Author: Bill

Bill Rumpel served America as an Air Traffic Controller, a Commander of forces, and as an advisor to our country's senior leadership in peacetime and combat in the US Air Force for nearly, forty years of his adult life. Raised on a Wisconsin dairy farm and living most of his early years working hard or enjoying the outdoors, he has devoted his retirement years to telling stories based on true events with an intriguing mix of fiction and adventure. His books are published in 14 countries and in 9 different languages.

2021 – 01 – GOING TO SUNSHINE KEY

Happy 2021 and Happy New Year. Let’s all hope it turns out better than 2020 did. Nancy and I are putting all that crazy stuff behind us and we are starting the new year out with a little trip in our camper to “get away from it all”! We are leaving Tuesday, 5 Jan, 20121, and heading south on I-75 all the way to Ft Lauderdale. We’ll be spending the night there, then a short trip down to the Keys on good ole US-1 to Sunshine key. We’ll be staying there for five nights with no agenda other than do some relaxing, celebrate my birthday, spend some time exploring Key West and the other keys, and catching up on our reading. Here’s our route of flight for those who like maps:

That will get us there. I’ll see if there is anything to take a picture of along the way. Alligator Alley across the bottom of Florida sometimes has some interesting things to see. Check back tomorrow evening and see if there was.

5 Jan … Got an early start, traffic was heavy but only one backup … lost about 45 minutes but no biggie … We Are On Vacation! We made the 305 mile drive with no problems. Everything is working fine. I75 through south Florida, at least until you turn east at Naples is pretty mundane. Mostly residential areas that were built up and commercial restaurants, hotels, malls, and shopping centers followed. Alligator Ally is interesting driving through the grasslands and Everglades. We did see one Alligator, Nancy spotted him getting a little sun.

Other than that there was not a lot of excitement. I did get some pics of the grasslands that I think are pretty so I will include them soon. Here’s a couple pictures of our campsite in Davey (small town swallowed up by Ft Lauderdale):

So, other than Nancy making dinner, us taking a little walk, there is not much news. Tomorrow we get a late start and hit the keys. I’m sure there will be many interesting things to photograph. See you tomorrow.

6 Jan – We made it to Sunshine Key!! Had a good short trip down and enjoyed all the scenery, bridges, and ocean. Traffic got slower when 1 went down to a two lane (one each way) but, when you are on vacation … who cares. We are staying in a BIG RV resort with all kinds BIG RV’s … our looks like the little tug that thought it could! But it got us here just fine, we got set up, took a walk, had dinner, and now we are relaxing before going to sleep. Some good scenes on the way down and here we saw some Manatee, lots of fish, and lots of campers. Here’s the pictures (especially for you Paris). I was going to put a caption on each one but basically they are just shots from along the way. The water turns an emerald green where it is shallow because of the sand bottom which makes it very beautiful. There are many bridges, one between each key as a matter of fact. Some keys have nearly nothing on them, others have pretty good sized towns. Marathon is the biggest along the way. The bridges are sometimes short and sometimes big. There is an old bridge along the way that was originally a railroad bridge which was the only way to get to Key West other than by boat. The track was eventually paved over and cars used it (one way at a time) and now it is a fishing pier along the way. I will point those out. Other wise it’s just the road, the bridges, the sea/ocean, and marinas, shops, and houses along the way.

Tomorrow we are off to Key West. We are leaving the camper here and taking the Jeep into town to celebrate my birthday, explore, celebrate my birthday, see old sites, celebrate my birthday, visit the bar Hemingway hung out at, and celebrate my birthday. I probably won’t post anything tomorrow.

8 Jan … Guess what we did yesterday??? Right … we celebrated my birthday … and I must say we did a pretty good job of it. The day started out with a special breakfast birthday cake Nancy snuck down here for me … a triple Chocolate Chip chocolate muffin. She also had the RV decorated and a couple of nice gifts for me … see pictures below.

After our coffee and muffins and getting cleaned up we drove down to Key West. We are camped about 35 miles north of Key West so we got to see some more keys, a couple towns, and more of the water in between the keys. It was a sunny day so the colors were good and it was a nice day. We got to Key West and drove through the city to Duvall Street which has most of the things to do in KW on it. There are a few things one block to either side but mostly Duvall . We parked somewhere in the middle and walked south first to get to the southernmost point in the US. It is only 90 more miles as the crow flies to Cuba. We also stopped at the Southernmost Beach Cafe and had a birthday beer and watched the ocean and sunbathers for a few minutes.

Early Beach Goers with a Tree in the Middle

Once we were at the southernmost end of Duvall Street we walked North .. just one block south is the former residence of Ernest Hemingway and two blocks north of that is the Green Parrot Bar where Hemingway used to hang out. We did not tour his house or some of the museums along the way because we have done so in our trips here in the past. We even climbed to the top of the KW Light House a few years back when we were here with John and Linda Silvernail. Anyhow, we made it to the Green Parrot (Ernie wasn’t there … hasn’t been since 1961) but we had a birthday drink next to what looked like Earnie and a friend of his. Nancy went across the street and scored a great Cuban Sandwich that we split for my birthday lunch.

Ernie and has friend … they were next to us

Actually Nancy is NOT leaning to the right nor tipping over … she is just walking towards me

The drink was nice, the sandwich was great, the company good. They say they put those poster guys for COVID spacing but I know for a fact they are put there to give the drunks someone to talk to … they listen very well.

We continued north on Duvall and stopped at a T-Shirt shop … I like some of the little quotes you could have put on a shirt but I’m not sure who all reads this blog so I can’t put pictures of them here. Then we made it to Sloppy Joes, another institution in KW. Here we had … yup, a birthday drink. Then we continued to the end of Duvall which is not as exciting as the south end. Just some tour stands. (places where you can book tours or depart on tours from). So we turned around and proceed south on Duvall checking out what was on the other side. A couple of interesting gift shops, several tattoo shops (some permanent and some temporary). We stopped in Margaritaville and had a birthday drink while being serenaded by Jimmy Buffett … must be nice to have so much money you canteen bars all over the country just to have a very large screen TV in the front with videos of you playing your music! Anyhow, the drink was good and the bar tender was a friendly guy. We stopped at a Rooster Gift shop … no, itThat was our last stop along Duvall … is not where you buy a gift for your rooster, nor is it where you buy a rooster for your friends … it is where you buy rooster paraphanelia .. and they had a bunch of it … kinda interesting because Chickens run wild all over KW … they are a part of the culture here. We continued on towards the Jeep with intensions of leaving KW and going north to Ramrod Key and The Boondocks Grille and Draft House for dinner. More pictures, but first a couple observations. COVID 19 is taken quite seriously in KW. Make are to be worn at all times, even outside walking, except when sitting at a table or bar. If you get up, you mask up. That was also why they had the posters in the Green Parrot … to keep people from getting too close. None of the businesses want to be closed for violating the states guidance … so they make sure everyone follows the rules. Shop owners will ask you to mask up or leave, and on the way back to the Jeep Nancy and I had taken off our masks as we were getting close to the Jeep and as we pasted a policeman standing on the street, he asked us to Mask Up … so we did.

This is the old Starnd Theater .. it has been preserved and is now a Walgreens Drug store … you know … the one at the corner of Happy and Healthy!

We left KW and drove north to Ramrod Key where we found The Boondocks and went in for my birthday dinner. It was a fine dinner, they had live music and good food. Nancy secretly made arrangements for the server to bring out a birthday slice of Keylime Pie with Ice Cream and a sparkler shooting out of it. Very surprising and very nice. Andy, Samantha, and Cathy called from Australia during dinner and sang Happy Birthday to me … also very nice … Candice and Christian were on the disabled list with the flu so I got emails from them. After dinner we went back to the camper and turned in.

All in all it was a very nice birthday. I am very appreciative that Nancy did all the special things she did for me. I got emails from people all over the country, and world, wishing me a Happy Birthday so I know I’m a blessed guy. My thanks for the comments, emails, notes, texts, and love.

Continuing with today, (it is still the 8th): this morning we got up and had coffee. Discussed some plans for our future trips. hen decided to drive down to Big Pine Key to the grocery and pick up a couple things we were missing … just to get out for a while. We drove out to No Name Key which is a small key that is not in the chain but next to Big Pine. Interesting place … some development but not much.

One of the Tourist Spots on No Name Key
It was once a quarry but now is a park

So, now we are back at the RV, getting ready for dinner and a relaxing evening. The sun is behind the clouds today so it is cool by our standards but all the folks from up north that drove their land arks down here are walking around in shorts and t-Shirts. More tomorrow. Thanks for coming along.

9 & 10 Jan … Decided to go north a bit yesterday and have dinner on Marathon Key. It is just about 10 miles north of where we are camped and has some stores and restaurants so we decided to have dinner there. Left the campground a little after noon. Spent the morning relaxing, having coffee, and cleaning up. Life is good in a RV. We got to Marathon and hit a KMART … yup …a KMART … didn’t know there were any left but there was one there … I now know why they went out of business. Got the rest of the stuff we needed at a Winn Dixie grocery store. We were going to have an early dinner but it was way too early so we went to a Tiki place next to the road and visited with some of the patrons and staff. Saw a great sunset, then left for our restaurant. But first … some of the highlights from our TiKi place:

One of the Friendly Patrons … Oh wait … That’s Nancy

So we had a very nice dinner. I had the Broiled Mahi Mahi and Nancy had the Shrimp … we both had Conch Chowder for a starter, Broccoli for a side, and Home Made Key Lime Pie for Desert!! MMMMMuumMMM. A very nice evening … even had a table cloth … and a waiter that was from London … Small world eh?

So that brings us to today. We went to church this morning. A church that had been destroyed by a hurricane. We attended in a large tent like structure using masks and social distancing. The new church is being built right next to the tent. Hope to use it next year. After church we had Eggs Benedict for breakfast … This afternoon we tidied up a bit, took some stuff down in preparation for our departure tomorrow and watched a little football.

Nancy catching up with her emails in the living room

Tomorrow we head north. We are not going back across Alligator alley but rather reading north to I95 and going north from there to Ft Pierce where we have reservations to stay the evening. At noon tomorrow we are meeting some friends in Ft Lauderdale for lunch. They are the folks we visited in Acworth, GA a few months back … Mike and Sue Remm. They own a home in Ft Lauderdale and are down to see their daughter who teaches in Ft Lauderdale. We’re just lucky enough to be on the same schedule so we will meet for lunch. More tomorrow.

Its Tomorrow!! Better known as 10 Jan … Happy Martin Luther King day!! … We got up early today to ensure we had sufficient time to take the camper down and make it road ready while still having enough time for our morning coffee. We were up a little after seven and hitting the Joe. Got everything done and were pulling out of Sunshine key at 8:45. I must say this .. the keys are very unique and everyone should make a serious attempt to see them. All the way from Homestead at the base of Florida to Key West 90+ miles south. Very unique lifestyles, flora, and views. Key West is fun, interesting and full of unique history. So the first time you go there, plan to spend some time and take it ll in. After that, you can just pop down for a weekend, have some fun, eat some Conch, and enjoy the weather. Ok … I said that. Now we are on our way home from a great week and a very well done birthday. Nothing much new. We drove up through the keys to Key Largo and onto the mainland at Homestead. Then up past Miami and Hollywood. We met our friends in Ft Lauderdale and had a great lunch at Miller’s Ale House. Mike and Sue are there getting their COVID shots and taking a break from the severe winter weather in the Atlanta area (I think it might even freeze there occasionally!).

Mike & Sue Remm … Great Friends … Great Patriots

We had a nice lunch with them and continued our journey north. We are now in a very nice campground in Ft Pierce, Florida. Having had a big lunch we are foregoing dinner and watching the National Championship game on one of our TVs.

Tomorrow morning we have a leisurely start and will chug west along Florida to our home in Hudson. Three or four hours. I’ll post any interesting pictures I come across but this is basically the end of this adventure. We had a great time and I hope you enjoyed coming along.

PARKS & FRIENDS

Welcome Back …. This post is about our “Freedom Trip” that we are taking in the COVID Infested Summer of 2020. The first section, “GETTING AWAY”, is about our trip from Florida, up through Tennessee and Kentucky, over to Wisconsin, then Across Minnesota and North Dakota to Montana. We are Now in Montana and getting ready to Visit Glacier National Park.

17 JULY 2020 – Up early and on the road to Columbia Falls where we have a campsite for two days. Our Plan is to arrive there, take care of some business in town, park the RV and then head out to Glacier.

Ok … We made it to Glacier and it was absolutely AMAZING. We got our spot at the campground, set up a little, hopped in the Jeep and headed for Glacier. The park opened the road all the way to St Mary Lake (which is just about 6 miles to the East Gate … So there!!) So we made the trip all the way to “Going to the Sun Road” … had a sandwich and a local Beer and drove back. Bonus for all of you is I used my big boy camera and I think I got some pretty good shots. Many are window shots but we would never get to where we are going if I stopped and got out to shoot each picture … so, I cleaned my windshield and off we went. Many of them are just mountain scenes so I’m not going to put in a caption unless there is something I want to comment on about it. Enjoy … see what you think:

Lake McDonald … Its about a half mile wide and ten miles long

So … How’d you like that? We had a great day and loved every minute of it. Meeting our Nephew Michael for dinner tonight … we crossed paths touring the West.

We had a great dinner at a local Brew Pub in Kallispel … most places require masks here … most we’ve seen since we left Florida. Kallispel is a very interesting old town with a great mix of old and new. Very Nice.

Traveled So Far 3300 Miles in the RV and 1000 in the Jeep. Total 4300 Miles.

18 July 2020 – Today we drove from Columbia Falls to Fairmont, Montana (Close to Anaconda), about 200 miles.. Pretty Drive especially part of it as along a huge lake with Mountains in the background.

We made it to Fairmont … They have a nice campground here and some thermal springs near by. They have a lodge there where you can swim in the 95 degree water (our pool in Florida stays that hot most of the time). Many folks come here for a weekend with the kids to enjoy the warm water and pools (Only place you can find warm water in Montana)!!

NOTE FROM PICTURE: Here you see a stream, some railroad tracks, and the road. This is really common throughout the West, especially in the mountains. Of course the stream came first … then later they built a railroad following the steams valley. Then came the road later following the railroad tracks and stream. Most of our campsites are near railroads as I have mentioned earlier, many by the road, some by the streams.

Traveled so far 3500 Miles in the RV, 1000 in the Jeep.

19 July 2020 – Here we are in Cody Wyoming … betcha could never guess who this town is named after ….. give up? … Okay … None other than Buffalo Bill Cody … even though he is Buried in Golden Colorado overlooking the city of Denver, this is his town. We had a nice drive down from Montana … full day but the roads were good and traffic was not too heavy. Several changes of scenery in that we actually left the Mountains behind for a while, then they showed up again. High plains all the way … I don’t think we ever got below 5000 Feet. We are staying here, 50 miles East of Yellowstone because every campground around Yellowstone is filled and of the 17 campgrounds in Yellowstone, only four are open … and they are all full. Who said everyone is staying home but the two of us? We did find a good reason to go to Cody … they have a Rodeo here every night so I had already planned to spend at least one night here … turns out we will spend three. Here’s a couple pictures we found interesting along the way. Most are just views of mountains, ranches, farms, or lakes we saw along the way.

A Forest Fire cleared Off This HillSide Some Time Ago

Guess I need to wash my windshield more often. Anyhow, we made it to Cody which is pretty much a tourist kind of town but it is the County Seat for Park County. It has a lot of gift shops, tour places, Kayak rentals, and campgrounds. We got set up and bought some tickets to the Rodeo. Not knowing what the next couple days had in store, nor what the weather would be we decided to go tonight. It was a lovely evening and a GREAT show. Here’s some pictures … It didn’t start until 8 PM so there was not a great deal of light … consequently some of the faster moving pictures blurred a bit … Sorry:

They Told Us The Crowds Were Down Due to The Virus … Every other row of seats was blocked off to keep people separated

It was a Great Show … Contestants from all over the West … We were amazed that they pull this off every night … well worth seeing.

Miles so far 3800 in the RV and 1000 in the Jeep. Tomorrow we are off to Yellowstone. We have set aside two days but think we can do it in one … we’ll see. Been a long day … Gonna hit the sack.

20 July 2020 – We have been to Yellowstone several times over the years. First time I went was back in 1967 after we graduated from high school when Zack and I decided to do a road trip before we started our Post High School endeavors. Later, Nancy and I went there on a couple different occasions. We have always enjoyed it and find it to be one of the most diverse and beautiful of the National Parks in America. We have seen thermal activity in Iceland and New Zealand but nothing that compares to Yellowstone. We got an early start and did the entire park. We saw everything we wanted to … even waited for Old Faithful to erupt. Great day … many, many animals. … We saw a bear and her cub but they were a quite a long way off so I don’t have a picture. Here are some of the shots:

I think Nancy is a better photographer than I am … Oh well. That was our day in Yellowstone … another very long but very rewarding day. This evening we had dinner at a local Cowboy bar called Cassies … Lots of old stuff but great food and local brews. Now it is time for bed.

Still at 3800 miles for the RV but added another 300 today on the Jeep so its total is 1300 … That’s 5100 miles so far.

21 July 2020 – Today we are taking a day off, walking around Cody, doing a little shopping, catching up on my Blog, etc. We slept in a bit, had an extra cup of coffee. I gave both of the Photographers the day off so no pictures. Tomorrow we leave Cody moving South towards Fairplay and yet another Park. We are stopping half way so I will post from there.

22 July 2020 – Here we are in picturesque Glendo, Wyoming … Never heard of it? Neither have we till we picked it as a place to stop on the way to Fairplay, CO. It is by a lake, a railroad track, an interstate highway, has one bar/liquor store/grocery store and is home to nearly 100 people. The trip here was good … good roads, little traffic, weather got hot … its 97 degrees right now (5 PM). I wanted to tell you about a couple of friends we made in Cody … they came by every morning and every evening and had breakfast/dinner:

Now for the drive from Cody to Glendo. A real lot of nothing … Western Nothing as in grass (dry) mesquite, and sage brush. Once in a while you came across a rancher/farmer who had some acreage in hay and some livestock. here’s what the nothing and the ranches looked like:

We did go through a very Interesting Canyon. It was called The wind River Canyon and was located on the Wind River Reservation. It was located just North and West of Casper, Wyoming. Impressive Canyon with lots of water rushing through it … it was about 10 miles long:

We got to Glendo, checked into our Spot, set up, and Nancy made Chili for dinner. It was/is HOT … so we went to the bar/liquor store/grocery store to have a cold one and see what is going on. There we saw the most amazing things … first of all we found a Jackalope (A very hard to find animal from out West):

It is unknown if they are a specific species of animal or are the result of over aggressive Jack Rabbits (They are very big out here). Anyhow, we felt privileged to witness one.

Then in the bar/liquor store/grocery store there was this very old wood bar that is said to be moved here from the Chicago World’s Fair. A lot of impressive wood. However … the most impressive thing was all the animals they had mounted around the bar:

You would never get lonely here. We met people from the Texas PanHandle, Wyoming, Montana, and some would not say where they were from … and we were there for only 30 minutes!!

Another 300 miles today brining us to 4100 miles for the RV and 1300 for the Jeep. Tomorrow we hope to get to Fairplay where we will spend the weekend with friends. We used to own a cabin in the mountains near Fairplay and got to be pretty good friends with a number of the fine folks that live there. Looking forward to seeing all of them.

23 JULY – We made it to Fairplay with no major problems. Just followed the road South for about 300 miles. Traffic was heavy on the I-25 corridor between Ft Collins and Denver but moved along. Fairplay is at 10,000 feet of elevation and is the County Seat for Park County (yes, again). It is a small but colorful town with businesses, schools, and tourist attractions like many other small towns. We will be here through the weekend hanging out with friends seeing familiar places. The weather here is cool and rainy with lows in the 40’s and highs in the low 70’s. We originally planned this trip to be in Fairplay this weekend which annually hosts the Fairplay Burro Days. Its a great time with Lama races, Burro races and loads of fun. Sadly the event was cancelled this year due to you know what! Milage so far for the RV is 4415 and 1300 for the Jeep.

24, 25, and 26 JULY – We are all set up in the back yard of a friend of ours who is kind enough to host us. We had no schedule or agenda but managed to stay quite busy. The afternoon we arrived we took our Hostess, Tess Debonis out for a late lunch and a tour of the town to find old friends. Tess owns several businesses in town, an EXON service station, a Subway sandwich shop, and a NAPA auto parts store. They are managed by her Son Tom and Tess just keeps an eye on them. We first went to the South Park Brewpub. Great food and wonderful people. It Opened several years ago and has made its mark in Fairplay.

Then we went over to the Platte River Saloon to see who was in town:

Another great place. Opened a couple years ago by Ellen and it also is doing well. After checking the place out we went next door to MaCall’s Bar which is known and called The Park Bar. This was the “Other Park” I referred to earlier.

It was a pleasant evening which led the way for a fun weekend. Lots of good friends.

This is most of them … Left to right: Tom, myself, Reneee (A Nurse in Denver and Tess’s Daughter), Tess, John (A realtor in town), Lori (John’s wife and an IT help Desk for a hospital in Minnesota) Howie (Renee’s Husband and a store manager in Denver), Nancy, Sherry (operates Rocky Mountain Hat Company), Becky (Tom’s wife and Food wholesaler), and Smitty (operates Rocky Mountain Hat Company with his wife Sherry). Missing is another Becky.

This is Dick Smith … Local historian and known by everyone who has ever come to town. Dick is a legend in Fairplay … a well deserved title. (Not sure who the young lady is)

One of the mornings it was raining so Nancy and I decided to take a drive over Boreas Pass. It was developed late in the 1800’s and built to transport people and cargo from Breckenridge to Como. It is one of our favorite passes and has great views.

Top of the Pass … Dirt Road (Mud actually)

That pretty well summed up our weekend. Good time, good friends. No more miles on the RV but about 200 on the jeep for totals of 4415 for the RV and 1500 for the Jeep.

27 JULY – Left Fairplay and drove over to Buena Vista, Colorado located on the headwaters of the Arkansas River. Another western town, a little bigger than Fairplay. We came here to do two things … Today Tom and Tess joined us for a round of golf and tomorrow Nancy and I are going to Raft the Arkansas River. I hope the rafting goes better than my golfing did. Nuff said! Just added about 50 miles to the RV for 4465 and nothing more for the Jeep so it stays at 1500.

28 JULY 2020 – Last night we celebrated Tom Debonis’ Birthday, which is actually today, a little too long so we slept in till 7 or so. Nancy had some laundry to do so she took that over and got it started while I prepared our morning coffees. Got all that done and prepared ourselves to go White Water rafting on the Arkansas River. We had a 12:15 booking so we headed out, reported to the office, sign the mandatory responsibility release forms, got geared up with vests, paddles, and hard hats. They had other stuff but we passed on all the tourist things. They briefed us, bussed us down to the river, briefed us again, assigned us to our boats and guides, briefed us, and had us drag the boats into the water. AND THE FUN BEGAN …. WOW … 10 miles in three hours doing calm areas and rapids up to level 3 and 4 (out of 6 which is ARE YOU CRAZY!!) We got thoroughly soaked, bounced, paddled our butts off, and just really enjoyed it. The paying customers do the paddling, the guide just steers the boat. You don’t paddle when the guide says paddle … you hit a rock … pretty straight forward. Our guide was P.J. and he was absolutely incredible. He had us spining through rapids (that’s doing a 360 degree spin of the raft while it descends between rocks), pulling up in eddy’s behind boulders, surfing, and even standing at times. Here’s some pics:

I’ll not tell you wish of these boats we were on but we were there and it was a great time. Everyone was thrilled from the beginners to the experienced. Highly recommend you do this if you ever get the chance.

After getting back to the RV and getting a hot shower and putting on some warm clothes we went out for dinner. After dinner Nancy wanted to take a drive up past Mt Princeton to see a ghost town called St Elmos. On the West side of Buena Visa is a big mountain range called the Collegiate Mountains. All the mountains over 14,000 feet (known as 14ers) are named after Ivy league schools. So there is Mt Harvard, Mt Princeton, Mt Yale, etc. Here are some shots of the drive out to and St Elmo. The pictures were taken right at sunset so some are a little dark:

So that was St Elmo. St Elmo is owned by the Colorado Historical Society and they strive to keep it as authentic as possible. A nice evening drive, an interesting place, great mountain views. The RV stays at 4415 and we add another 100 miles to the Jeep for 1600 for the Jeep. Tomorrow is a short day. We are leaving early and heading South to visit one of America’s newer National Parks … The Black Canyon of the Gunnison. An incredibly narrow and deep canyon that runs for mile … just wait and see!

29 JULY 2020 – A very nice Day. We left Buena Vista fairly early after our morning Cupa Joe and headed South to Montrose, Colorado. It is a medium sized town just South of The Black River of the Gunnison National Park. We got there just after noon, parked and set up the camper, unhooked the Jeep and headed out to the Park. We’ve been to this park a couple times before but we figured as long as we were in the area, and we do like it a lot, we would take another look. It is not a big park but it is very interesting. Here are few photos from our drive down:

So that was the 150 mile trip down. The Gunnison River formed the Canyon the park is named for (Before I was in High School). It also feeds the reservoir pictured above which is a very busy recreation area … Camping, Fishing, Boating, and hiking. Lastly the Gunnison gives it’s name to the town of Gunnison which is close to the dam that forms the reservoir. The entrance to the park is farther along. As I mentioned earlier, it is not a big park but the dramatic depth and shear drop of the walls with the Gunnison still running at the bottom is incredible. So here are some shots we took at the Park:

Hope you liked that … You can always find out more info about the Gunnison and the Park by Googling it … they may even have better pictures! On the way out, right by the entrance was a road to the “East Portal”. It had all kinds of restrictions about how big a vehicle could go on the road and so on but we had the Jeep so we went to see where it went. Turns out it goes all the way to the bottom of the Canyon on it’s Eastern end. It is not as dramatic there so they put in a road. Here’s a couple of Photos from there:

So that was out big day in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We made dinner in the RV and turned in early. Tomorrow is a BIG day. We found out that New Mexico is not welcoming strangers and if you stop any where in their state you must self quarantine for 14 days before mingling with the natives. Consequently we changed our plan and worked up a different route … that does not include NM. We are disappointed as we have two sets of friends in Albuquerque and we are going to miss seeing them. I’ll Tell you about the new route tomorrow. So far the RV has traveled 4575 miles and the Jeep 1700.

30 JULY 2020 – Welcome to Flagstaff, Arizona and the 13th State on this trip! We left Montrose, Colorado heading South towards Ouray and Durango via Hwy 550. After three 11,000 ft passes, 17 construction sites, and eye bulging drop offs we made it to Durango. If you ever want to drive a stimulating piece of road and want to see some of the most incredible mountain country ever … do U.S. 550 from Ouray to Durango. Here’s some Photos … I don’t have a lot cuz Nancy got really nervous with me taking pictures with one hand and driving the RV pulling the Jeep with the other!

Sorry I don’t have more from the Mountains … Guess you will just have to try it one day. We left Durango heading for “The Four Corners” where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. There is a monument there but it is controlled by the Native Americans whose reservation it sits on. It was closed as was every other Native American Casino, Gift Shop, Trading Post, and TeePee that we have seen on this trip. They must be really upset! Anyhow, the trip across Southern Colorado and Northern Arizona gives “Nothing” an entirely new meaning. Some interesting Geographical stuff but miles and miles of nothing. Because of our change in route and because we want to make it to Tucson tomorrow we did 400 miles today. That is about a hundred more than we usually do and the mountain passes, construction, and country roads made it a LONG 400 miles. But … We made it. Here are some pictures from the last leg:

That’s it … we made it to FlagStaff and are staying at a very nice campground … until tomorrow morning. Then off to Tucson. The RV is at 4975 Miles and the Jeep remains at 1700 for the trip. Been nice having you along.

31 JULY 2020 – Tucson … Yahoo!!!! This the Western end of our Summer Sojourn. We came here to meet a couple we have been friends with since about 1983/4 and have not seen since 2005. They retired before we did and moved out to Tucson where they owned a home. They LOVE golf and baseball so they play a LOT of golf and enjoy baseball … except this Summer. Anyhow … we left Flagstaff this morning and cruised down I-17 to Phoenix. The road from Flagstaff descends from about 7000 Ft to about 1000 Ft in Phoenix. It is not a steady drop but go down a little, go up a little, go down a lot, go up a little … and so on. Consequently you are either climbing or descending (both of which are more difficult in an RV pulling a Jeep). But … we made it just fine. The scenery from Flagstaff to Phoenix is nice … Pines, Trees, green, then it starts to flatten out and turn into a desert.

We zipped right on through Phoenix (a quite a bit of traffic) and continued on towards Tucson. The geography between Phoenix and Tucson is mostly desert with a few big mounds or push ups. They do have some artistic overpasses.

We arrived at our RV park site … Called Voyager RV Park Resort … Right … A Walmart sized Parking lot with little hookup spots closely aligned. Oh, I forgot to mention it’s 109 Degrees.

So far we have logged 5250 miles in the RV and the Jeep will stay the same till after we go to dinner tonight … maybe about another 30 miles for a total of 1730.

1, 2, 3, and 4 JULY 2020 – We had a very pleasant evening with our friends in a small pizza place … had some great food and had a great time catching up with our lives. Lou and Cathy Jakowatz were at Scott AFB back in the early to Mid 80’s and we used to go out with them and two other couples once a month for a special dinner. we called our group a Gourmet Club but it was far from that. Each month one of the couples was responsible for finding a good place to eat … only rule was no repeats. We ended up going to every kind of place you can think of … from Hot Dog places to 5 Star restaurants. We did that for several years and we all grew quite close. Good Friends.

Back to the trip. We left Tucson headed for home. We had decided to skip New Orleans due to reports of low activity and big hassles due to the Virus. We are ready to go home so we are. Van Horn, Texas is our destination … about 400 miles. Another reason we have decided to head for home is the heat …. IT IS HOT:

This is on the Dashboard of the RV!! While we are moving.

We do have three different air conditioners but the heat just penetrates everything. Anyhow … back to Van Horn. Van Horn is a very small town in West Texas about 438 miles from Tucson … about the farthest we want to drive the RV in one day. Had a really crappy meal at a place called Chub’s that is a favorite stop for John Madden as hauled his butt from one NFL Game to another. I shoulda known when I saw a picture of him on the wall. We ended up going to another place just to have a Margarita and it was nice with pleasant people and good Margaritas. That was the 1st of August. Nothing of note going from Tucson to Van Horn other than going by the entrance to Seguaro Cactus National Park and some hills. This is all desert with very few trees and lots of scrub grass and cactus.

We got a really early start on the 2nd … mostly because we lost two hours of time, one leaving Arizona which does not do Daylight Savings time and the second was entering the Central Time Zone which ends in the West about five miles West of Van Horn. So by 5 AM we were wide awake … so we had some coffee and took off Eastbound for San Antonio. Here’s what a West Texas Sunrise looks like through the windscreen of our RV:

No Explanation required here … It Was BRIGHT!! ALL MORNING!!!

The only thing of interest along the way from Van Horn to SA is The Texas Vally which is a cool collection of big rocks:

It Only Lasts About 5 Miles But is Interesting to See … Some Glacier Probably dropped the rocks there. The terrain from Tucson to Louisiana, including the 875 miles of Texas goes from arid desert to gradual greening to bigger plants, then trees, then more hills and then, after Houston you get to the Bayous.

We planned a short day so we could go to the RiverWalk in San Antonio … one of our favorites and we made it to SA around 2 and were headed downtown in the Jeep by 2:30. Walked the RiverWalk, listened to some Mariachi bands … an amazing number of people out. Had a Margarita and some Nachos for dinner and headed back.

So that brings us to the 3rd. We left San Antonio at a normal time and headed East Again with Lake Charles, LA as our destination. Only about 350 miles but we had to drive through San Antonio and Huston so we decided not to push too far. Made it all the way .. through SA and through Huston (which is always busy no matter what time or day you go through and got to St Charles after being held up only once by a traffic jam of some sort. Never saw why it was jammed but there’s a great deal of construction along the way.

On the 4th we went from Lake Charles to Milton, Florida … Yup … back in Florida. Very Interesting drive because you cross the Mississippi and the Atchafalaya Swamp.

That was exciting … then we got to Florida … Always get a thrill seeing a Jet from the Second Best Aerial Demonstration Team in the World.

Traveled 6842 in the RV and 1730 in the Jeep so far. One Day to go.

5 July 2020 – This is a wrap up or ending to our trip. (Boo Hoo) … Summary when we get home. Okay … we made it home. Found the house in good shape, had a quick dinner on the way home at a favorite local eatery, parked the RV in the storage lot, took out the essentials till tomorrow when we can clean it out, and drove to the house. All’s well that ends well as they say. I think we had a great trip, drove the RV just shy of 7300 miles and the jeep 1730 miles exploring along the way so we logged just over 9000 miles in the 43 days we were on the road. We crossed 17 states, numerous big cities, several National Parks, and countless little towns. America is a pretty great place with an awful lot of good people everywhere. Thanks for coming along.

2020 – 07 – FREEDOM TRIP

This Post is about Nancy and I escaping Florida and all the COVID issues and striking out across our Great Country to see some Friends, Relatives, National Parks, and all the other Great things America has to offer. I’ve decided to split it into two parts so it does not get unmanageably long. GETTING AWAY and PARKS & FRIENDS. I hope you enjoy it.

GETTING AWAY

Welcome. Tomorrow morning Nancy and I depart on a two month road trip across mid-America. I’m calling it our “Freedom Road Trip” because we have been captive in and around our home since March. Fortunately we are both still healthy and ready for the road. Here’s a rough itinerary for us as we slowly work our way North:

24 June … Depart home, RON’ing in Perry, Georgia

26, 27 Jun …. Mammoth Cave NP, Kentucky

28, 29 Jun …. Kentucky Bourbon Tours near Lexington

30 Jun – 2 Jul …. Wisconsin Dells

3 – 12 July … At Nancy’s brothers house in Jim Falls, WI visiting friends & Family in the area

13 Jul …. Bemiji, MN

14 Jul … Minot ND

15 Jul … Malta, Montana

17 – 19 Jul … St Mary, Montana (touring Glacier NP

20 – 23 Jul … Travel to, tour around Yellowstone NP

24 – 27 Jul …. Fairplay, CO … visiting friends etc

28 Jul …. Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP

After this we are uncertain … will go South to I-10 … stop and visit friends in Albuquerque, Tucson, head East with stops in San Antonio, New Orleans, Ft Walton, and Panama City … then home.

I will be posting on our blog every day or so so you will know where we are/are going. Hope to be home mid- August.

See You Tomorrow!

24 June, 2020 … Wednesday …. Got an early start and made it to Perry, GA early in the afternoon. Hot day … raining tonight. Nancy made a very good dinner and we are now catching up on our emails, Blogging, and watching TV … yup … That’s what Camping is all about … the air conditioner makes it difficult to hear the TV but them’s the hardship you face out on the road. I didn’t take any pictures along the way as it was just hiway pictures. So instead I will give you a little tour of our camper. Here ya go:

We drove 332 miles today … will continue tomorrow. Hopefully, we will be in Cave City, KY right next to Mammoth NP. See you then.

25 Jun 2020 … Here we are in Cave City, KY. We drove across Georgia, through Atlanta (right through the middle), up to Chattanooga, TN, then straight North cross country all the way across TN and into Kentucky. Was a kinda long day but pretty country … traffic was light (except in Atlanta) so it was a fun day. Didn’t stop anywhere special so all my photo’s today are from the drivers seat of the RV. Hope you don’t mind … Nancy thinks I’m crazy taking shots through the windshield and across the cab but … how else you gonna take a picture at 65 MPH?

Ok … Hope that was not too boring. Tomorrow morning we are off to Mammoth Cave … no camper movement. We are in a small campground .. a few folks out camping … not too many. So far 750 miles.

26 Jun 2020 …. Friday … Mammoth Cave National Park …. It was a cave and it was Mammoth. Nearly 400 miles of caverns, tunnels, etc carved into the Kentucky Sandstone a Long time ago (we only explored about 350 miles of the cave). When we made our campground reservations here a few weeks back, the proprietor recommended that if we wanted to do the cave tour when we were here we should book the tour in advance … so we did … and boy, were we lucky … the place was booked solid all day. It is not that there were so many people, just the way they have the tours laid out to insure social distancing and crowd avoidance, there are fewer, much fewer, tours a day. There was only one type of tour available, a 90 minute self guided tour of the main cave. That filled the bill. We had reservations for an 11:00 tour so we were all set. Sleep in a bit, couple cups of Joe to get started and we were off to Mammoth Cave. Our campground is about 5 or 6 miles from the park so it was a easy find. Even had time for a cup of coffee once we got there. The cave is impressive. We have been to several other caves around the country, and world, and never saw quite like this one. Most caves are shafts or tunnels that lead from one huge room to another. Mammoth is mostly just large tunnels that go on for miles and miles. The tunnels vary in size but stay under 20 feet in diameter or so. There is evidence of prehistoric man living and working in the cave, then modern man in the 1800s tried mining Saltpeter for gunpowder and another outfit tried growing mushrooms (a common thing in France). Today the cave is under the protection of our National Park System and hosts thousands of visitors per year. Here are some pictures of the cave … photography is difficult in the cave because you cannot use a flash and it is pretty dark inside.

Hope you enjoyed that … we did. The temperature was about 85 when we went in … it was 54 in the cave …. and 92 when we came out. The walk back up the trail was a little more effort than the walk down so we rewarded ourselves with an ice cream (Salted Caramel if you must know) … perfect ending to a nice tour. There is not much else to see here in Cave City, Kentucky … Half a dozen Rock Shops, a Water Slide, Canoeing (which we plan to do in Wisconsin), and horseback riding. Tomorrow we are off to Lexington hoping to find a Bourbon Distillery that’s open and doing tours … See you then. Oh, by the way, some of the photo’s I downloaded from the internet so you could get a good look at the cave … can you guess which I took and which were from the internet?

27 & 28 June, Saturday and Sunday …. Short wet story here folks. We left Cave City on the morning of 27 June with Versailes, KY as our destination. Our original intent was to get to the campground and check out the area … maybe see a distillery or so (We are now on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and ready to tour some distilleries). When we left it was raining, along the way it rained harder … and harder. We traveled North on I65 to the Bluegrass Parkway and turned East towards Lexington. The Blue Ridge Mountains are beautiful with abundant trees, everything is green … very nice. We got as far as Bardstown, designated “The Most Beautiful Small Town in America”.

Bardstown “Most Beautiful Small Town in America”

We noticed the Kentucky Bourbon Trail started right there … and there were several distilleries right there to start with. So, we drove in. The visitors center was very nice and offered a lot of information, souvenirs, and … Bourbon. After a brief chat with the nice ladies that womanned the information booth we found that almost none of the distilleries were doing tours because … guess … of the COVID-19, and only some were doing tastings. Some were closed completely to visitors but many had their welcome center/sales spot open in case you needed some bourbon from them. We said “Thanks” and went to another distillery just down the road … the weather was bad, we didn’t really have that far to go, so .. why not? Here’s a couple of pictures from the reception center:

The Distillery we visited was the Willets Family distillery that had a long and interesting history. They once sold out in the 1980’s to a company that was going to produce ethanol. They crashed in a couple years and the daughter of the founder, took the place back in the 1990’s just when Bourbon was regaining popularity. She has ran it since and it is doing well. We were lucky in that they had an opening for a tasting a little while after we arrived so we booked it and had a Latte while we were waiting. Two things happened during the tasting … 1. I enjoyed the variety of the bourbons they offered and 2. Nancy decided she did not like bourbon all that much. At the tasting we were each provided a small glass and we were invited to taste any of their products. A hostess poured in just a taste of the bourbon. Interesting but not intoxicating. We left and decided to try a few more distilleries using a guide the ladies at the first place had provided. We found no tours available and the tastings were all booked until Monday … I guess that happens on a rainy weekend. Here is a shot of the bourbon tasting: (No, She is not Muslim!)

One of the most interesting aspects of the distilleries is the huge warehouses they use to store the barrels as they age. Keep in mind these bourbons age anywhere from 4 to 50 years so you need a place to keep them. The science is interesting in that they use the increase in temperature as you go to the upper stories to produce different tastes … who would’ve guessed? Lastly … A bit of trivia … There are some difference between Bourbon, Rye, Whiskey, and Scotch … mostly the mash used to make them … However, Unique to Bourbon … It is always made in NEW white oak barrels … each barrel is used only once to make bourbon, then it is passed on to make Whiskey, Rye, Scotch, wine or brandy.

So that was our Bourbon Tour Experience. We were scheduled to spend two nights near Lexington but there was nothing there we wanted to do so we just camped one night … one rainy night with no internet or phone service.

We got up on Sunday morning, hooked up the Jeep and left. We stopped in Versailes to go to church, then headed North to Frankfurt (the Capitol of Kentucky) and had a nice breakfast at Starbucks. We decided to head back West to Louisville, then North towards Indianapolis. Thus, here we are in Columbus, Indiana where we are in a nice campground, the sun is shining, we had a nice dinner at a brew pub, and now we are catching up with our duties. We have logged just over 1000 miles so far and all is well. Tomorrow is another short day and we will be stopping at a State Park near Bloomington, IL. See you then.

29 & 30 Jun 2020 – Here we are at Sherwood Forest Campground located in Beautiful Wisconsin Dells … Wisconsin. Been an interesting two days … at least one was. We camped last night in a nice County operated Campground (Colanta Campground) near Hudson, IL. It was nice, quiet, not many people there so it was a restful stop. The drive up from Columbus was fairly routine … BIG Indiana farms, lots of corn, soybeans, etc. Excellent farm country … I get excited every time I go through it. A small set of buildings, usually a nice house, a large machine shed, and several grain storage bens, then really big fields.

We left Hudson this morning enroute for Wisconsin Dells. More farm country, crossed into Illinois, smaller farms, a few more towns, more traffic (Indiana and Illinois have the WORST roads in America. Indiana had the highest gas prices and Illinois has tolls all along the way but they must spend their money somewhere else cuz it sure isn’t on their roads!! Anyhow, we made it into Wisconsin and continued North.

We stopped at lunchtime in Madison to visit a friend and classmate of ours. Lynn Bruley retired in Madison after working for the Wisconsin Court System for many years. We had a delightful visit with Lynn and her Cat Olive, caught up on the class news, had a delicious lunch and left mid afternoon. Thanks Lynn … very nice and very good to see you again!

We arrived in Wisconsin Dells later in the afternoon, got our campsite, set up, unhooked the Jepp and went exploring Wisconsin Dells. Nancy and I were both raised just about 100 miles from here but neither of us have ever spent any time here. They have just about anything a family on Summer vacation could want. Boat rides, (Ducks, Speed boats, tour boats, dinner boats) water parks (both indoor and outdoor), go cart tracks, deer petting zoos, I even saw the Coliseum and the Trojan Horse!

So tomorrow we are off doing exciting things … Lotsa pictures coming your way … till then I will load a couple teasers before I sign off. But first we have chores to do tomorrow. We have been on the road for a week now, traveled 1503 miles, been in rain, heat, cool, and muggy weather so tomorrow morning Nancy has the wash to do, I have to change the sheets on the bed do a little policing up around the camper. See you all tomorrow!

Many Brew Pubs in Downtown Wisconsin Dells

1 July 2020 – Wow … What a Place! We did two boat trips, saw all sorts of cool things, met some nice people, and had a great day … and we got our chores done as well. As I mentioned earlier we spent the morning doing our chores … got them all done by noon or so. We drove down town to the Duck Boat Tour place and bought ticket s for the Duck boat tour … and they were offering combo tickets for the afternoon Upper dells Boat tour at a drastically reduced price so we bought that too.

So lets talk about the Duck Boat tour … The Ducks are WW II landing craft that some guy got a great deal on through Army Surplus. He refurbished a bunch of them and offers rides through and around the lower (below the Dam) Dells and surround ing area. They hold about 15 people or so, make a lot of noise, but are really cool. Our driver was a young man who grew up locally and was a college student at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Very nice young man, well spoken, rotten jokes. Anyhow, we boarded the boat and started out tour in a parking lot. Here’s a duck:

So we went through a bunch of woods, up and down hills, past all kinds of ferns, and finally got to the water.

So then we “Drove down the river” … Lotsa people out enjoying the river doing all sorts of things. The Wisconsin River runs across Wisconsin and flows into the Mississippi at Prairie Du Chien, WI. It is unique in that it has 29 Hydro Power dams along its course because it runs so deep and fast. It was once used to float logs from Northern Wisconsin to sell in New Orleans …imagine that! Anyhow .. here’s some pictures of the river and all the stuff going on along it:

The River is a deep brown color … looks like its muddy but it is not. As it flows through Northern Wisconsin it picks up Tannin from various pine trees forests that make it look like a dark tea … this coloration, and source, is used in teas, Colas, and coffees. Can’t taste it, it won’t hurt you. The Unique aspect of Wisconsin Dells is that the Sandstone deposit here forces the Wisconsin River, which is normally quite flat, wide, and shallow into a narrow, deep gorge that runs for about 20 miles creating the grandeur of Wisconsin Dells.

So then we went out of the Wisconsin River and into Lake Delton. In 2008 Lake Delton’s dam broke and took out a bunch of homes, trees, and dirt on it’s way to the river. Since repaired it is again a beautiful lake.

So Then we drove through some more forest area … The tour was quite interesting and the Guide had a great presentation as he drove along. The forest was as interesting as the river.

So that concluded out “Duck” Tour. Highly recommended, Highly enjoyable … a fun time.

I promised to show you some of the local scenery … So here it is:

All these things are available for your entertainment and fun. Water Slides, Amusement Parks, a big firm has bought up many of the little local hotels and made them into a huge Roman Resort … all interesting stuff.

We decided to go on the Upper Dells Boat Tour in the afternoon so we made our way over there and got on board. Bigger boats, interesting but maybe not quite as exciting. The sandstone you see along the river actually only occurs four places on earth … Germany, Switzerland, New york and at the Dells … the stone on the surface at the Dells is the largest of the four deposits. we saw something like them in New Zealand … they were called pancake rocks along the West Coast ….Here are some Photos of the Upper Dells boat trip:

We stopped two times during this tour … The first was at Witches Creek which was a “Glacial Melt Canyon”. This is a cut into the sandstone caused by glacier melting. It got very narrow, was very interesting.

It was about a 10 minute walk from the dock to the concession stand. The walls were higher and higher and more and more narrow.

The other place we stopped was Standing Rock … It is a large flat rock on top of a tall pillar of rock. There we witnessed the “Jumping Dogs of Junu County” Tourists could once make this leap but lawyers ruined that so the insurance companies stopped it. Here are some photos from there:

So that was it for today … A load of fun … exciting stuff. Met a few people in the campground that were out. The COVID has had a big impact here. Many people are not going out, some are, businesses just opened up but without adequate help. Many of them use foreign students who now cannot get VISAs to come in. Quite the mess. We continue to be careful, wear masks when appropriate, and avoid sneezers, coughers, and nose drippers. Been doing okay so far. Tomorrow we plan to visit the “House On The Rocks” built by some guy who was trying to diss Frank Loyd Wright. We read a book where it was featured. More on that for tomorrow. Meanwhile … Happy July. Here’s a better picture of the Dog Jumping:

Oh … One last thing … They have a lot of Moose here … we see them everywhere … Here’s a Photo of some of them:

2 July 2020 – The House on the Rocks … Before I start with the house let me say this about Wisconsin (Nancy and I were both raised in Wisconsin, about 100 miles North of Wisconsin Dells). In June and July, everything in Wisconsin is Green … The forests, the crops, the pastures, the rolling hills, everywhere, everything is Green. So the drive to the house was about 50 miles so I took some windshield shots along the way … here they are:

Before I start my story allow me to post what a newspaper write once said about the house:

Jane Smiley wrote this about the complex in 1993:

Though most people outside of the Midwest have never heard of it, the House on the Rock is said to draw more visitors every year than any other spot in Wisconsin. Also in the Wyoming Valley, but on top of a huge monolith, the House on the Rock reveals the spirit of its builder, Alex Jordan Jr., to be as single-minded and eccentric as Wright’s, but in substance almost absurdly opposed. … And it is hard not to be overwhelmed by the House on the Rock. The sheer abundance of objects is impressive, and the warmth most of the objects exude, the way that the toys ask to be played with, for example, makes the displays inherently inviting. But almost from the beginning, it is too much. The house itself is dusty. Windowpanes are cracked. Books are water damaged. The collections seem disordered, not curated. In fact, there is no effort to explore the objects as cultural artifacts, or to use them to educate the passing hordes. If there were informative cards, it would be impossible to read them in the dark. Everything is simply massed together, and Alex Jordan comes to seem like the manifestation of pure American acquisitiveness, and acquisitiveness of a strangely boyish kind, as if he had finalized all his desires in childhood and never grown into any others.

That said, let me say we throughly enjoyed seeing “The House on The Rock”. You cannot actually “see” the House on The Rocks because it is closely surrounded by rocks and trees. You must get a feel for it by walking around inside which quickly became confusing. It is claimed that the builder, Alex Jordon Jr., was shunned by Frank Loyd wright, who also lived in the area, so Jordon set out to prove he could build a special home. It was added to a number of times during his lifetime then he sold it shortly before he died. The buyer also added to it as well as increasing the number and size of the many collections there. The result is a confusing labyrinth of rooms, hallways, and walks that lead you from one area to the next … all filled with collections of nearly anything you can think of or imagine. The rooms are all very poorly lit (I think mostly to hide the 50 years of dust that has collected everywhere) with small beams illuminating some of the favorite collectibles. I do not mean to project a negative opinion or picture but the house is both interesting and frustrating at the same time. Consequently you finish up kind of impressed but kind of confused and disappointed. I suppose the best thing is to see it for yourself if you ever get the chance and see what you can make of it. Here are some pictures I took. I took many more but because of the poor light and distance between the viewers and the displays, most of them came out out of focus. Here’s the best of them:

So that was The House on the Rock. We spent about 2 to 3 hours going through it and glad we did … although I would never do it again. One of those interesting one time things. The number and amount of collections, and the eclectic nature of them keeps you on your toes.

3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8 July 2020 – So … sorry I have been delinquent about posting but between spousal demands, holiday revelry, and poor internet service I have not had a chance to update anything. Let’s Ketchup!! On the 3rd we drove from Wisconsin Dells to Nancy’s Brother’s house in Jim Falls, Wisconsin, just North of Eau Claire (pronounced Oh Clair). We had time to golf 9 holes at Wissota State Park’s Whispering Pines Golf Course and met Deb, Brian’s wife for dinner at Pine Drive Supper Club. The 4th we played 9 holes of golf with Brian and our nephew Alec and the afternoon we spent on the Chippawa River tooling around on Brian & Deb’s new Pontoon boat … very nice.

That night we drove over to Paradise Shores in Holcomb and watched a awesome fireworks show over Lake Holcomb:

On the 5th we spent the day floating above the Dam on Old Abe Lake … got a nice light burn.

On 6 July we drove over to Galesville, WI and spent the afternoon with my cousin Marge and her Husband Tom Patzner. A long game of Up & Down the Creek and best of three playing Euchre pretty filled in the afternoon … then a nice dinner at a local Golf club and we were on our way back to Jim Falls. Thanks Marge & Tom for a lovely day. 7 July we did chores most of the morning then in the afternoon we did some shopping at WALMART and then had a very pleasant dinner with Zack Wittke and his wife Sharol at Re-Pete’s Supper Club in Black River Falls. Zack is a High School classmate of Nancy and mine and he and Sharol are featured in our Iceland Blog. Great couple … good friends. On 7 July we drove up to Northern Wisconsin to a lake area where Nancy’s family once had a cabin on a lake called Bass lake. It connects to Long Lake and a bunch of other ones via little channels that vary in size, near Gleason, Wisconsin. Nancy’s Cousin Tim Ludwig, his Wife Diane, daughter Jamie and a small herd of kids were at the cabin enjoying the water (it was 90 degrees here today!) … it was good to see them all again. On the way up Nancy commented on how much Farmland there is in Wisconsin … American’s Dairyland!! (New State Motto … “Come Smell Our Dairy Air!”) Then we drove over to where two of her second cousins have homes on the same lake. Stewart was not home but his brother George Lemke was so we had a beer with him and met his daughter Jeanie and her husband. Then we drove farther around the lake and spent a few minutes with Nancy’s cousin Curt Fenske who has a home there. Then home and tonight we are having dinner at Old Abes Supper Club .. it’s been closed, is a favorite of ours, and we are looking forward to going. So now we are caught up. More tomorrow. Thanks for waiting.

9,10,11, & 12 July 2020 – Another ketchup posting …. again … been busy, poor internet, the dog ate my homework …Hmmm. Anyhow, it has been a great weekend, we are camped in Lake Haley near Chippawa Falls, WI, just had a great Pizza and a couple beers with Deb an Brian before we said our farewells. Tomorrow morning we head North on Hwy 53 until we get to U.S. 2 near Superior , WI, then take a left and head due West to Bemiji, Minnesota … where we will spend the night. Thursday was rainy and we were tired so we just vegged out in the camper. We went shopping, did a few odds and ends, then we went to Alma Center, WI and picked up Nancy’s other brother Dennis and took him to the Castle Hill Supper Club located half way between Merrillan, WI and Black River Falls, WI. After a couple;le of Brandy Old fashions we had a fine Prime Rib dinner and a pleasant evening.

Friday morning we got up and I started taking the camper down as we were going to drive it South to Ontario, WI which is the Kayaking Capitol of the Kickapoo River. We got there early and after a little Kabookie dance with camp sites we settled in for the weekend. Nancy and I, Brian & Debbie, their daughter Lexie and her friend Kacey, and Brian & Deb’s Son Alec and his fiancé Allison, with their dog Xena all camped at Wildcat Mountain State Park in anticipation of a long Canoe/Kayak drift on the Kickapoo River. Friday night, after everyone got settled in we had Tin Foil or HoBo dinners on the campfire and a nice evening of campfire talks and celebrating. Saturday morning we had breakfast and loaded up to head down to the Kickapoo. We took two trucks loaded with boats and Kayaks and a car. Dropped most everyone and all the water craft at the starting point and took the trucks down to where we were going to get out. After an hour of running down “Oh, I forgot!” we were in the water an floating. Great time, only a couple spills, so many people on the river. Five hours later we pulled up at bridge 7 and took our boats out.

The Camper At Wildcat Mountain State Park

After we made it back to camp everyone took showers and put on some comfortable clothes and we settled in for an evening of campfires, brats, and beers. It was a great Day:

The night was fun and this morning we broke camp and returned to the North. Had a great Farewell Pizza with Brian & Deb at The Blue Marble Pub in Chippewa Falls … Super Pizza, great time. So now we have said our good byes and are getting ready for a good nights sleep. Thank You Brian, Debbie, Lexie, Alec, Allison, Kacey, and Zena for a great visit. Milage so Far 1900 in the RV, 800 in the Jeep … 2700 Miles.

13 July 2020 – We got a comfortable start this morning and left Lake Halye Northbound on Hiway 53 towards Superior, Wisconsin. Just before Noon we got to Superior and crossed into Minnesota and Superior’s twin city Duluth, Minnesota. There we picked up Highway 2 and headed west to Bemiji. Minnesota, where we are now camped. A great abundance of trees and long views on the way up:

So then we toured Minnesota for a while and finally got to Bemiji … Famous for two things:

Paul Bunyan and Babe The Blue Ox Winter here: Here’s a Picture of them … They were back home, taking a break:

2. The Mississippi River Starts here: Yup … Right here flowing out of Lake Itaska:

So now we are in the RV, Showered, Fed, ready for bed. Got an early wake-up tomorrow morning … I’ll tell you how it went tomorrow evening. Milage so far 2000 in the RV … 800 in the Jeep … 3000 miles.

A Short footnote regarding Bemiji and Lake Itaska. 45 Years ago I was assigned to Grand Forks AFB just across the border in North Dakota. we had always liked camping and there was not much else to do here so we bought a little pop-up camper and a small fiberglass canoe. We camped and canoed from Grand Forks to Bemiji, from The International Peace Gardens to Winnipeg and North all the way down to Fargo in the following two years. Andy was only 3 or so at the time so he sat in the middle, Nancy rowed up front, and I rowed and navigated from the rear. That was a very long time ago but the memories are still there … a great family time enjoying the great North.

14 July 2020 –Long day on the road today … Highway 2 has turned out better than we had hoped … two lanes each way and in daily good repair. We had some heavy rains last night and it was still raining when we left. We drove the first 135 miles and stopped in Grand Forks for Gas. We left Grand Forks and all the trees disappeared and we were out on this flatland with a strong Head Wind that kept the RV in 5th gear (it has 6) all the way here to Minot, ND.Many big farms raising sugar beets and potatoes all along the way. For those of you who don’t know, this entire region was once covered by a huge lake, believed to be as big as all the Grear Lakes combined … Lake Aggassiz. Look it up!

Anyhow, we continued on to Minot … Another thought … Ever Hear “Why Not Minot?” Know the answer … few do but now you will … “Freezen’s The reason!” Something that caught our eye along the way was the huge Rape fields. Rape is a pretty yellow flowered plant that when harvested is processed and produces a common cooking oil. No one wants to cook with Rape Oil so it has been marketed as Canola Oil!!

There was also a lot of water in North Dakota … I guess from Lake Agassis but it made farming more difficult but looked nice along the highway:

Only Devils Lake was of significant size but there sure was a lot of water. The last interesting point is we passed through Rugby, North Dakota … know what’s special about Rugby? … No Rugby was not invented there …. It is the Geographical Center of North America … They even have a marker that says so!

So there you got it. A long, interesting, windy, day with wonders to behold every few miles. 350 miles today … so Far 2550 in the RV and 800 in the Jeep … 3350 miles and going strong. We went out to Minot AFB after we checked into our site. Very well kept Air Base. Nancy and I stopped by the BX and Commissary to but a few supplies and get rebelled a little. Ready to roll tomorrow.

14,15, and 16 July 2020 – I’m lumping these three days together because they were all on the road. There were things of interest along the way so I will kinda separate them out and show you some of the exciting things we saw along the way. Our last night in this sequence was in Essex, Montanna just South of Glacier NP. We had to make some significant changes to our schedule because the BlackFeet Native American Tribe closed all of the East side of Glacier including the entrances which are apparently on their reservation. They have a major beef with our President because they felt he did not allot enough of the COVID Recovery Funding to them … so they closed down one of the more popular National Parks during Peak tourist season claiming COVID Caution just to show him who really is Chief! So, we are diverting South of GNP and back up the West side and hope to see some of the park going in from that side. The big loop up into Canada is Nixed because the Canadians don’t want us and The Road To The Sun drive by St Mary Lake looks doubtful. The drive from Minot to Malta, where we spent the night of the 14th was interesting in that it went Williston, ND which is the epicenter of the American Oil Boom. In 2016 they set the record one day for pumping 1.5 MILLION barrels of oil …. in a single day. Since the drop in price of oil it has come to nearly a standstill. There is standing equipment everywhere, empty hotels and housing arrangements all along the way. Still producing enough oil to keep OPEC on its toes but a shell (pardon the pun) of what it was 3 to 5 years ago. So here’s some pictures:

Many of the pumps were standing still, others were pumping. That night we made it to Malta, Montana … Yes, we finally saw North dakota in our rear view mirror (an old Air Force Saying) and we are in Montana. In Malta there was …. nothing. A little hotel and a campground. Two gas stations (one had a casino). Our campsite was so close to the train tracks that we not only could count the boxcars but we could read the writing and graffiti on the sides of them. So we just cranked up the Air Conditioner and that pretty well rounded out any exterior noise … nice source of white noise. Anyhow … no pictures of Malta.

From Malta we drove to Essex, Montanna always on Highway 2. We saw a dinosaur, a real cowboy herding cattle, buffalo, and caught our first glimpse of the snow capped Rockies:

We made it to Essex and Spent the Night there. We are about 100 miles from the West Entrance to Glacier and will start out for that tomorrow Morning. Because this Trip is getting long I’m going to Split up the Posts and this will be the last post for this section. I’m Calling it GETTING AWAY because it was our escape from Florida and all the COVOD stuff. My next post will be called PARKS & FRIENDS. It will be available right under GETTING AWAY. Travel so far 3300 miles in the RV and 800 in the Jeep. See you in PARKS & FRIENDS.

2007 – 11 – Sicily – Thousands of Years on One Island

We visited Sicily twice. We first came here in 2006 on a long road trip through Italy. We came across on a ferry from Italy and drove across the Northern coast to Palarmo (red line on map) where we took an overnight ferry back to Naples. The second trip, in November, 2007, (Green line on map) was dedicated to seeing and experiencing as much of Sicily as we had time for. We were living in Germany at the time so we flew on Ryanair from Frankfurt to Trapani, rented a car, and started our trip.

Some amateur background info on Sicily. Even though it nearly touches Italy, the landmass of Sicily actually broke off of Africa and floated North vice separating from Italy. Although Sicily is a part of the Italian country, if you ask any Sicilian if he or she is Italian, they will say “No, I am Sicilian!” The island is mostly rocky and hosts Mt Etna, one of the world’s more active Volcanos. Sicily was first the location of Summer homes and farmers from Greece around 1000 B.C. Later, Sicily was occupied by the Roman empire, and later by a number of different powers. Today, Sicily is a part of Italy. If you want more history, geography, or political background check a local library or check Google. Sicily’s history is quite interesting and worth the research.

Our first time there was the last leg of a trip we were on through Italy. We had driven through Italy and took a ferry from Villa San Giovani on the mainland of Italy to Messina in Sicily. It was a short ride but the straight was very chop and turbulent … but we made it. We the drove West to Palarmo where we took an overnight Ferry back Naples.

I don’t recall the names of all the little towns we stopped or went through along the coast. Each had a unique approach to it, usually up a winding road, each had it’s city center and it’s big old church. We spend two days along the Northern route and thoroughly enjoyed it. We got to Palermo, and found out way to the ferry, loaded up and sailed overnight to Naples. We had a cabin so we spent the night sleeping. Here are some night pictures from the ferry before it left Palermo.

That was our first time in Sicily. We enjoyed it and decided we would come back some day and see more of it.

Ryan Air is a point-to-point airline that flies all over Europe at very inexpensive rates. They frequently advertise special so we watched for them and when we wanted to go somewhere we would check where Ryan Air was having special fares to. When Sicily came up we booked a flight and went. Ryan Air Flies into smaller airports so they flew into Trapani which is a good sized city on the Northwest corner of Sicily. We rented a car and off we went.

We mostly visited ruins from the Greek Times, ruins from the Roman times, and enjoyed the villages that were along the way. These first ruins we saw were in a town called Selenus part of the way down the coast.

We continued on down along the coast to Agricola. One of the larger towns along the way. Interesting people and places. We followed the route depicted on the map I put at the front of this post. All around the coast there were Greek and Roman ruins that we explored. Some were being excavated, some being restored, some just piled up along the road waiting for someone to do something with them. I would guess that, like most other countries, Italy can budget just so much money for historical exploration and restoral and that is never enough to do it all … consequently all these artifacts wait and many of them are ruined by weather, people, animals, whatever while they wait. we did enjoy the majestic buildings, there was a hunting lodge with pictures of animals, castles, fortresses, and towns. Many of the small towns were located inside of a fortress located at the top of a steep hill. Very picturesque, great views and lovely people … and the wine was always good. Enjoy the pictures as we work our way across Sicily. The center of the Island is largely agricultural with crops and some animals. All in all the Island is quite rocky, hilly and, I would think, hard to live on. There are some photos of explanations along the way, usually in Italian and english so hopefully you can get something from them.

So ends the pictures. I apologies for not having put captions on all the photos but, to be honest, it is difficult to recall what and where all these places and things are. I take the photos because they attract my attention and I see something worth saving. It’s a visual thing.

We did enjoy Sicily and would be pleased to return someday. The people are warm and friendly, the wine is good, and the weather is fairly mild. We would highly recommend to anyone who is interested in Italy or the Greek and Roam influences around the Med go to Sicily … you will not be disappointed.

A brief word or two about the Sicilian cities that we past through or toured. They all are old, they all have huge impressive Cathedrals and Churches, and they are friendly places to visit. Some are around and atop a mountain … founded, most likely as a village around a castle on the top of the mountain, or around an inlet of the mediterranean sea where harbors are or were hosted. Some are strung out along the sea and others climb steeply from the sea up a mountain. Each is unique, each has its own interests, and each is worth a visit. One would think that after seeing a couple of fishing villages or country villages around a mountain they would become redundant and consequently boring. Not so … every time we stopped we found something unique and interesting. Be it beverages, food, clothing, the layout of the streets … what ever. As I mentioned earlier in this post, we landed in Tripani and drove South. I have written briefly about going through where there were many Greek ruins … after all, if you go East from the East coast of Sicily you eventually come to Greece. I recently read a couple books about two cousins that lived in Rhodes. Each Summer they would load up a small sailing boat and cruise around the island and shores of the Med selling their wares and trading. The era of the book was around 300 -400 B.C. and they mention several of the cities along the Eastern side of Sicily. The books were written by Harry Turtledove if you want to check them out. Quite interesting that so long ago, people were traveling.
Syracuse is one of the cities mentioned in the books and it was quite the active port and trading center in that time. Today it is mostly just old and filled with tourists. Many of the old ports or harbors have filled in with sand and silt or cannot host the much larger freighters and cruise ships that prowl about. When we went to Syracuse, there was a big sign next to the entrance to the city, written in Italian. We figured it was information about solution control or parking and, as we were not spending the night there, we just motored on in, drove around. Stopped briefly and visited a park next to the water, a very impressive Cathedral, and walked around a bit. We then left town and headed North. Some months later we received a letter from Italy and used Babble Fish to interpret it. It turns out the sign said no one other than residents and hotel guests are allowed to drive into the old part of Syracuse. They take pictures of all the cars and if they don’t fit into the two categories, they are fined 250 Euros. The fine is then handed over to a collection agency which adds another 100 Euros to cover their fees and you get the ticket. I called the agency and there was no excuse that was acceptable and if you did not pay, your name was turned over to the EU and the next time you used your passport you were detained until you paid … plus some other fees. Pays to pay attention!
Driving North we came to Catania which backed up from the sea and holds Mt Etna in its background … very impressive. We wanted to drive up to Mt Etna but it was marginally active and the local authorities would no allow anyone to approach it. Consequently, because it was a cloudy day, we didn’t get to see much of the famous volcano. We spent one night and had an interesting encounter in a small town North of Catania called Taormina. Taormina is located right on the sea and rises up to a large mountain and has an old castle at the top. We were staying near the sea but, being Saturday evening, we decided to see if we could find a church in which we could attend Mass. We found one part way up the hill but were unable to decipher the schedule. As we were walking back to the car we met a middle aged lady and stopped and asked her if she spoke English. She was shocked and elated. It turns out she and two of her friends (all three from Australia) had taken a large walkout to Europe touring all the old cities and what not. This particular lady was love struck by a young Italian Gentleman whom she married and stayed with for the next number of years. She never returned to Australia, had several children, and lived there with her husband and family. She said she seldom got to speak english because so few english speaking people tour where she lives and was delighted to chat with us for some time about us and our families and her and her families. She said her parents had visited her once over the years and she had never been back to Australia.

I invite you to look at the pictures and enjoy the beauty of Sicily. If you are interested in a specific city or region I recommend you goggle that area and ask for pictures of that city. The internet has millions of pictures …. but only my Blog has the interesting stories … Hmmm.

2015 – 04 – Sailing the British Virgin Islands

April 2015 – Being able to sail a significant boat is always something I wanted to be able to do. Being raised on a farm in Wisconsin did not present many opportunities to do so. One day I decided to check for sailing lessons around Tampa and see what was available. Turns out they were all classes where you took your turn steering the boat but mostly watching someone else at their turn and listening to some instructor tell you how much fun it is and all his harrowing experiences … and I was surprised how expensive they were! So, going outside the box a little I checked out renting a sailboat in the Caribbean and seeing if I could find a way to do it that way. I found this place that would rent a 48 Ft sailboat for a week that was fully furnished with an ASA (American Sailing Association) Certified instructor, a First Mate who would prepare all our meals and take care of us, and all our meals for a reasonable price. I booked the boat and bought tickets for our trip to the BVI. Before I left home however, I was required to complete three courses that ASA offers to help prepare you for your lessons. While I never really liked school very much I did enjoy studying and learning about sail boats and sailing. Terms (sailors have their own language), knots, rules, navigation, etc … I studied hard for several months before we set off … and then we were off. We drove to Miami and caught flight to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Interesting flights with each connection producing a smaller airplane until I thought we would have peddle.

Anyhow, we made it there and met a gentlemen there that took us to the marina on the other side of the island and introduced us to our Skipper and First Officer … Scott & Renee Sawyer. They were married and had an impressive background in both sailing and hospitality. Scott had a successful career in the Navy as a Special Teams Boat Driver (These are the guys that get the SEALs to their destination). He is also a fully qualified Ship Captain and a very interesting guy. Renee is a licensed Chef and has worked in some very impressive hotels before she ran off with Scott. Anyhow, they are a lovely couple to sail with and we had a wonderful time. Scott introduced me to my schedule so I was aware that the days would consist of instruction, demonstration, testing, and fun … I liked the last part best! So here is our boat. A 48 Ft monohull with a full jib and lots of room.

Renee, as I mentioned is a Chef … she is also a Fish Wisperer if you go diving with her (more on that later). Back to her Cheffing … Renee created not only very tasty meals but eye catching as well. She had fully stocked the galley with all our favorite foods (Pre-sailing survey) and drinks. The boat had an ice maker, an air conditioner, and with Renee in the Galley, we suffered no pain. Here are some of her creations.

We got on board, got settled in, and we were off. It was into the afternoon by the time were out of the marina so we just sailed across Sir Francis Drake Bay and anchored just off shore by a small resort. While Renee was getting dinner, Scott took us on Sir Charles into shore where we walked around a bit, looked through a gift shop, bought some provisions and went back to the boat. We had a lovely dinner and sacked out early … it had been a long day and the rocking boat put us right to sleep.

So this how our days went. We sailed for seven days (they are numbered 1 to 7 on the map at the from of this post). Our schedule was pretty much the same each day. We would get up and have some breakfast and check out the weather for the day … every day was perfect! After breakfast Scott and I would retire to the salon for instruction or testing, sometime both. Then lunch and getting underway. The afternoon sail was my hands on training as I would direct the disembarking procedures to the crew and sail to our next destination. Once we got there I would direct the crew in the docking procedures until were were anchored, buoyed, or docked. Then we would have some recreational activities (on shore excursion, diving, basking, whatever) until dinner. Then it was usually an early bedtime. As I mentioned, Scott is an excellent instructor, so he had everything mixed together to a point I didn’t even realize I was learning, being evaluated, or getting better much of the time … it was all fun.

You can see we went from Island to Island … each one was new and unique. I was learning how to sail and we were both having a great time. One of the first places we stopped was the island called Virgin Gorda which covered with huge granite boulders, called The Baths. We have seen boulders like this in other parts of the world but were surprised to find them here in the BVI. Our Afternoon recreation was to go ashore and climb through them and follow the Devil’s Bay Trail to a beach … beautiful.

Then there were the sunsets … every night different … every night better.

We stopped at another Island the had a large area around the marina that was dedicated to sailing and boating fun. There were shops, bars, restaurants, and a show in the evening. While there I had the opportunity to buy a Conc shell that I have learned to “Bugle” with. Pretty impressive if you ever hear it. Anyhow, we had a very nice afternoon and evening there.

Our Last Stop on the Southern Islands was near one of the Islands that owner of Virgin Airline owned. There is a big resort there with some very interesting heights to see from. We took a cab ride there and very much enjoyed the scenery.

Okay … So we left there and did our first Open Sea Leg … where you could not see land. The Eastern most Island in the BVI is Anagada or Drowned Island. It is very low and much of it is covered by high tides or surges. Here we anchored with about 500 other boats, went ashore and enjoyed an amazing Grilled Lobster Dinner.

Going back was good … we did a man overboard, where I had to turn and retrieve the target … not as easy as one would think under sail. Nancy also practiced in case we ever sailed alone and I fell off … she did well. Then we came into a norther Island that had a bunch of interesting things to see so we toured around for a while. It was one of the earlier settlements in the BVI and is still kept up

The little islands in the North East creat a great shelter for sea life so we took advantage of Renee our Fish Whisperer. Scott told us whenever she dives, there are always a lot of fish around. So we did some snorkeling. Great stuff.

Then off to our last night on the Fidelity and our last night out. Went to Foxy’s on the smallest of the BVI’s called Yost Van Dyke. In the event you never heard of Foxy’s it is supposed to be the most popular spot in the world for New Year’s Eve … was an interesting place. We all walked around and enjoyed the afternoon.

The next day we sailed back to Tortola, checked in through customs, said a sad farewell to Scott and Renee and took a cab back to the airport. I got all the ASA sailing certifications I was shooting for, we made some great friends, and had a super week.

The flight back was interesting. there was trouble getting our flight in to take us out and it ended up with just me and Nancy in this really shaky airplane that took us to Puerto Rico. Then a connection to Miami. We made it.

SERENGETI

As I mentioned in the intro, we crossed into Tanzania to get to the Serengeti and changed guides. Our guide in the Serengeti went by the name Wazeri and was equally as interesting as our first guide. He even had WiFi available in his truck as well as cold water, snacks, and fly swatters (Tsi Tsi Flies). So, here we are in the Serengeti. Quite different as there far fewer animals and the park rangers had been burning off thousands of acres of grass so the new grass could grow better. Here we go (Hope you are not getting bored with pictures of animals yet!) Of interest along the way …. When we first arrived in Tanzania we drove along a big lake and past several villages … then we got to the Serengeti Park. As we were leaving The Serengeti going to the Ngorongoro Crater we past two interesting points. One was a Hill where they had some information about the Serengeti and the other was a Museum where, in the 70’s, Archeologists discovered some very early human tracks. All interesting and all described.

The Serengeti was beautiful but the lack of game due to the migration, the burning, and flies was distracting. The place we stayed was very nice and we enjoyed it immensely. We left happy knowing we had seem both where the migration was and was not. Interesting aspects of this vast region.

VICTORIA FALLS

WIKIPEDIA: While it is neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, Victoria Falls is classified as the largest, based on its combined width of 1,708 metres (5,604 ft) and height of 108 metres (354 ft), resulting in the world’s largest sheet of falling water. Victoria Falls is roughly twice the height of North America’s Niagara Falls and well over twice the width of its Horseshoe Falls. In height and width Victoria Falls is rivalled only by Argentina and Brazil’s Iguazu Falls.

This was the next stop and our first “Non-Safari” part of the trip since we left Nairobi. We flew into Zambia and were driven to The Royal Livingstone Hotel which sits right on the edge of the Zambezi River and the top of Victoria Falls. We got there during a relatively dry part of the season so the Falls were not at the fullest. This was good because when they are you can barely see the falls for all the spray and mist it produces and you need to wear rain gear to go anywhere near it. As it was there was all the water, mist, thunder, and majesty you needed to see just how big Victoria Falls is. One of the evenings we were there we were treated to a ride on the Zambezi on the AFRICAN QUEEN, a local replica of a Paddle boat. It was a pleasant evening with abundant wildlife along the shores and a mild breeze to compliment the sunset. We had met two people earlier on our tour, J.D. and Julie, both from Santa Fe, so we shared the evening with them. They were doing essentially the same tour we were with Kensington so we had the pleasure of meeting up with them frequently at different stops … both very nice people to spend time with. Wildlife roamed freely around the hotel so it was not unusual to bump into a Zebra or an Ostrich while walking to your room. One of the features of the hotel was that during the low flow season you could walk out to nearly the center of the Falls, at the top, where you could swim in the ultimate infinity pool right on the edge of the drop (see Pictures). We found the Zambia side of the Falls to be difficult to tour so we told our guide we wanted to see the other side in Zimbabwe. He was hesitant as this would require a border crossing and he would have relinquish his job to a guide from Zimbabwe. We persevered and did the border crossing and picked up a new guide. The Zimbabwe side is definitely more impressive.

Pretty spectacular!! Timing is quite important visiting these places so make sure you know what you want to see and go there at the right time to see it. A long way to travel to be disappointed. From the falls we proceeded farther into Zambia along the river and ended up in a wonderful lodge near the Chobe National Reserve.

THE CHOBE

Coming down the Zambezi we ended up in a lodge on the edge of the Chobe National Park, close to the Namibian Border. That skinny sliver above the Chobe is part of Namibia, it is separated by the the jagged line which is the Zambezi River.

The Lodge is owned by an older English Couple and managed by a Gentleman and his wife who have lived in Africa for much of their life. The owner was there and this lodge had a tradition that everyone had their meals in one great room in one sitting. It certainly promoted fellowship and we met a number of interesting people. There were two couples there from the Midwest (Ohio or Indiana) and a couple or two from Europe. This was the only place where we did not have a private tour. To reduce the number of vehicles driving around the Chobe does not permit small groups . Consequently, there were 8 to 10 of us in the vehicle most of the time. The seats were tiered so everyone always had a good view. We enjoyed our group … they were all about our age and were easy to get along with. By This time we were getting a little animaled out so the tour had to be especially interesting to keep our attention. It was! We Flew to a city not to far from our lodge, drove a ways, then took a boat, then a short drive and we were there. Let’s check out the Chobe:

We finished up in The Chobe, said “good bye” to all our new friends and departed for our trip to South Africa and Cape Town. We did every kind of transport but trains on this trip and Kensington set it all up. We were always met, escorted, expedited, and had very nice transportation and accommodations. Everyone we met that was affiliated with Kensington was professional, polite, and extremely competent. No hassles, no arguments, just delivery. It made the trip so much more stress free and enjoyable.

NGORONGORO CRATER

From the Serengeti, while still in Tanzania, we drove down to the Ngorongoro Crater.

FROM THE WEBSITE OF “On The Go Tours”:

Standing proudly in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area of Tanzania is the Ngorongoro Crater. This highly visited African attraction is the world’s largest inactive, unbroken and unfilled volcanic caldera. What else is there to know about this natural wonder?

1. The Ngorongoro Crater was formed when a large volcano erupted and collapsed on itself. This explosion created a caldera approximately two and a half million years ago.

2. When it was a volcano it’s thought to have been a similar size to Mount Kilimanjaro, one of the world’s highest mountains. Estimates of the volcano’s original height vary between 4,500 to 5,800 metres. The crater itself is about 610 metres deep and 260 kilometres squared.

3. Approximately 40,000 people live in the conservation area. They share the land with an incredible amount of wildlife. There are around 30,000 animals ranging from leopard, cheetah, elephant and hyena to warthog, buffalo and impala. It’s also one of the best places to see the endangered black rhino and black-maned male lions.

4. You won’t find any giraffes in the crater. It’s thought they can’t enter as the sides are too steep for them to walk down. However you’ll still be able to find them around the crater.

5. The Ngorongoro Crater along with two others in the region (Olmoti and Empakai) were enlisted as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. It’s also one of the Sevens Natural Wonders of Africa.

6. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world. The fossils discovered there are said to be the earliest known evidence of the human species.

7. Tourism is essential for economic growth however visitor numbers are being monitored to avoid damaging the environment. Around 450,000 people travel to the Ngorongoro a year and all are required to obtain a permit to enter the crater and gorge.

8. The region has welcomed numerous famous people including Prince William, Bill Clinton, the Queen of Denmark, and Bill and Nancy Rumpel. Visitors to Ngorongoro account for approximately 60% of the 770,000 who travel to Tanzania each year.

9. The Oscar-winning movie Out of Africa was filmed partly in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. One of the scenes you can spot the crater is when Denys takes off from the Olkurruk airstrip and flies over the Masai Mara and Ngorongoro.

10. The Ngorongoro Crater is also referred to as ‘the Garden of Eden’ due to its dazzling beauty and being a paradise for animals.

Wasn’t that interesting?? We found the crater to be fascinating. We arrived late in the day and spent the night in a lodge provided by a Coffee Plantation. Wazeri, our guide, was telling us during the day about how poorly guides are treated at these lodges so we invited him to join us for dinner. He said he seldom dines with his customers but would accept our invitation because he was especially impressed with the place we were staying. So after checking in and unpacking a bit (we were staying for two night) we wandered out to take a look at the place and see if there were any watering holes around for thirsty tourists. We found a nice terrace and enjoyed a cool beer before dinner while watching the sun set. At dinner, with Wazeri, we found we were the only guests at the lodge and we invited the entire staff to join us for a glass of wine after dinner. Several bottles were soon emptied during stories of past guests, visiting animals, questions about America, questions about our families and you name it. It was a wonderful evening that we will not soon forget.

The next day Wazeri scooped us up and off we went to visit the Ngorongoro Crater. We spent all day wandering up and down the hills, saw so many interesting aspects of all the different animals that live there. They don’t leave and migrate as others do … this seems to be THE place for them. So here we go again with a bunch of animal pictures:

Truly a Paradise. So this ended our wild Game Safari for now. Nancy and I and two other people, J.R. and Julie who you will meet in Zambia, were the only passengers on the plane. It was small but made it over Kilimanjaro. We said a sad “Good Bye” to Wazeri whom we had spent many days with driving all over Tanzania with. On to Zambia and Victoria Falls.

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