area and hopped I would not get in trouble.  Amanda got several JR Ranger programs for several things we would be doing for this trip.  This weekend turns out to be a special weekend with several things that are being done in period style.  We were only able to see one demonstration and that was regarding the canon.  They fired it twice!  Amanda and I walked the grounds and both of us got sunburned!  The total time there was about two hours.

When we pulled away from our location the RV was feeling weird, something was wrong with the tires.  I stopped to check and sure enough!  But this was something I had not expected nor experienced.  The tires tore a chunk of the pavement and the pavement was sticking to the tires.  So in the middle of the road I had to scrape off the gooey mess.

It was worm today, so I decided I wanted a known campground and the time to stop was still reasonable, we pushed on by the original campground and went about 1.5 hours further.  We stopped at KOA in Raton, but they only had water and electric.

We walked to dinner.

Back at the RV we watched two movies, I did log into work and processed records, and we enjoyed our relaxing time.

2016/06/18 - Saturday - Vacation - Day 02 - Waze Win

The relatives cooked an awesome breakfast and of course we had a good time chatting.

We finally got on the road about 9:20.  When we started to pull away, I was flagged down because the relatives found a phone, well it was Mom M phone.

We stopped for the necessary fuel for the RV.

Come to find out, Mom M phone screen had broken and could only see a very small part of the screen.  So the next stop was changed.  We stopped at a Verizon store to get her a new phone, with the necessary phone call to LM to authorize the new phone for the account.

Lunch was at Subway in the same shopping area.

The tires got hot - up around 177 degrees, it stayed that way for about an hour until we stop to fuel the RV.

Getting closer for the stop for the night, Waze recalculated, so I went ahead and followed, listening to the CB there was a major accident so Waze routed us around the 3 mile backup.  Once back on the freeway, Waze again routed me off the freeway to take the old Route 66 around a 2 mile backup at a construction zone.

We finally made it to a RV place for the night just on the outskirts of Albuquerque.

Once in our site, now it was time for dinner.  So we unloaded the van and headed back down the road about 10 miles to a casino.

After dinner of course we headed back to the RV and went ahead and loaded the van onto the tow dolly.  And as a note the little dog did not have any issues so things are looking good on that front.

2016/06/17 - Friday - Vacation - Day 01 - Interesting Start / Hot

So, I set the time like a normal day - up around 6 and starting to get things ready. 
During the time to get things in the RV, I got a call from Work, so I went in and put things away (the order for the coffee stuff came in a day late.)  Yes I help with making sure the coffee supplies are stocked up.

We were able to leave the house about 11:30.  but immediately, we still have an issue with the tow dolly doing the noise and hard turns (like it is binding up).  The other item was the RV was pulling very hard to the left.

First stop was to top off the tanks in both the RV and Van.  After filling up, we pull over in the Wall-Mart parking lot and DM and I proceeded to take off the Safety Steer, while Mom M, AM, and EM. went into the store to do some shopping.   If it wasn't for DM, I would not been able to take the bolts off, they were rusted on.  After getting the part off, we fixed the city water connection to stop it from popping out / sticking out of the RV.  It has been great having him around to help out with things.

Next was the necessary stop at Americans Tires to top off all the tires to make sure they are at the correct pressure.

Lunch was needed so we drove towards In-N-Out.  When we checked on the Van, we noticed that the straps for one of the van tires needed to be redone and the Van readjusted on the dolly.  We took the long walk and got lunch.

We were finally on the road/freeway heading out of town.

Taking off the Safety Steer resolved the pulling to the left!  So we need to buy a new one of those (not cheap.)

The traffic was bad, going from the 605 to 210, the RV started to over heat and the RV tires really got HOT ~180 degrees.   So turn off the AC and just deal with the heat.  Of course the normal slowdown for the pass.

Gas stop at Flying J's in Barstow. DM fixed the strap (passenger side)

Crossed the river and stopped for dinner and a Pilot/Wendy's but no parking for the RV - so I parked in the red zone. DM fixed the strap again but for driver side.

We finally made into Kingman and got gas at Flying J's before heading to relatives.

It is always nice to visit!

2016-06-16 - Wednesday - Meeting and Prep

Work like normal.

DM should be able to work on van.  He got the pad replaced.

Adopt-A-Trail meeting tonight, DM, Mom M, and I attended.

We thought Eric was coming home tomorrow, but we got a Glymps this afternoon and he is coming down today.

Yet another test...

Yes another test... making sure the mind dump is ready...

Another test of the Mind

Yep another test of the mind and its connections

Testing of settings

Testing - is the mind dump ready for more letters to be added to the forever retained interweb.