17. Minnesota and Wisconsin

Arrived in Pipestone, MN, on the afternoon of Thursday, September 19th. Used my bicycle to visit the nearby Pipestone National Monument, an Indian quarry used by many tribes for making peace pipes currently and in the past. Saw the film, watched a craftsman, and walked the 1.5 mile trail, but there wasn't anything else to see there. Rode my bicycle around the small town and spent the night at an RV park across the street from the monument.

Nice waterfall on trail

 One of the many quarries - still in use today.

Next morning drove East for an hour on small roads through the Minnesota farmlands before joining I-90. Started to rain and was cold so continued to drive 3 hours East, and stopped in Austin, home of Hormel meats and its SPAM museum. Visited the museum which was a lot of fun. It is a place which makes fun of itself while at the same time showing the history of SPAM and how it has been a part of historic events in the past 50 years.

That afternoon, drove 1 hour East along the historic Bluff Country Scenic Byway in Southeast Minnesota which wasn't all that scenic, and spent the night at an RV park near Lanesboro,  on the Root river.
Next morning, Sep 21st, finished the not-so-scenic byway by driving 1 hour East to the Mississippi river, stopping briefly in the town of La Crescent to see a very boring Apple Festival. Drove across the river into Wisconsin to the town of La Crosse.  Walked around the downtown historic area which is full of bars and restaurants and visited nearby Riverfront park which was OK but nothing special.  Missed their famous Oktoberfest by one weekend, which was probably a good thing.

Old paddle wheeler docked by the park

 Mississippi river between Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Spent the night at Goose Island country park, 3 miles South of La Crosse. It was cold and windy when I arrived so did not tour the park, but instead watched football in my RV.  Next day, drove 2 hours East to an RV park between the towns on Wisconsin Dells and Baraboo. Spent two nights there and used the scooter to get around. Baraboo was the home town for the Wringling Brothers circus so visited the circus museum there which was very nice.

The town of Wisconsin Dells is a summer family tourist spot with lots of water parks and arcades so there wasn't much for me to do there. Spent some time at the local Indian casino where I won $40, first time I've won at a casino in a long time.

Next day, drove another 2 hours Southeast to the city of Madison, the state capital and also home to the University of Wisconsin. Stayed for 2 nights at a county park 5 miles from the town center.  Used my bicycle on the nice trails to ride around and visit the city and campus.  A real nice place, want to revisit.

One of the many lakes surrounding the city - capitol building in the distance.

 Center of campus.  Graduating students sit on Lincoln's lap and whisper their dreams into his ear.

Next morning, Thursday, Sep. 26th, said goodbye to Wisconsin, and drove Southeast towards Chicago.

16. South Dakota

Sept 14th, drove 1 hour to Rapid City, SD where I attended morning and evening Yom Kippur services at the Synagogue of the Hills. Spent the afternoon walking around downtown, which is a nice small town, with life sized statues of the presidents on each corner.  Also drove up to the top of the hill to their historic Dinosaur Park.

Spent the night in an RV park there, next day (Sunday) drove towards the Black Hills, but stopped to buy food in Sturgis, home of the motorcycle rally. They were having a motocross race in the middle of downtown.

One of the many massive bars in downtown Sturgis

Race track downtown, next turn is Main Street

Next stop was Deadwood, old mining town, now tourist spot with many casinos. Walked around the famous cemetery where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried. Hickok was killed in Deadwood during a Poker game.

In the afternoon, drove through the Black Hills towns of Lead and Hot Springs, and arrived in Custer City where I spent two nights. Drove my scooter around the Black Hills and visited the sights.

Lead - Homestake Gold Mine (open pit)

Crazy Horse Memorial

 Mount Rushmore

Pronghorns in Custer State Park

This is a VIDEO of Bisons in Custer State Park (not sure how to upload this)

Next day, drove South to Hot Springs, where I took the 1 hour tour of Wind Cave National Park. Not expecting much, as I was dissapointed at the last Cave I visited but this one was really nice (no pics).  Drove on to the outskirts of Hot Springs where I toured the Mammoth Site, where an old deep sinkhole trapped 60 mammoths.

Late afternoon, drove 2 hours East to the town of Interior, next to Badlands National Park, where I stayed the night. Next day, toured the park in only 3 hours, including 4 hikes. Was not too impressed with it.

Ten minutes away was the town of Wall, home to the famous Wall Drug Store. Spent an hour there, looking at the paintings and memorabilia, which was nice.

Drove 30 miles East to the Minuteman Missile Test Site, but the tours were cancelled for the day, so drove another 200 miles East to the town of Mitchell, where I spent the night.  Next morning, went to the famous Mitchell Corn Palace, a 100 year old arena where each year they decorate the exterior and interior with murals made of corn.  Found out that there are 5 main types of corn, and the sweet corn and popcorn we eat make up less than 2% of production.  The main type is used for ethanol, corn syrup, animal feed and other manufacturing processes.

That afternoon, Sept 19th, said goodbye to South Dakota, and drove 100 miles East and 30 miles North into Minnesota.

15. Wyoming

Spent Sept 7th and 8th in Gros Ventre Campground, just South of Grand Tetons National Monument. Used my scooter to drive around the park and see the really nice mountains, wildlife and scenery. Also visited the ski area and rode the gondola to the top of the mountain.

Bison near the campground

 Grand Tetons - cloudy day

 Old barn on Mormon Row in Jackson valley

Wildflowers at top of Jackson Hole Ski Area

Two days later, drove 1 hour North into Yellowstone National Park where I stayed three nights at the expensive Fishing Bridge RV campground. Used the scooter to drive about 100 miles each day around the vast park double driving loop. Saw lots of geyers, pools, bison, and really nice scenery. Definitely one of the best parks I have been to.

Mud Flats Pool

One of many bison

Yellowstone Falls

Sad to leave Yellowstone, but drove 2 hours East to Cody, Wyoming. Was not going to go to the Cody museum, but as it was a rainy day decided to, and glad I did. Four museums in one, each of them really interesting and very well done.
Indian Museum

 Entrance

Afternoon, continued to drive Eastward and stayed overnight in a small state park in the town of Ranchester, WY.  Next day, drove the rest of the way through Wyoming and visited Devils Tower National Monument, where I did two hikes.

Climber - close up

 Can you spot the climber?

Spent the night on the Eastern edge of Wyoming in the town of Sundance, where the Sundance Kid got his name. Next morning, Sept, 14th, drove into South Dakota.

14. Idaho

Rainy morning of Sept 2nd, drove 2 hours North to Sandpoint, ID, a tourist town on Pend Oreille Lake.  It was foggy and overcast, so walked around a bit, had lunch then drove 2 hours South to Coeur D'Alene which is also on a lake. Overcast and raining there, so spent 15 minutes walking around, then drove 1 hour South to Moscow, home of the University of Idaho, where I stayed overnight in the county fairgrounds RV park.

Sculpture at Pend Oreille Lake

Another overcast and rainy day, so walked around the university in the morning, then drove South to Lewiston, on the Snake River. Drove to the Nez Perce Indian visitor center on the outskirts of town, and walked around the old settlement there, then drove the 80 mile scenic route on the Snake River down to the tiny town of White Bird (near the Snake River Gorge) where I stayed.  Still did not do much sightseeing in Idaho due to the bad weather.

Nez Perce Heart of the Monster - Sacred Ground

Next day was also raining, so instead of going to the Snake River Gorge, I decided to drive 4 hours to Boise. Stayed there two nights, went to Rosh Hashanah services there, and drove around the city a bit, but didn't take any pictures.  After Boise, drove 3 hours Southeast on I-80 to Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument.  Only fossils to see were in the small visitor center. Spent an hour driving around the rest of the monument, then went to nearby Mallard Gorge State Park.

Old Oregon Trail near Hagerman Fossil Beds Monument

Mallard Gorge State Park.

Late afternoon, drove 2 hours to Crater Moons National Monument, and stayed in their campground.  Next morning, drove the loop, walked all the trails and did the visitor center. The place was nice but all the features looked similar, so I was happy to only spend a night and a morning there.

That afternoon, Sept 7th, drove 3 hours East over the Teton Pass, into Jackson Hole, WY, and the Grand Teton National Park.  Only spent 6 days and 5 nights in Idaho, but I felt that was enough.

13. Washington

Morning of August 15th, drove 50 miles North on I-5 to Seaquest State Park, near Mount St. Helens. Stayed two nights there with no hookups and only one shower for a packed campground, so was not impressed with my first Washington state park. Drove the scooter 45 miles up to Johnston Ridge Observatory, the closest viewpoint to the crater and lava dome. Great views, good ranger talks, and a real interesting video.

Crater created by the 1980 eruption - blew the top 1,200 feet off the mountain

Coldwater Lake - created by the 1980 eruption

Following morning, drove 2 hours Northeast to the Western entrance of Mt. Rainier National Park. Stayed at a private campsite just outside of the park, and used my scooter that afternoon to see the Southwest part of the park, driving up to the Paradise area. Did a few hikes there, making it up to the snow.

Next morning, drove 50 miles through the park to the Northeast area and checked into the White River campground inside the park. Used the scooter to drive up to the Sunrise area, the highest driveable section. Did a few hikes there, and got some good views of Mt. Rainier's glaciers.

Next day drove two hours West to Olympia, the capitol. Spent an hour touring the capital and walking around the nice grounds.

Spent the night at Little Creek Casino RV park in nearby Shelton. Next morning, drove 2 hours North to Port Townsend on the Puget Sound coast. Stayed in the county fairgrounds RV park and used the scooter to visit the Fort Worden State Park and the town.  Was not impressed with the Fort, but the town was nice as it was a hippie retirement area.

 Lighthouse at Fort Worden

Spent the next 3 days and nights seeing the huge Olympic National Park, which takes up much of the Northwest coast of the state. Visited Hurricane Ridge, Sol Duc Hot Springs, Hoh Rain Forest, and Kalaloch on the West coast. Really nice park with three different environments, mountains, rain forest, and coast.

After a 3 hour drive East. spent the next four days and nights seeing Seattle.  Rode my bike 15 minutes to the bus which was then another 20 minutes into town. Was there on the weekend so it was very crowded. Did a lot of walking, saw the sights, went to a Mariners baseball game.

 Seattle Art Museum - Ford Tauruses hung from ceiling

After Seattle, drove 30 minutes North to Mukilteo (Everett), where I took the Boeing tour, which was really great - no cameras allowed. Drove 1 hour North to Anacortes on the Sound. Stayed at a casino RV park. Next day, drove to Deception Pass State Park on Whidbey Island. Did a few hikes on the coast.

That afternoon drove 2 hours East to the town of Marblemount, next to North Cascades National Park. Spent the night there, where it started to rain and continued into the next day. This was the first rain I had seen in 4 months so I was happy. Next day drove through the park and did a few short hikes in the rain. Did not get to see the mountains with the glaciers due to clouds and overcast skies, but the waterfalls and lakes were nice.

Spent the night East of the park in the town of Winthrop, which is an old mining town with wooden sidewalks.  Lots of deer in the RV park and signs on the road said they had 147 deer accidents so far in 2013. 

Next day, drove just out of town to Sun Mountain Lodge, a cross country ski area in the winter. Did a short hike with great views of the valley.

Drove 2 hours East to Grand Coulee where I stayed the night. The Grand Coulee Dam is one of the largest in the world, much bigger than Hoover Dam. Each night, they have a lazer light show on the dam which was pretty cool to see.

Next day, drove 1 hour South to Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park, which is where the world's largest waterfall was many thousands of years ago. Did a hike in the state park around a really nice lake.

That afternoon, drove 100 miles East to the Spokane, Washington's 2nd biggest city. Spent two nights and one day seeing the city whose centerpiece is the Riverfront park which has some nice waterfalls. Also went to Manito Park on the hill, which had nice gardens.

 Manito Park

Next morning, September 2nd, said goodbye to Washington, and drove 1 hour Northeast into Northern Idaho.