Final Stretch

August 21 - 30: The Final Stretch 

When I last posted, we were in South Dakota at the Famil-E-Fun RV park conveniently close to the interstate.  On August 22, after an easy entrance to I-90 and an early start, we had another 300 mile day to Rochester, MN where the Mayo Clinic is located. The campground where we stayed, Autumn Woods, is where many families of patients at the Mayo Clinic stay.   We saw the Mayo shuttle come and go multiple times. How fortunate are we that we were there for an overnight stop and not for a month's stay? After a great dinner of walleye at a restaurant just across from the hospital, we settled in for a nice evening in the Newell watching the Braves play.

From Autumn Woods, we continued on 90 east on the 23rd to Utica, IL and stayed at Hickory Hollow RV which was right off the interstate but tucked away with attractive high cut trees. There was no unhooking of the Jeep required at this location! The spots were SO SO long, and we were able to use our Passport America discount so it was a great place to stay. You didn't think this trip would be a breeze did you? I DID!! Here's where things begin to unravel a little....

When we arrive at Hickory Hollow, I decide that I'm finally capable to push the "extend"  button on the slide in the back. So when it's time and Dad is watching, I push the button and NOTHING happens. Nothing. There was a small yet tense exchange as Dad walked over fully prepared to press the button and watch the slide extend. Well, it didn't work for him either. Whew...at least it didn't just stop working because I touched it!! So Dad begins to work on this problem and figures out that it is a relay that isn't working.   We can work together to get the slides out. Not before, however, the front slide stops in half in, half out position. 

Here is the front slide stuck as well, however, Dad was able to handle the problem well. 

Hickory Hollow was within riding distance of a Subway so we took our bikes over to buy dinner and some delicious cookies. On the way there, we rode around the parking lot of what looked to be a huge seed facility where there was also a very large in-ground scale that we were able to ride over. However, the scale didn't correctly weight us because we are minimal to what it usually weighs. 

Dad added a relay to boost the voltage for the slides and they were working fine, so we thought all would be well when it was time to put them in the next morning.  Sure enough, they both went in without a hitch and we were on our way. As Dad was scanning the instruments he saw a red warning light on the coach voltage. It was clear that the chassis batteries were not being charged any longer - the alternator had died.  Now things started making more sense. It had always been a mystery ever since we had purchased the coach that the engine had to be running to move the slides in and out. The low voltage problem with the slide controller had been there all along; it was just hidden when the alternator boosted the voltage high enough.  The coach needs good voltage from the chassis batteries to run, but we had a backup way (using the generator)  to keep them charged  so we were not too worried. We started up the generator, watched the voltage come right up and the green light glowed. Away we went.

So, to sum up, we traveled for 3 days to get across the Midwest and all of it was on I-90 until the last bit of the last day because we were staying as far away from Chicago as possible!! The I-90 corridor was fascinating in and of itself. There were hundreds and hundreds of wind turbines on both sides of the road, and there were SO many corn fields. However, there were very few healthy corn fields. Because of the lack of rain this summer, the corn just hasn't been growing and we will see a significant increase in prices next year. It appeared as though the corn wasn't even as tall as I am and was mostly yellow. It was a sad sight, and it's just too late in the year for rain to help. In fact, the majority of the places we visited over the summer had a fire ban because of the lack of rain.

On the 24th of August, we left Utica, IL and headed the 180 miles to Rochester, IN to visit our friends Mooch and Barb Lewis who we know from Venture Out in Key West. To add to the excitement of the alternator, before too long we noticed the generator was not running and we had not turned it off. We pulled off at a Love's gas station, and it restarted instantly and off we went again.  

Because we did try to avoid Chicago, we had to take some questionable back roads through the corn fields. And, I actually mean THROUGH the corn fields. This was my fault. While trying to pay attention to GPS as well as the iPad, I saw a discrepancy and ultimately made the wrong decision to turn onto one lane paved roads through some corn fields. Fortunately, we did not meet a soul and those roads were actually far better maintained than the main road, but it was still so stressful to be out there and see corn every where your head turns.

The rest of the trip to Mooch and Barb's went well and we planned to stay in their driveway, which if Dad hadn't stayed there before, I just would have been freaking out when we arrived because I did not see ONE driveway that looked accommodating until we got to theirs, and it even looked questionable. They live on a small landlocked lake called Lake Manitou in a narrow, but long house on a small two lane road. Well, we arrived and unhooked and boy did we really make some people mad. Lots of honking at us, but what were we to do? We moved as quickly as possible and with one try, Dad was backed into their driveway.

In the driveway. Notice anything missing on the Jeep?

Mooch runs a large family business in town, and we spent the next few days visiting there and seeing their brand new location in Rochester. But we stayed VERY busy! On Sunday, Mooch decided he wanted an iPad, so we drove about an hour to South Bend to the closest Apple Store and took care of that. I have a sorority sister, Leslie Browning, who lives there now so I surprised her by announcing I was in town and she dropped by the mall for a quick visit!! It was Bid Day back at the University of Tennessee, so it was awesome to see an Alpha Chi Omega to celebrate! 

Leslie and I in South Bend for a quick visit.

On Monday evening we had a real treat. We are all fans of two guys, Pete and Wayne, who perform four nights of the week at Sloppy Joe's in Key West . They put on a comedic show of sorts all in song, and really have a fantastic time doing it. For the past three years, they have added the Moose Club in Rochester onto their end of summer tour, and we were lucky enough to be there for that! It is definitely NOT for anyone under 18 at all and that's probably pushing it. Pete and Wayne have been at Sloppy Joe's for years and are definitely a staple of Key West. They "tour" for a few months in their "tour bus" which is a Dodge caravan. Ha!  Ha!

Moose Club sign.

Early the next morning, Dad planned a small trip to Kokomo, IN for five new tires for the Newell. Of course the sixth has been riding along on the top of the Jeep for the entire trip and thankfully never had to be used. Kokomo is about 45 minutes away so we did not hook up the Jeep. Keep in mind we are still without an alternator at this point! The drive went well until the construction barrels prevented us from turning onto the road to the tire place. Great! Dad quickly found an old gas station to pull into and called Indy Tire and with their help we finally made it! We pretty much bailed at that point for breakfast at Bob Evans while the new tires were installed. Not too long after we returned, the Newell was ready with new tires, and Dad took care of things inside at Indy Tire.

Here is the Newell getting new tires. 

We stopped at a truck stop on the way back to dump the grey water tank and then had a safe and uneventful trip back to Rochester. Keep in mind, the alternator/generator issue is still going on...so....

Mooch and Barb had a friend Rick, who runs a small alternator repair business.  He and his wife came to the house and took the alternator after Dad removed it from the coach.
Rick put the alternator repair at the top of his list and we quickly were advised it had burned up as severely as any alternator he had ever seen.  His wife told us she thought it was so hot it could have caught something on fire - but it had not. 

Here is part of the alternator - you can see where the insulation was burned on the wires. 

He had to order new parts and we decided to replace everything but the rotor so it would be as good as new. Dad drove to his house after work to get it and we still planned to leave the next day. Wednesday morning, August 29th, Dad was up before daylight using his headlamp to install the alternator. He was able to place it correctly without too much trouble. As soon as the neighbors were up, we started the coach and saw that the alternator was working just fine.  Dad pointed the Newell south toward Tennessee. Little did we know we would not get out of Rochester that day....

I followed Dad in the Jeep when we left because there was no convenient place to hook up.  About ten minutes into the trip, Dad pulls over in the Newell on Main Street in front of some houses, and my original thoughts were that he choose there to hook up.  However, I knew better and immediately knew something was wrong when he didn't turn on the emergency flashers. So I turned the emergency lights on in the Jeep and hopped out. Fortunately, the lanes were wider and although people did have to go around us, we were not totally blocking traffic. Dad runs out of the Newell saying, "It  stopped, it just stopped!!!" Oh, great. Definitely NOT going home today. 

The initial suspect was the alternator since that had been the most recent problem.  Dad immediately cut the wires to the alternator thinking that was what tripped the breaker causing the coach to stop. If we can get it started, we can get it back to Mooch and Barb's house. Well, cutting the wires to the alternator did nothing.

So, I actually assisted (weird, right?) in helping Dad find the tripped breaker that forced the Newell to stop. Dad flips it back and expects the Newell to start. Nope, nothing. By this time, Barb, who had been doing errands, saw us and stopped to check on us. What a surprise it was for her to find us on the side of the road! Dad decided at this point to use the override switch in the engine compartment to force the Newell on, and it works, but almost immediately smoke starts billowing out from the Newell, and I start screaming!!!! 

Dad then removes the alternator and finds the problem!! Which is NOT with the alternator, however.  When the alternator was reinstalled that very morning, some wires inside an insulation tube were moved around. When the old alternator was SO hot, it melted part of the insulation tube, and when the new alternator was installed, the already partially burned insulation tube got near enough to the engine that a wire touched ground and that's what tripped the breaker. So when Dad used the override switch, which for some reason had no fuse or breaker, the insulation on the wire burned immediately and that burned through other wiring causing lots of smoke and damage - if you're still following....congratulations. 

So the problem has been determined and in order to go anywhere, the wire that burned needs to be spliced and the others repaired. That takes about three hours, and Mooch offers to let Dad take the Newell to his service bay at the business so Dad can work on it there. There was no question that Dad would work as long as he needed to in order to prevent the Newell being towed. Not only is it expensive, they aren't made to tow and would have SO much damage. We were also willing to pay an off duty police officer to sit behind us with his lights flashing if need be; however, the police never stopped. At one point, the Amish rode by in their buggy with horses, and I could just tell the were having a moral victory!! 

Side of the road. 

Fixing things. 

Working on the wiring. 

Here you can see where the once orange wire has been burned. 

Dad says to tell Becca that working in the shirt she gave him was unavoidable - why - because when the batteries are turned off the air door to the area of the coach with the clothes does not work!  So Becca, looks like you will have to return to Key West and get him another.

Well, if you haven't figured it out already, Dad is an electrical genius and fixed the wiring!!! And would you believe, the Newell starts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO thrilled. We check the iPad for a decent few roads to turn around on (in the residential area), and I hop back into the Jeep to follow Dad. I turn the key, and you guessed it, my battery is DEAD!!! Just from the emergency flashers which should not have killed the battery. I jump out to get his attention before he takes off, and now what are we going to do? Push the Jeep to the back of the Newell and jump it? You got it. That happened, and there are unfortunately no pictures of that. NOW, off we go to the service bay, but with no brake lights or turning signals (other wires were also burned; however, he fixed the one to make the Newell run). Dad spent the rest of the entire day working on the Newell. What a trooper! Couldn't be more proud of him!

We were able to keep the Newell at Mooch's business all night and leave from there in the morning on the 30th. We had a very successful drive around Indy and south on I-75 all the way back to Knoxville. What a way to end the trip!!!!!!! Back at Lotterdale Cove and back in the east after our amazing summer travels. 

Back at Lotterdale Cove on beautiful Tellico Lake, TENNESSEE!!!

South Dakota

August 17 - 21

South Dakota is our LAST "west stop" before the drive home with a visit in Indiana to see some good family friends. I'm sad to stop traveling, of course, as this has been such an eye opener about how much this country has to see and discover, but I am looking forward to being back in Maryville and getting into the JOB search. Speaking of....I'll send my resume anywhere, so if you know anybody...wink wink!!! But seriously. 

We left around 7:45 AM Friday the 17th from Canon City and 400 miles later arrived in Hill City, SD about ten minutes from Mt. Rushmore. It was a long drive. Going through Denver was not as difficult as we had expected as there weren't many lane changes and hardly any construction. Once we got off the interstate, the driving was mainly two and four lane highways. I wasn't very impressed with South Dakota when we were driving here, but after three full days...I love it!

We are staying at a HUGE campground called Rafter J Bar that spans acres and acres in the Black Hills.  With a pool, play area, pancakes every morning, wide and long sites for us, tent areas, and cabins, it needs to be big. This was a great recommendation from a neighbor in Canon City. The air is quite chilly here though, which is  certainly a nice break from the heat in Moab.  The lows in the nights and mornings have been mid 40s and the highs up to 75 or so. I have definitely enjoyed not turning on the heat and using extra blankets. Reminds me of when Dad refused to turn on the heat in the winters so I had to get dressed under the covers. Can't blame him though, if it wasn't for his master savings plan, he might not have the resources to go on this awesome trip.

Rafter J Bar Ranch Campground. 

View of the Black Hills

AUGUST 18 

Mt. Rushmore

There is SO much to see in this area and with an early start we headed over to Mt. Rushmore. What an awesome sight. We decided to skip going into the (I'm assuming museum) area as we learned there was not an "entrance fee" but there was a "parking fee" of $11 so quite deceptive.  We still were able to get some great pictures of the faces/heads/presidents. They have many different names here!

The faces! 

This was taken from the car at the stop light to turn into the park area. Still SO COOL!!!! 

Here is an extra patriotic picture with the American flag. 

We kept on the main road (the Iron Mountain Road) and then took a side paved road and found this view of the faces as well. 

The profile view of George himself. The sky was the perfect blue this day. 

This gives an idea of what the faces look like from far away.

Custer State Park
After we were satisfied with our Mt. Rushmore pictures we kept on the Iron Mountain Road.  We entered Custer State Park and purchased our $15 week pass. The young man promised us wildlife on the Wildlife Loop Road, and I questioned him because we have been told we'd see wildlife and didn't see any! He said if we didn't see wildlife we were on the wrong road! Fingers crossed and off we go. Well, he wasn't lying. 

Entering the best state park I have ever visited!

We came upon this guy within half a mile of being inside the park boundary. He was just snacking away as we were clicking away again and again and again!!! 

More buffalo - it was unreal, they were everywhere.  Every fall, around October, people come to Custer State Park from all over, and there is a huge auction of the buffalo. Many people try to raise a herd of their own. Keep in mind that most of these buffalo grow to be six feet tall at their big hump. Also, if you use your imagination just a little bit, they look like snow plows as it snows SO much up here.  

Can you see the snow plow? 

Here is another large herd within Custer State Park. There are baby buffalo out there too. We only came upon these because people had pulled off the road and were walking up an embankment to look at this herd.  We wanted to see what they could see.  People, including us, can be very much like sheep! 

This is as close to the buffalo as anyone should get. There were plenty of signs that said "Buffalo are unpredictable - stay in or very near your car" so that's just what I did!

Here I am very scared about these burros. When I was about 12 and at horse camp, a horse bit me so I am definitely not a fan of anything that looks even remotely like a horse near my arm. My window was down at first and as he approached (quite quickly!) looking for food I had a mini panic attack while trying to get my window up as Dad took pictures. I am 100% positive the people that were petting other burros a few feet ahead of us took pictures of me freaking out. Oh well...I'm sure I looked ridiculous, but getting bit HURTS! 

Here are the burros just hanging out in the road. 

He's annoyed because I put away the oatmeal cookies. Sorry, Charlie. 

More hanging out in the road. 

Causing traffic jams. All day everyday. 

Not moving an inch. And probably loving every minute of it. 

I took this one with my cell phone which I am sure he would have eaten if I would have let him. After hanging around for a maximum of one minute, he realized I wasn't going to feed him and went on to the next car. 

Here is the first prairie dog we saw. Little did we know that they would soon be everywhere. 

Hello little buddy. 

There guys have a squeaky bark that they use constantly to communicate with each other. In some fields, there were hundreds of lightly colored mounds of earth where the prairie dogs dug their holes for their families. 

This guy is blending in really well with his house. 

A beautiful shot of (what I think is) a pronghorn antelope. They can run up to 50 mph for five minutes. 

Wind Cave National Park
Wind Cave National Park borders the south end of Custer State Park so we had to go there even though we didn't know what we would see (although we did at least get it right that there is a big cave!) We did learn  there are numerous cave tours throughout the day, but it was 47 degrees inside, and we were definitely not dressed for that. After looking around in the Visitor Center, we decided to travel some unpaved roads that eventually dumped us back into Custer State Park without much back tracking. What a treat these roads were! 

Check off the list another National Park! 

The twisting creek we saw in Wind Cave National Park. 

These roads could be traveled by most any vehicle, which is a great way to see some more remote areas of the park. 

Such a beautiful and different landscape than what we have seen in other parts of the west. 

Here is a cute little baby buffalo! He doesn't even have the hump on his back yet. 

Here are some beautiful "amber waves of grain" in Wind Cave. 

After a long day of driving and just a few oatmeal cookies it was way past lunch time at 3:00 when we got back into Custer City. The first few places I picked out for a late lunch were closed for a siesta, and I did not want to wait! We ended up at a tasty bar and grill. Great end to a busy day! The places we went had SO much to offer, and we were very pleased with finally seeing a lot of wildlife. 

AUGUST 19
Wall Drugstore
Time to check another National Park off our list - The Badlands. Before that though, Wall Drug. What is Wall Drugstore?  In 1931 Ted Hustead bought a small drug store in Wall, South Dakota which is essentially in the middle of nowhere. Business was slow at first until his wife thought to advertise "free ice water" on the road that was heading to Mt. Rushmore. And it took off from there. Now, Wall Drug is a cowboy themed must see on Interstate 90. There are plenty of stores with cowboy gear, Sturgis gear, and loads of touristy knick knacks. Pictures illustrate the rest!  

These advertisements are just a few examples of the many we saw on the Interstate on the way to Wall Drug. During Wall Drug's heyday in the 60s there were over 6,000 highway signs advertising his business. Many still remain!

Finally to the exit!

Made it to this interesting place. 

Inside the main "drug store"

Another picture of what the place looks like inside. There are lots of stores on each side of this hallway. 

Mr. Hustead started it all. 

We had visited the majority of these sights!  

I guess I got confused. 

The main drag of Wall, South Dakota.

Wall Drug was an entertaining stop to spend about an hour or so looking around in the shops and checking out all of the old pictures. 

Badlands National Park
We learned the day before that skipping lunch gets old quickly, so we stopped at a gas station to stock up on snacks which was a good idea before heading into the park. What a great place!! I was totally unaware of what this park offered, and we ended up seeing quite a bit of it. I don't know why, but I seem to always be surprised at how fantastic each National Park is that we visit, but yet I enjoyed all of them.   

The Badlands are huge rock/sand formations that are in the middle of a large area of prairie and plains type land. The National Park does not prevent people from walking out into the formations and getting a sense of what they feel and look like. There are different layers of rocks within the formations, and there is even an area called the Yellow Mounds that have yellow and purple coloring to the rock. We purchased a little $3 road guide to the area so at every view point I was able to read aloud about the history. We traveled the main road through the park and then an unpaved road to a state highway so there was no back tracking...again! 

We made it!!! 

First look as we drive in. 

Awesome!

This was the first pull off in the park. This path led to some of the formations and to people climbing on them. There were warning signs for rattle snakes, but our book said only about two to three people per decade are bitten, so I wasn't too worried about it. 

Here is the book we picked up to tell us all about the park. 

This totally hilarious picture was at the Visitor Center. Dad and I tried to figure out how we could recreate it without actually sticking my head into a hole, but we never came to a safe conclusion. After all rattlesnakes are the main predators of prairie dogs, and I didn't want one to get confused.  

This picture was taken looking down into the formations. 

This is at the Prairie Wind Overlook where we learned that the original land area of the Great Plains has now been reduced to less than two percent of its original range. 

This is the Pinnacles Overlook and probably the most photographed landscape. It is also the highest point on the Badlands Loop Road.

Here is the first glance at the Yellow Mounds.

After completing the Badlands Loop Road we turned onto the Sage Creek unpaved road with the hopes of seeing wildlife and other areas of the park. Well, that was definitely a success!! 

My first encounter with a wild Big Horn Sheep. Lovely!

Here is more of the family!

The littlest one crossing the Sage Creek road. These sheep have incredibly small hooves which are useful  for climbing rocks and steep cliffs. 

There goes the happy family. 

I just love all of the prairie dogs. 

More buffalo crossing the street. There were no buffalo near the actual formations of the badlands, but out in the basin area where there was plenty of vegetation, there were many buffalo. 

These guys were close to a remote campground in the park. I don't know how well I would sleep if I knew those were around. 

So beautiful. This is outside of the park on the way back to Hill City. Way better than the interstate!

Fields and fields of sunflowers. 

Another successful day out west that would only be totally complete with a great meal. TripAdvisor has been a wonderful resource on restaurants, so I checked it out for Hill City and found a place called Desperados Cowboy Restaurant. We met the owner the minute we walked in. He knew East Tennessee well and was a Peyton Manning fan! We had an OUTSTANDING meal there as Dan (the owner) runs a great place. Definitely a top eatery to visit in Hill City.

Buffalo burger with sweet potato fries and beans. YUMMY!

AUGUST 20
Sylvan Lake

We did add an extra night here at Rafter J Bar with the intention of the 20th being a day to recuperate and get ready for the four day haul east. By 11:00 AM I was ready to go somewhere, so we checked the map and picked a few places to explore.  The first was down a road called Needles Highway to Sylvan Lake which is in Custer State Park so even more to see in this park.

Sylvan Lake where these granite rocks are in the middle of the lake. 

Dad gets credit for this "artsy" shot as he called it!. 

Chilly morning on a calm lake. 

Sylvan Lake was a great place to walk around and get more fresh mountain air from the Black Hills. 

Needles Highway 
The Needles Highway "weaves" itself through the north western corner of Custer State Park, eventually meeting up with the Wildlife Loop. It would have been a shame to miss this highway. Needles refers to the granite rocks in the area that protrude from the Black Hills. It is a popular climbing area as the granite can withstand so much pressure. Up close, the granite is very sparkly and you can just imagine it all smoothed out on your counter tops. We drove through three tiny tunnels.  I am sure the narrow sides have scraped off a side-view mirror or two.     

Information about the "Needles Eye" on the road. 

Here is the eye itself. 

This was an area big enough to stop and park quite a few cars. Lots of people were climbing on the rock. There is also plenty of room to turn around here if you see the tunnel and decided you can't fit. 

Close up of the granite rock. 

The tiny, tiny tunnel!!! 

We decided to check out a lot of the unpaved/logging roads around the area and in Custer State Park as well. By now, I am sure we have been on all of the gravel roads in Custer! We did  have some difficulty at first finding this one certain road I wanted to navigate.   I eventually discovered that there were some discrepancies on maps we had.  We spent a few hours enjoying new roads and seeing even more wildlife!

A lot of the roads looked like this, so any two wheel drive car could see all this beauty too!

My only Black Hills sign. 

A little fawn.

This guy was a loner. 

Obviously these are not wild, but still these are the biggest sets of horns ever!

More buffalo. 

More roads in Custer State Park

This is Dad's picture! You should have seen the rack of antlers on this guy. It was HUGE. But then he ran away. It was hilarious. 

A beautiful deer by itself in the Black Hills. 

Family of Big Horn Sheep at the Horse Camp area in Custer State Park. 

This is Horse Camp. It is a HUGE area in the state park where people can bring their horses and camp in the trailers too! There were quite a few spots with electricity and each campsite came with a corral as well. A great place for horse lovers at the trailhead of the Centennial Trail. 

More of the Horse Camp area. 

It ended up being a great decision to see some more places in both the Black Hills and Custer State Park. Although we saw so much, I am sure there is more to do there like ride horses and hike...well maybe just ride horses.

I am saving the best part for LAST!! These are some Big Horn Sheep in their natural habitat - the side of a rock mountain!!!!!!!!

Can you spot anything on this rock??

Zoomed all the way to spot this sheep!

It is amazing how they just blend into the rocks. 

This is the sheep you can see just barely in the first picture. 

Amazing!!!

Can't leave Hill City without going to Desparados again! We learned that our waiter, Kris, is an amazing wildlife and landscape photographer. He really is very talented!!! If you want to see vastly better pictures than all of the ones I have posted, check out his site, www.kadeksusanto.com.  His work has been showcased in many South Dakota magazines.

Last night in Hill City, South Dakota! 

Also...have to mention this problem within all of this beauty...

There is a beetle in the Black Hills that is taking out many of the trees in the area. We learned that once the tree had died, they can not be used for logging and must be placed in piles arranged in certain shapes that will burn well in controlled burns in the winter. Here are some pictures of the trees. You can easily see the trees that have been bitten by the beetle.

There are many areas in this landscape where trees have been attacked by the beetle. 

Here are many of the piles of dead trees that will be burned in a controlled burn this winter. 

AUGUST 21 
Travel Day
The first 100 or so miles of our trip today was a repeat of our trip to see Wall Drug and the Badlands. We only had 300 miles today and with a time change arrived in Mitchell, SD at 2:00 PM central time zone. The drive on this interstate is significantly easier and Dad is able to use the cruise control!  We are camped at a place called Famil-E-Fun that sits in the middle of the corn fields. It was a great place to spend the day riding our bikes in the fields and down some country roads. The owner is quite the hunter and has many displays.   He recommended tomorrow's campsite stop.  We have another 300 mile day tomorrow so fingers crossed for another safe day.

Well, there's not much left to see out here, but I'll keep blogging until we make it all the way back home. If you're still reading...THANKS SO MUCH!!! I'm thrilled when I see the counts of readers getting higher and higher!