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On the road again


The Jester

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We got back from a week long trip thru Oregon Sunday - my wife had a square dance event in Silver Falls SP for the previous weekend, we drove thru central Oregon 'hunting' covered bridges, then came up the coast to the Cache Dash Splash event. That was just a shake down cruise for the next trip - which starts today! We're heading for Nova Scotia to hand-deliver a doll house to my brother-in-law. It was built by his grandfather and shipping it back to him would be too much of a hassle (fragile, big and all that). He has the only young girls in the family (actually the only kids) so mother-in-law wants them to have it. I'd made the half-joking comment that we could deliver it, and suddenly we're off to Nova Scotia.

 

Of course, we get to pass thru New England during Fall Color season, and get to 'pick up' all the other Lower 48 states we've not cached in, so the trip won't be a total waste. :rolleyes: It'll be a faster trip out (we have to get that doll house out of the car to have any room) and then we'll see more sights on the way back.

 

Man, retired life is hard! :lol: By the time we hit my wife's retire anniversary date we'll have been gone from home about 50% of the year.

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Oh good grief! Life is rough. :)

 

 

Good to hear from you.

 

 

I am in California right now. If you guys get down this way please stop by.

 

I am working on finishing up the "Tattletales" series of caches - they have moved and are taking some of them with them. They are a really great series similar to our own great Dayspring or other great hiders.

 

If you are in the bay area at all you might want to consider those.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?u=Tattletales

 

I'd be happy to go find them with you.

 

Have a great trip!!

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Two days on the road and we're in Miles City, Montana. We've pushed kind of hard these two days to get some extra distance and give us some slack time at the far end. On our earlier trip it took us four days to cover the same stretch of road. The only cache we've found so far is one just a short way up from our camp tonight, but from now on we'll have a little time to play along the way.

 

Tomorrow we'll try and get the oldest cache in North Dakota - The Buck Stops Here! - near Bismarck. There are a couple of other caches along the way that sound interesting or take us to neat spots.

 

Being later in the year, we have to figure in the earlier sunset (which will just get 'worse and worse' as we go. And the RV parks don't keep their offices open as late, but most have after-hour ways of getting a site. But we're learning how to cope.

 

We're hoping to avoid the real winter weather, but the mountains have their own time schedule and haven't shared it with us yet, so we may have to wait out a stray storm or two on the way home. We also heard there's a hurricane about to make landfall around South Carolina and work it's way up the coast. Hopefully it'll be gone before we get there, but ... ?

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Four days and we've reached Wisconsin. We're just over the border from the Twin Cities in River Falls. $15 dollars to stay in the little RV section of the park, electricity, wifi, bathrooms and showers. Nice little place.

 

Yesterday we did one of the most interesting caches we've seen. First, was finding the way into the cemetary. We could see it on the hill, but had to guess and feel our way in - down this road, into this parking lot, around a corner and the a two track, dirt road winding thru a small forest. When we arrived a GZ all we saw were a flagpole and concrete cross. We looked around - which took, what, a minute? - and decided the flag pole was the only option. Reading the hint proved it. We had to disassemble the pole and the micro was on the very top! With two muggles in the area it felt very strange, but they didn't seem to mind us. Seeing how it was placed with permission of the caretaker, maybe one of them was he.

 

We've been using more propane than last time, but then it's colder and we're using the furnace, not the AC. We've had some clouds, but so far every day has had some (if not all day) sun. Overnight it gets down into the low 40's or upper 30's - clear skies and all that. Some places the fall colors are starting to show brightly, others have hardly started.

 

Well, breakfast is over and it's time to hit the road. We might get to the oldest cache in Illinois today, it' a bit of a hike so we're debating if we should save it for the return trip when we have more time. We'll see...

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Hmm, been an interesting trip so far. You'll see why in a moment.

 

We didn't make it to Illinois' oldest that day, we hit a campground only a few miles short of the cache. We got the Illinois oldie the next morning and then went on to Indiana's oldest. Most of the direct Interstate's around here are toll roads, we hit one last night coming into town that was more expensive than we liked, so we've being avoiding them. This slows us down some, but we get to see more of the country. We made into Ohio before stopping for the night.

 

The next day, Monday, we made as far a Erie, PA - where the state's oldest is found. Staying off the toll roads allowed us to stay closer to Lake Erie. After getting the oldest cache, we found all the RV camp offices were closed, so we spent the night in a Wal Mart parking lot (many allow overnight stays - one of the apps we have lists them).

 

We spent the next morning in town, finding caches and a Weight Watcher meeting, so we didn't get on the road until after noon. We made a good ways into NY and stayed in a RV park "Camp Bell" in Campbell, NY (they are pronounced the same). Or should I say, we tried to stay in the RV park. Late last night I had very severe abdominal pain that move to my back. I tried a couple of Percocet (from a pinched nerve in the back a month & a half ago) but that didn't help (pain spiking to 7 to 8 - what would have been without it?). After talking to the Consulting Nurse at GHC, Cathy drove me to a nearby hospital and I spent the night in the emergency room. It turns out I was passing a kidney stone and by 7 this morning I was released. With the nice meds they gave me and the lack of sleep (for both of us) we decided to stay an extra night here. I guess there was a good reason we'd worked an extra day into the schedule. We spent the day napping and taking it easy before getting on the road again tomorrow.

 

Our next major stop is Vermont's oldest, then on to Nova Scotia in a couple of days.

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Late last night I had very severe abdominal pain that move to my back. I tried a couple of Percocet (from a pinched nerve in the back a month & a half ago) but that didn't help (pain spiking to 7 to 8 - what would have been without it?). After talking to the Consulting Nurse at GHC, Cathy drove me to a nearby hospital and I spent the night in the emergency room. It turns out I was passing a kidney stone and by 7 this morning I was released. With the nice meds they gave me and the lack of sleep (for both of us) we decided to stay an extra night here. I guess there was a good reason we'd worked an extra day into the schedule. We spent the day napping and taking it easy before getting on the road again tomorrow.

As someone who once tried to pass a one-inch gallstone, I empathize (blocked duct, surgery). Thank god for percocet and morphine drips. Glad to hear you passed the kidney stone without complications and can continue your trip!

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Well, with what just happened, the last couple of days are of little note. About 15-20 miles short of the Canadian border, just outside Houlton, Maine, we hit a moose! Both of us are just fine, we just clipped the big guy with the driver side corner - wiping out the front quarter, hood and corner of windshield - but did not get him on top of us. We never did see any more sign of the moose - they are tough - so either it's off the road dying or is off telling his friends about the excitement.

 

We got towed into Houlton, and have the trailer set up in the car dealer in town (only one) and will see what we will do in the morning. The adjuster can't get here before Monday (a holiday?) and then all the other paperwork before repairs can start - and how long will that take? We could rent a vehicle to get up to Cathy's brother's place (hauling the doll house), or rent one with towing and take the trailer with us, or (worst case) see about buying another vehicle and complete the trip that way. We have no idea when we'll make it back home now...

 

Too bad vacation caches aren't allowed, I can't place a cache to "honor" this car trouble.

 

Please keep us in your thouhts and prayers as we deal with all this.

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Too bad you did not find the moose along side the road, in Maine you get first dibs on it. :) Sorry to hear about the "fun". I'm glad the moose did not come over the hood, that would have been bad. One year when I lived in California I was going to visit my Dad in Washington with both my kids. Just outside of Yreka we hit a deer, or road rat as the CHP called it. We managed to get towed to Yreka and after a conversation with the insurance they agreed to cover renting a box truck and trailer to haul the manged mess back to San Jose. Hope all turns out well for you, you'll be in my thoughts this weekend.

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Sorry about all your problems and it looks like winter may be moving in on you. We found one of the early caches near Bar Harbor. Never could find the one up on the nearby mountain. Good thing you have such a good sense of humor. I have spent some time up in Fairbanks and always worried about them. Near Shelton I saw a deer crossing the road and stopped. He still run into the Land Cruiser and bounced off and went on his way. Good Luck. Dick & Arlene

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:laughing: Just think somewhere out in the woods that evening a couple of Moose a few Bears are sitting around a small fire laughing at the Moose story showing off his scar. Then he tells the part about, 'you should have seen their eyes', I almost fell over from laughing at those eyes.

Great you are alright hope it can take only a couple of days to fix the car.

 

Have you considered, 'Stop the Road Trip as the can be Hazardous to Health'? :anibad:

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We're waiting to hear if the car is totaled - last we heard (yesterday) it was "boarderline totaled". It'll depend on the value of the car which is taking longer to figure than I expected. It'll be quicker for us if it is totaled - we can buy a new one and get on the road. If it gets repaired, it may take up to a month... :(

 

6eafc295-cf91-4049-b5ba-d5ddefe582ea.jpg?rnd=0.8743751

Here's the car - and yes, that's a piece of the moose in the middle of the big dent. You can see the trailer in the background.

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Well, it's offical. The car is totalled, so now we are going to investigate getting a 'new' one. The closest subaru deler is in New Brunswick so we'll see what the hassle is to buy internationally. We'll be passing right by the dealer on the way back from visiting Cathy's brother. Our other option is Augusta Maine, a few hours south.

 

Then we need a hitch installed, break controller (we hope to use the one from the old car) put in, and then get the trailer and start working our way back home.

 

We'll see if this tops the van in the river for the most expensive day of caching...

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Wow. This will be a trip to remember. I would check stock and prices before deciding which way to go. On most vehicles you will find a better deal in the US. But now that I think about it, with the poor Canadian dollar it might be close to the same or better.

 

Hope everything works out for you. The leaves starting turning in Nova Scotia last week so things should look really good once you finally get here.

 

James

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We bought a 2014 Subaru Outback, as the new Forester's don't have the tow capability we need. As of 2014 they changed the transmission and it can only handle 1500 pounds, not the 2200-2500 like before. The price we paid in Canada was the same as the 2012 Foresters in Maine. We have to get a hitch and break controller put in, and the place is booked thru Monday, so we can't get the car until Tuesday. We'll be on the road again late Tuesday or Wednesday morning. That only puts us a week behind our original schedule.

 

We came down to Bangor for a weight watcher meeting this morning, and passed thru a snow storm with great big fluffy flakes. We'll what weather we get on the way home.

 

Whether the weather be cold,

Whether the weather be hot,

We'll weather the weather,

whatever the weather,

whether we like it or not.

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We did a couple of caches in the Bangor area while there today. Only loading caches with a higher fav point number does limit the number we see, but tend to be better/more interesting. One was a tunnel crawl (our third tunnel/cave/tube cache of the trip), the other was an ingenious cache near a big box store - the CO's first hide, and very well done. I won't give details here, but we have pictures to share when (if?) we get home.

 

The weather was chaotic - we woke to mostly clear and a beautiful sunrise. On the drive to Bangor we passed thru a snowstorm. We had rain, hail, sun, wind and fog at various times thru the day - sometimes at the same time. When we got back to the trailer we found a bit of snow clinging to the flater surfaces. We're using a fair amount of propane for heat, one tank is empty and the only supplier in town is closed tomorrow - I hope the other tank holds thru to Monday. I guess we should have packed the sleeping bags as the night time temps are predicted to be in the 20's the next few days.

 

We're having to re-think our route home, depends on what the weather looks like when we leaving. We'll try to get the oldest cache for the other states we're passing thru, but it depends on how fast we need to head home. We 'missed' on Vermont's oldest (a three projection 'trail' with unknown 'step' size). We'd hoped to try again on the way home but may have to bypass in favor of time. Our only DNF for oldest caches so far. We'll at least try to get a cache in the last few lower 48 states we haven't cached in yet (Mass, Conneticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Michigan, Iowa). The one I really don't want to miss, is the Aug 2000 cache in Michigan - which would give me a triple Jasmer.

 

We have to be careful, the closest place with bathrooms and wifi is Tim Horton's - all those donuts are very tempting when there's not much else to do. They've treated us well, knowing we're 'trapped' here until the car is ready.

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We got our car today! So we'll be on the road tomorrow morning. We're heading for Arcadia NP and then stopping at my half-sister's near Bar Harbor. Then down the coast thru Mass., Rhode Island, Conneticut, across NY to New Jersey. From there up thru NY to Buffalo, across Ontario to Michigan to get the third Aug 2000 cache. So we're on the move - about a week later than expected.

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How about a fun side trip to New Hampshire for Mt Washington?

 

Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288 ft (1,917 m) and the most prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River.

 

There is a Cache there just in case you wanted some elevation.

 

Good luck on your return home and keep us in the loop as you venture home :unsure:

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How about a fun side trip to New Hampshire for Mt Washington?

 

Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288 ft (1,917 m) and the most prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River.

 

There is a Cache there just in case you wanted some elevation.

 

Good luck on your return home and keep us in the loop as you venture home :unsure:

The last time we passed thru here (about 7-8 years ago) we drove up Mt Washington in a rental car with a leak in the radiator, so we needed to hit a couple of the water stations they have for such things. We did the webcam up there (with the help of Prying Pandora). This year we were trying to get the cog train up (the early morning steam engine) but timing just didn't work. That was one of the reasons we were driving at night, trying to make up some time/distance lost to longer travel times thru the area.

 

We're spending a couple of nights near Acadia NP (my half sister lives in Ellsworth), then down the coast to Maine's oldest and over to New Hampshire's oldest. We're watching the weather and seeing how the rest of the trip will play out. Most of the RV places locally shut down around Columbus Day or the next week. Hopefully, as we move west they are still available - else we'll be staying Wal Mart parking lots more often.

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We spent a day and a half in Acadia NP - great views, nice walks along the rock shore, and some interesting virtual caches. We then headed down the coast to Portland ME for the oldest cache in Maine. Then we tried to find an RV park still open - even the ones that were listed as staying open until Oct 30/31 were closed. Instead of using Walmart we decided we'd get a motel room - we've had a few nights of dry camping already...

 

Today we got to NH's oldest cache - a very beautiful walk thru a forest full of color. After lunch we'll head for the Boston area for Mass's oldest.

 

We'd thought about doing the Delorme Challenge in Rhode Island - twelve whole pages! - but with the season and our delay we'll probably just grab the oldest and keep moving.

 

The Outback is towing the trailer even better than the Forester. The Forester didn't handle the tongue weight as well. I haven't had enough time to see which had better mileage - aside from the fact the Outback is all metric (I'm getting pretty good at converting Km/miles on the fly) and I haven't figured out the 1/100km vs. ?? gas number. The heated seats in the Outback are pretty nice with the temp's in 20-30's in the morning, and afternoons are in the 40-50's. Having already delivered the doll house, it's hard to judge the room inside, but there's plenty of room for all we have.

 

We'll lunch is over and we have to get back on the road. More later - but hopefully no more 'adventures'!

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Hmmm <_< How about this?

 

Conversion Chart / Table

L/100 km to MPG Conversion Chart / Table: MPG to L/100 km Conversion Chart / Table:

L/100 km = MPG

4.0 = 58.805

4.5 = 52.271

5.0 = 47.044

5.5 = 42.767

6.0 = 39.203

6.5 = 36.188

7.0 = 33.603

7.5 = 31.363

8.0 = 29.403

8.5 = 27.673

9.0 = 26.136

9.5 = 24.760

L/100 km = MPG

10.0 = 23.522

10.5 = 22.402

11.0 = 21.384

11.5 = 20.454

12.0 = 19.602

12.5 = 18.818

13.0 = 18.094

13.5 = 17.424

14.0 = 16.801

14.5 = 16.222

15.0 = 15.681

15.5 = 15.176

MPG = L/100 km

15.5 = 15.176

16 = 14.701

17.5 = 13.441

18 = 13.068

19 = 12.38

20 = 11.761

21 = 11.201

22 = 10.692

23 = 10.227

24 = 9.801

25 = 9.409

26 = 9.047 MPG = L/100 km

27 = 8.712

28 = 8.401

30 = 7.841

32 = 7.351

34 = 6.918

36 = 6.534

38 = 6.19

40 = 5.881

42 = 5.600

44 = 5.346

46 = 5.113

48 = 4.900

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Thanks! That helps a lot. The symbol on the dash was so small it looked like 1/100KM, but it's a small L. Just an inverse to what we think- instead of distance per fuel unit, it's fuel per distance.

 

Well, it seems most of the eastern portion of the US closes the RV parks by now. We've been having "fun" trying to find places to stay that have utilities. We spent last night at another Walmart parking lot - free but no water/electricity/wifi - we can deal with it OK, but it's nice to have at least electricity.

 

We had to pass on the oldest cache New Jersey as the hike was too long/tough. We both caught a cold and we're trying to make a some time. Although today we did get New York's oldest, a short hike but a fair drive into the hills. We're in Onterio a little ways beyond Niagara Falls. We'll see the falls tomorrow (we cam thru Buffalo) and then be moving on towards Michigan - going for Geocache 612, the third cache in the US hidden in Aug 2000. There's also an RV camp nearby that says it's open year round. Yeah! The one we're in tonight, one person said they were open and took our money and got us connected, another (wife?) said they're closed (at least the bathrooms are closed, thank God we have a small chem toilet onboard) - don't they talk to each other?

 

Hopefully, we'll have better luck with RV parks as we head west. We're still thinking about getting the oldest in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota - but that may change if we don't find many places open.

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Well, that was a couple of interesting nights... Connecting the water was 'fun' as the pipe connector was rusty and we couldn't get a good seal. We did as good a job as we could, they were going to get part of the grass watered (which turned out was nothing). Late that night it started to RAIN - now we say it rains in Seattle, but this was more like sitting under Niagaga Falls. It woke us up a couple of times during the night. Wind picked up early morning and we woke to water inside the trailer. The wind was from behind the trailer and driving water up thru the roof seam. The high wind kit is supposed to prevent that, but I think it's installed wrong. I ended up tieing a rope up and over the top which stopped the leaks. It was a good thing we'd planned two nights here (so we could see Niagara Falls easily) as we spent the morning mopping up.

 

We headed into Niagara Falls, ON in a storm, walked to the falls in a heavy rain (still enjoyable, but the mist was thick with rain) and then found a Weight Watcher meeting that lead us to dinner and then a trip back to the falls to see the colored lights they use.

 

We got back to the trailer to find no more leaks! But later that night the wind started! It must have been 40-50 MPH for most of the night. The trailer banged and bucked for several hours. Just about 6am I'd had enough and called for a BUGOUT (anybody remember M.A.S.H.?). We packed up in hurry and dropped the top during a lull and hit the road before light. Having a low trailer made driving easier, but we could still feel the effects at times. We made it into Michigan safe and sound - still kind of windy but nothing like this morning. We tried for a couple of caches in Ontario in the sunshine (eye of the storm?) - found one, DNF'd one - and then back into cloudy weather. Some time we're going to have to get the Falls without rain and wind events (last time we were in a tent).

 

Well, lunch is over and time to get back on the road. We're headed for a RV camp that's supposed to open year round - yippee! Showers and bathrooms! (we hope)

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We are enjoying your adventure. Back in March of1994, we lost our youngest son and my wife Arlene took it real hard, so I thought we should take a trip back to New England. So we loaded up the Roadtrek Van type RV and hooked up a little trailer to haul our scooter. RV parks and state parks were scarce. Many times we were allowed to just park in the parking lot. We visited Niagara Falls and the river was full of ice. We then went thru Rochester, NY and headed south on a light traffic Freeway. Suddenly the trailer was banging loudly. There was a pull off so I stopped and the bolt that went thru the hitch to the ball had dropped out. The ball was still in the hitch. What to do. I looked across the freeway and saw a sign RV Sales about a 1/4 mile. So I crossed the freeway and encounted a 10 foot chain link fence, that I could not climb. Did find a corner and made my way up to the top where I got the seat of my pant caught in the twist on top. Finally got clear, dropped to the ground and walked to the RV Sales. They had the missing bolt. I bought a bolt and another ball assembly. An old VW was leaving and I asked if they were going to the Freeway. They gave me a ride back and offered to help. The safety chains had held the trailer and We soon were on the way. We enjoyed our stay in Bar Harbor. I had a new digital camera and took a picture of a 4 mast scooner in the harbor. I am using it on my home base picture on this PC. We took about the same route home as you are taking. Good Luck Dick & Arlene yes, I know I have several misspelled words, My excuse is I am 90 and the brain works about as well as my knees.

Edited by W7WT
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Well, the RV camp we were heading for was closed for medical reasons (husband was going in for open heart surgery), but we found a county park nearby with RV sites that was still open so we had full hook ups and showers. We'd started for the local Walmart to use their parking lot when we spottrd this camp.

 

In the morning we headed up for Michigan's oldest. The GPSr wanted to route us on dirt roads for the last several miles. The Subaru could have handed it fine, but we didn't want to drag the trailer thru all those, so we found the paved alternate route. Of course, we had to drive in a short ways (.8 miles) on a fair dirt road (we had one old codger give us a double take when we passed him with the trailer). We parked the 'monster' on a side road and walked the last couple of hundred feet. In all of this we learned a lesson (it seems it was a while coming, but it didn't show itself until now) - always dismount the table when going over rough roads. The mount at the base broke and the table, while upright, tipped and swayed something strange. I had to take the whole thing out and we're using a pop-up table (we have for eating outside).

 

We drove thru thickening clouds to south of Grand Rapids (finding a couple of caches along the way) to a real nice RV camp (they close the end of the month, so we just snuck in). The bathrooms were almost a quartef of a mile away so we drove each time we needed them. Since we quit somewhat early we went out to a local theater and watched Hotel Trannsylvania 2 - when I take my wife out for dinner and move I take her OUT - a couple thousand miles out!

 

Today we drove around the south end of Lake Michigan and up to Wisconsin's oldest - all day in the rain, sometimes heavy (going thru Chicago was a real pain with lots of big rigs, road construction, narrow lanes and lots of slop). But by the time we reached the cache it was only a lite mist. We couldn't see the sights real well, low cloud and all, but it was an enjoyable hike. The campground there was closed for the season (not a big surprise) so we're at a Walmart again. We tried for another movie, but they swapped out a horror flick for the last showing (it is Halloween after all). So we just hung out in the trailer playing some games.

 

This last bit back home will be interesting, as day light savings ends tonight so sunset will be an hour earlier. We'll just have to start earlier (like 5:30) to make the most of the daylight. It'll be interesting to see if there are any RV camps open - I know there are some, it's finding them that may be a challenge. We should be home in less then two weeks. We going for Iowa's oldest and maybe a stop by Mall of America just to see it. We don't have it in us to do any big push days, so we'll just take it in easy steps. the only prroblem I can see is snow thru the mountains, but we've prepared for that (chains for trailer) it just doesn't sound 'fun' - if it gets too bad we can wait for te plowing (assuming we find a RV camp) or head south for a warmer route home.

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With a bit of luck you should be able to sneak through without problems. But depending on the size of the storms rolling across the country about the only route south that is warmer I-10 is about the only choice. I-90, I-80, I-70 and I-40 all have significant mountains that need to be crossed and I-70 stops in Utah and then the choice needs to be made. I-80 in Wyoming can be a challenge even when not in the mountains, after all the Wyoming DOT wrote the definitive guide to snow fences.

 

But we'll stay positive and hope you have good weather and are not stuck sampling the parking lots of the Mega Lo Marts across the country. I've enjoyed your narratives, thanks for sharing.

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We're sitting in Ruby Tuesday's at The Mall of America. We spent most of yesterday driving from Wisconson to Iowa - a lovely drive in the sunshine (nice change from the wind and rain of the last few days). We arrived at Iowa's oldest with time for a quick shot, but decided to hit a nearby RV camp and take a more leisurely trip in the morning.

 

It was a lovely walk thru a fall forest - with no underbrush, which is big change from back home - to the edge of a short cliff area (all of them around here are short, compared to what I'm used to). We saw a couple of bald eagles down below by the river. We explored more of park by car. There was a rock tower called Balanced Rock and a short cave thru one cliff - about 150' long with a chamber a ways in big enough to stand in. Along the way we saw a white tailed buck and a couple of more bald eagles. Then we headed back to camp, packed and headed for the Twin Cities to see The Mall of America. We found another RV park a short ways away - the water to the sites is off (cold weather coming - hard to believe with the temp in upper 60's) but they had a place we could fill our tank. We found a Weight Watchers meeting and then over to the mall for the evening.

 

We're debating if we should try I-94 or I-90 for the trip home. 94 leaves directly from here, while 90 needs a bit of southerly travel to get too. We came out 94 so we've just seen it, the section of 90 across to Rapid City we haven't done in a long time. I don't know if the more northernly 94 will be any worse the 90 weather-wise... I guess some more lookin at the map tonight before bed is called for.

 

Well, now that we've "tanked up" it's time to explore this place.

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I just realized that I made mistake a few posts back, we didn't go for Michigan's oldest (power island) due to weather and time. But we did the Aug 2000 cache (geocache 612) - this qualified me for a triple jasmer (aside from the last couple of months while I'e been chasing oldies not new ones). I can't even use W7WT's excuse - my knees work quite well, so far - but I can blame my cold and the fact we've been on the road too long...

 

The Mall of America is quite the place. Four floors, 7 acres of theme park and lots of things to see. A good place to get exercise as it quite the walk to get anywhere - especially when the diretory isn't up to date and a shop has moved. We really have to come back to see it better, an hour and a half didn't do it justice.

 

We've opted for the I-90 route - it isn't much longer time wise and we haven't been along the eastern section in a long, long time. We swung by and did a vitrual at the Minn, Iowa, SD junction and then drove across SD to Mitchell to see the Corn Palace, a unique building that is decorated with different colored corn cobs to create pictures and designs. We found a RV camp still open thru hunting season in Plankinton SD.

 

Unless the weather gets really nasty we should be home in four or five days - depending on how long we feel like pushing the driving time. The clear weather is holding, at least for now. With the temp in the upper 60's to low 70's it hard to believe winter/snow is just around the corner.

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At least you didn't have to put up with skeeters and ticks. I am from Southern Illinois but taught high school electronics at Freeport, Illinois. It is 60 milss south of Madison,Wi. We usually stopped at Mitchell, S. D. either going or coming. As I remember we stayed at a very nice campground east of Mitchell out in the country. Also remember there were nice caches at a Lake north of town. Southern Wi in the fall can make for an enjoyable trip. I made several trips in one of our Piper airplanes to visit my mother. I would usually take a southern route thru Lincoln, NE where we lived before coming to Bremerton and a northern route thru Bismarck and Missoula on the way back. I had open heart surgery to get a pig valve 5 years ago when we had the big snow in October. I hate pulling a trailer during slick roads. Hope you make it back on dry roads. dick

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Last night we made it to Gillette Wy. The weather was a mix of sun and clouds - it started clear in the morning, but within 15 minutes we were in clouds & fog. It lifted some but there's not much to see along that route anyhow. We did one virtual along the way that covers over 50 miles - a minute man missile silo & launch control, and the air/space museum by Elis AFB. Cold and windy but dry for the stops.

 

This morning was cool and dry, so we stepped across the steet to a History Museum before getting on the road. At times a strong headwind slowed us, but we made it thru Billings (stopped at Steak N Shake for dinner - last shot a one for a year or so. This is the second closest to home, only Reno is closer - by 100 miles) and then to Bozeman, MT - where it's currently snowing on us while we are parked in the Walmart parking lot (no RV camps open around). They are predicting 1-3 inchs between here and Butte. I guess we'll see how we do pulling trailer in the snow - I just hope the chains for the Forester fit the Outback (actually I hope we don't have to find out!) - we do have chains for the trailer since it has brakes. I sure wish we could have found a RV park - our electric heater would be nice tonight, good thing we have lots of propane.

 

We were thinking of going down the Columbia Gorge anyhow - I lost my bike off the back of the car down in Silverton and need to get from the kind gentleman who found it - which we thought might add a day to the trip. Now I'm not sure how we'll do, we might not make the Spokane area tomorrow after all.

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Last night we made it to Gillette Wy. The weather was a mix of sun and clouds - it started clear in the morning, but within 15 minutes we were in clouds & fog. It lifted some but there's not much to see along that route anyhow. We did one virtual along the way that covers over 50 miles - a minute man missile silo & launch control, and the air/space museum by Elis AFB. Cold and windy but dry for the stops.

 

This morning was cool and dry, so we stepped across the steet to a History Museum before getting on the road. At times a strong headwind slowed us, but we made it thru Billings (stopped at Steak N Shake for dinner - last shot a one for a year or so. This is the second closest to home, only Reno is closer - by 100 miles) and then to Bozeman, MT - where it's currently snowing on us while we are parked in the Walmart parking lot (no RV camps open around). They are predicting 1-3 inchs between here and Butte. I guess we'll see how we do pulling trailer in the snow - I just hope the chains for the Forester fit the Outback (actually I hope we don't have to find out!) - we do have chains for the trailer since it has brakes. I sure wish we could have found a RV park - our electric heater would be nice tonight, good thing we have lots of propane.

 

We were thinking of going down the Columbia Gorge anyhow - I lost my bike off the back of the car down in Silverton and need to get from the kind gentleman who found it - which we thought might add a day to the trip. Now I'm not sure how we'll do, we might not make the Spokane area tomorrow after all.

 

There is a GIFF Event in Spokane tonight if you want to stop by. It starts at 7 pm. It would be fun to meet you in person and hear some of those stories.

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Steak N Shake. My gosh are they still around. I enlisted in the Naval Aviation program in 1943 and the first place they sent me was to Terre Haute,In where they had Steak N Shake Then when in Freeport, Illinois teaching HS we always stopped at the Steak N Shake in Normal, Ill. on the way to my home town in southern, Ill. We stopped many times in Gillette, Wy at a RV park, after we moved to Bremerton. Always had a hard time finding the office open.

Edited by W7WT
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Last night we made it to Gillette Wy. The weather was a mix of sun and clouds - it started clear in the morning, but within 15 minutes we were in clouds & fog. It lifted some but there's not much to see along that route anyhow. We did one virtual along the way that covers over 50 miles - a minute man missile silo & launch control, and the air/space museum by Elis AFB. Cold and windy but dry for the stops.

 

This morning was cool and dry, so we stepped across the steet to a History Museum before getting on the road. At times a strong headwind slowed us, but we made it thru Billings (stopped at Steak N Shake for dinner - last shot a one for a year or so. This is the second closest to home, only Reno is closer - by 100 miles) and then to Bozeman, MT - where it's currently snowing on us while we are parked in the Walmart parking lot (no RV camps open around). They are predicting 1-3 inchs between here and Butte. I guess we'll see how we do pulling trailer in the snow - I just hope the chains for the Forester fit the Outback (actually I hope we don't have to find out!) - we do have chains for the trailer since it has brakes. I sure wish we could have found a RV park - our electric heater would be nice tonight, good thing we have lots of propane.

 

We were thinking of going down the Columbia Gorge anyhow - I lost my bike off the back of the car down in Silverton and need to get from the kind gentleman who found it - which we thought might add a day to the trip. Now I'm not sure how we'll do, we might not make the Spokane area tomorrow after all.

 

There is a GIFF Event in Spokane tonight if you want to stop by. It starts at 7 pm. It would be fun to meet you in person and hear some of those stories.

Darn, we had lousy wifi last night and didn't see this until this morning. It would have been fun.

 

Well, the drive across Montana was "fun" (i.e.. tense and high stress). I-90 up the continental divide was packed snow and ice, some melting in the sun. Coming down the other side into Butte was just as bad plus we had dense fog - lousy road surface and lousy visibility, what a combination! But we made it thru without problems (except my stress level was thru the roof). A lot better then the three 18 wheeler's going the other way - one had spun out and flipped (facing the wrong way on it's side), another was off the far side, with a crane lifting load and truck pieces, the last had a cab fire. Not a good day for truck drivers heading east...

 

We made it into Coeur D Alene early enough (time zones work in your favor heading west) we were able to catch an early showing of Mission Impossible: Rouge Nation. It's a long (over 2 hour) movie so we were able to get back to camp (so nice to have full services) for a slightly late dinner. It's a lot warmer than the last few days - mid-forties over night - so we didn't have to bundle up to break camp.

 

We headed out this morning to our (new) favorite resaurant in the area (The Old European Restaurant - discovered on our last trip thru). Soon we'll be on the road heading for Silverton OR to retrieve my bike. We should be home tomorrow afternoon. What a trip!

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Man, retired life is hard! :lol:

 

Ain't it just? We just got back from a month in California. B)

 

The Retired Life is followed by the Retarded Life. Be thankful you are still in the Retired Life

I must be doing something wrong - I'm doing this Retired Life in a Retarded way! Or so it seems at times.

 

Well, we made it to Silverton - about an hour and a half later than expected due to an accident that jugged up the freeway. It was long drive with mixed weather, started sunny and ended with heavy rains - it what you get when crossing into the westside (wetside?). It was dry to set up camp, but the wind is picking up - should be an interesting night.

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Hey, Jester and Bloomin Idiot!!! I read through all your travels, tribulations, and triumphs on your geocaching quests (and the dollhouse delivery, of course) and it was my lunchtime "entertainment." So glad that you are home and now I know I will never try that trip after September. (In case you do't rememnber, we were the couple in the large motorhome next to you at the Summer Campout, and I had a white cat named "Sugar.")

 

Glad that you are home safe and sound. Hope to see you soon.

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