It is Friday and I have lots to tell you.  Needed to take a day as my brain got fried on our wonderful trip on the "Red Bus". They are buses originally built in the 1930's and rebuilt in the late 1990's to keep them running and get safety updates. Before I get to that, I want to tell you about our trip to Whitefish.  Real nice town that is a year round resort.  Winter for skiing and summer for Glacier.  We walked around and looked at the historic buildings and visited a few gift shops.  Don't think you will see very many pictures from here but don't worry there are pictures from our next days trip.  We spent a nice afternoon and came back to the campsite to get ready for our next trip.  Wednesday morning we got up and got dressed and out before 8.  Had to meet the bus at the KOA campsite up the road from us.  We met some of our fellow travelers and boarded the bus.  We started out the road and as we got to the main road our driver spotted a bear.  It was 10 feet from our bus and it stood up to sharpen its claws on a tree.  Before anyone could get out their cameras the bear took off running away.  That sure jump started our day.  We picked up our fellow travelers and got on the way.  We were so excited.  Opened the top of the bus and put blankets over us to keep warm.  We used these same blankets later in the day to allow us to sit on the leather seats without burning our butts!!!  I honestly cannot describe the views we saw and the pictures just pale in comparison to the real thing.  This is a beautiful park.  What you see is nature in all its glory.  Something that should not be missed.  We also saw Big Horn Sheep and Mountain Goats along the way.  No more bears on the way over to the east side of the park crossing the Continental Divide.  We had a lovely lunch in the Many Glacier Lodge and then went outside to walk around for awhile.  Everyone was looking up on the mountain and there was a Grizzly Bear walking around.  We watched that for awhile and then we had to get in our bus and start the ride back.  Believe me by this time it was at least 90 degrees outside.  As we left the area we were on the lookout for the bear we saw but no luck.  We went around 10 miles and there was another bear.  Was a great day.  We saw 3 bears, one black bear and 2 grizzlies.  We stopped at one other place to see if we could spot a mountain goat and low and behold there he was right next to us.  You will see how close from Jack's pics.  No telephoto lens on these pictures.  We got back to the campsite around 6 p.m.  Long, long day but so worth the trip.  Yesterday was a real down day.  Did take a ride to Kalispell to find a Home Depot for a part Jack needed and then walked around the Costco but we were only gone about an hour or so.  Just a lazy lazy day.  Today we are going back to Kalispell to an Equestrian Event that is held there.  It is a qualifier for the Olympics.  Will let you know what it is like.  We leave here on Sunday and start out trek to Portland and a long stay. 

Hi everyone,
Thought I would fill you all in on our great adventure at Glacier National Park.  We spent Saturday doing laundry and then took a ride.  We decided we were taking some down time.  Sunday we cleaned, that takes about 30 minutes start to finish then we lazed around some more cause we had to laze around and work up the ambition to clean for 30 minutes.  We were then ready to go to Glacier National Park.  We entered at West Glacier and stopped at Apgar and looked around a bit.  Talked to the rangers in the information center and then went in the gift shops for a bit.  After that we took a ride up to Lake  McDonald Lodge.  Walked around and looked at the lodge and its property then watched the boats for a short while.  Drove back and tried to find a place to eat.  That didn't work out to well for us.  We didn't want burgers but since it was only around 3 p.m. nothing was open for dinner.  Ended up coming back to the campsite and getting a snack then heading back out around 6 for dinner.  Let me tell you that the views around here are magnificent but the food, not so great.  I should have just cooked instead of wasting our money.  Oh well, live and learn.  Today we went back to Lake McDonald Lodge to take the lake boat tour.  Was wonderful.  The lake was smooth as glass and the ranger on the boat was quite informative.  The ride was an hour and that was plenty as there was no shade.  I don't think I would have lasted where we were sitting for much more than an hour.  We booked our Red Bus Tour (Jammers) for Wednesday.  We will be gone for the entire day starting at 8 a.m. This tour takes us on the Road to the Sun and all the way to Many Glacier Hotel.  Be prepared for lots of pictures. 
Not sure what tomorrow will bring.  Jack is talking about taking a ride to Whitefish.  Will let you know. 
Talk more later.

This is me writing to you from 5 miles outside of Glacier National Park!  We arrived this afternoon and have been sitting outside soaking up the beauty of the mountains and the sky.  I am sure Jack will be outside checking out the stars tonight.  They should be magnificent.  We did see them in Rapid City and that was with a small city close.  There are no cities either big or small out here to hinder our view.  Me not so much to go out in the dark when I can't see what might be on the ground but can't let Jack think I'm chicken (though I really am).  We are thinking of taking a small hike or as Erin said a leisurely walk around some woods and lakes to see some waterfalls.  Her next comment was Sheller's don't hike.  She is right but gotta grad adventure by the horns.  Be sure to check back and see how much I liked adventure after the hike.  It's 1.5 miles round trip.  How bad could that be. 
We are going to take a boat ride on one of the lakes.  Haven't got that figured out and also haven't figured out which tour in the red bus we are taking.  We are looking at two that are quite extensive and that way Jack can enjoy the scenery instead of driving. 
We are here until the morning of the 28th and then going to Portland.  Told Erin we would be there for Tuesday night dinner.
Check back for our Glacier adventures.

Here it is Thursday and you guys have no idea what we have been doing or where we are.  Sunday was a rest (?) day.  Of course, we needed to run errands and go to the store for some basics.  That took a while because we didn't know where anything was and our campsite was in a town with a population of 623 so no real grocery store or hardware store.  Oh well, this is the wide open west!  Mission accomplished but of course what should have been 2 hours became 4-5 hours.  Monday was Deadwood and we had a ball.  This is the greatest old west town unfortunately all the shows like the shoot-outs and hangings aren't done on Mondays but we had a good time anyway.  We got a little lost on the way home cause we stopped at a strip mall to look for something and then we went around the corner and in the west that is a long way and ended up going the wrong way.  Oh well, what's one more adventure.  Tuesday was travel day and we went from Rapid City, SD to Sheridan, Wy.  Long day on the road but was amazing to see that part of Wyoming.  Last year we saw the west and south parts.  Way different.  Wednesday was a travel day and brought us to Bozeman, Montana.  I was so excited right after we got into Montana I saw my first real cowboy.  Was looking at the scenery and of course I didn't have the camera in my hands when I saw some cattle around what looked like a watering bin with a truck and then I looked close and there was a horse with a rider on it and he had a cowboy hat on!!!  I was so excited.  Today was another road day and we got to Missoula Montana.  Tomorrow we head north for about 130 miles to Glacier National Park.  We have a campsite in Coram Montana about 5 miles from the West Entrance!  We were having a time finding a place but after about 6 phone calls Jack hit gold.  Hope the place lives up to its website.  We are going to be in Coram from the 19th until the morning of the 28th.  Heading to Portland then for a long visit. 

We are having the best adventure in South Dakota.  I would advise anyone to come here for a vacation.  There is so much to see and do.  We will be sad to leave here on Tuesday.
We took Thursday off and did the laundry, cleaning and grocery store chores and then just chilled.  Friday was wonderful.  We went to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse.  We left around 10 a.m. and took Rte. 36 to Iron Mountain Road.  When we turned on Iron Mountain Road we saw signs that told us to remember that buffalo were wild animals.  We chuckled and watched for a sighting.  This is a winding, hilly road and all of a sudden we saw a buffalo on our left, then we looked to our right and saw some more buffalo and then they were crossing the road in front of us.  We stopped the car and watched an entire herd of buffalo cross the road.  There must have been over 200 buffalo and you don't try to hurry them up.  They move at their own speed and change direction whenever they want.  We just waited until we had a chance to slowly move up the road.  We followed them for awhile until they got to the open field where they wanted to graze.  What a wonderful sight.  There were calves, cows and bulls and it was all in the wild!  The road continued its winding, at one point we were going under the bridge we had just gone over and then we looked over and could see Mt. Rushmore.  We stopped for pictures and then back on the road again.  Got to a short tunnel and framed in the opening of the tunnel was Mt. Rushmore.  Not once but at all the tunnels.  I think there were 3.  Mt. Rushmore is everything you think it will be multiplied.  Amazing, just amazing.  We were there for about 2-3 hours and then left to find Crazy Horse.  We got there and that was also amazing.  The carving isn't complete but you can see his face.  If you look carefully you can see the scaffolding on the mountain where they are still working.  There is an Indian Museum attached and when we got there we were able to see Native dancing.  Both Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse have movies to explain the story behind both monuments.  Today was a fun day.  We drove to Hill City and took the train to Keystone and back.  This is an 1880 steam train that runs through Black Hills National Forest.  Fun day and cute little towns.  Came home and sat outside for awhile and then had dinner.  After dinner we took our usual walk around the park and met some nice people from New Jersey.  Jack had spoken to them the other day and found out that they were from Tabernacle NJ which for those of you who don't know is two towns over from my family.  Small world.  We sat and talked with them for a good hour and a half.  Really nice evening.  Well that's all for today but I promise to write more soon. Check out all our pictures from these days.  Jack put them all out there for you to see.

Hi Guys, have a few observations for you all.  First, I would love to meet one of the pioneers who left their homes and decided to homestead in South Dakota.  It is a beautiful state but there is nothing much out here.  The ranches are huge and far between.  You have to be a very independent person to live on the farms and ranches.  I told Jack today that to live out here you have to be able to entertain yourselves.  The other observation is that I think all the people from Florida come north for the summer.  Must be every 3rd car and camper has Florida tags.  The other observation is corn, corn and more corn.
We went to the Badlands and Wall, SD today.  The Badlands are amazing.  Saw prairie dogs and bison while we drove through the National Park.  Jack will post some of the millions of pics we took.  I don't think there is anyway I can explain it to you.  You have to see it.  We left here around 10 this morning and we got back around 6:30.  After the Badlands we drove to Wall, SD and the Wall Drug Store.  Known as The Free Ice Water Store and has been there since 1931.  It is huge and they say it draws up to 20,000 people a day in the summer.  It was sooo crowded.  We walked around for an hour and bought 2 post cards and a sticker for the back of the motor home.  Then we went across the street and had dinner and saved room for homemade ice cream and then headed home.  We got home to hail on the ground.  Just missed the storm.  Right now it is 7:30 and 79 degrees outside and supposed to be 92 tomorrow.  Oh boy, tomorrow is rest day and then we go to Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood and a ride on the steam train.  We have to plot our next phase.  Going to leave here Tuesday and head to Montana and the Glacier National Park.  Check in again soon for next update.  Gonna go chill now.

Two great days!!  Yesterday we went to the Mall of America and it was amazing.  Holy cow, it is so big.  Jack and I walked and walked and walked and shopped and shopped and shopped and then we ate.  You will see in the pictures the amusement park in the middle of the mall and there is Macys, Nordstrom, Sears and a Radisson hotel.   I thought there was an ice skating rink but I couldn't find it.  I think there was an aquarium in the basement.  Amazing place.  Hadn't shopped for a long time and we just decided to have some fun.  Today we left Minnesota and drove to Mitchell, South Dakota.  Let me tell you first about that ride.  Beautiful countryside but I saw more corn than you can imagine.  All the way from Minnieapolis-St. Paul to Mitchell, South Dakota.  There are just fields of corn for as far as you can see.  We took a more scenic route through most of Minnesota today and that was neat.  The roads were pretty good and most of state roads are better than the interstates. 
We got here around 3 and went to The World's Only Corn Palace.  It is an amazing site.  The murals outside are made entirely of corn and they are changed every year.  They call it "Corn-By-Number" decorating.  All summer long you can watch the redecorating.  This is a pretty neat town.  Once a year they have a Corn Palace Festival. 
Tomorrow we leave for Hermosa, SD and the Badlands, Deadwood, Crazy Horse Memorial and Mt. Rushmore.  We will be there for a week and I will keep you updated on our activities.  Hope all had a Happy 4th weekend.

July 7

WOW!  We had a great 4th of July in St Ignace.  Went down to town to a free concert.  Was great.  Two school teachers from Maine that obviously perform all the time.  Real blues singers and they were fantastic.  One of them could play 4 or 5 instruments and the other had a great blues voice.  Was right on the dock from 7 - 8:30 p.m. and then we ran across the street to the pub to have a late dinner with a drink. After we went back over to the dock and waited for the fireworks.  We waited and waited and waited ant watched the fireworks over on Mackinac Island and still we waited for St. Ignace to begin theirs.  Finally at 10:30 they started and they were really quite nice.  We got home around 11:15 and that is very late for us.  Next day we packed up and left St. Ignace vowing to return some day (summer only).   The drive to Wisconsin was along the coast of Lake Michigan and then we turned west in Wisconsin.  We stayed the night at an Indian Casino.  Who knew that a lot of them have RV parks.  Was a good night.  Only charged 28.00 for the night and gave us a 10.00 credit to gamble.  We signed up for the Star card and each got 10.00 more to gamble.  Had a pizza and then gambled some.  I of course lost the 20.00 I had and another 30.00 but Jack won so we figure we are still up around 40.00.  Today we drove into Minnesota and are staying in Savage, MN at a nice camp site.  We are headed to the Mall of America tomorrow.  Today we both went and got our hair cut and did a little grocery shopping.  Hope you all had as nice a 4th of July as we did.  Stay tuned for our next adventure.

Wednesday

So now I know why you should blog everyday.  Just read the last two blogs and realized that I wrote the same thing in both.  Oh Well!!!
We are still here in St. Ignace, MI.  Sure do like it here in the summer.  Temps have been in the 70s and you need a sweater in the evening.  Really is like a shore town.  Monday we took the ferry over to Mackinac Island.  So beautiful.  No motorized vehicles permitted.  Lots of bicycles that you have to watch out for or else you will get run over.  We took a horse and buggy tour around the island and then spent some time in Fort Mackinac.  We don't have many pictures because someone (Jack) forgot the battery for the camera.  Took the ferry back and went to Casino for a little while.  Wanted to see how fast we could lose our money.  20 minutes and $60.00 later we left and went back into town and had dinner on the dock.  Tuesday was our relax and do some work around the motor home day.  I got to do laundry and straighten up a bit while Jack did some maintenance and fixed some odds and ends.  Really was a relaxing day.  We had  a lovely dinner last night.  It was "clean out the refrigerator" dinner so we had a little of this and a little of that.  Today we went to Tahquamenon Falls.  It was nice.  That's really all I can say about it.  We are sorry that we didn't go up to Sault Ste Marie and check out the town.  You can watch the ships go through the locks and then walk around the town and check out the shops.  Oh well, we enjoyed the falls.  Tonight we walked around the RV park and talked to some of our neighbors.  We have met some really nice people here.  I would come back here again.  Happy 4th of July to all. 

July 2, 2013

I am back!!!  I have really been remiss in posting the last week and a half and I apologize.  We left off in Ottawa I think!  Not really sure but I will pick up from there.  We left Ottawa and headed for Toronto with all kinds of plans to visit the city of Toronto and Niagara Falls.  Was a long day and we hit Toronto at rush hour and that was not fun.  Also, we had a small problem with one of our outside bins flopping open as we rode down the highway.  So here we are on the freeway going through Toronto at rush hour and this car signals us that one of our bins are open.  Still had a good 7 miles to go on the freeway.  We went along for awhile but I could see Jack worrying about the bin and finally he pulled over on the freeway.  Now I don't know how to explain this freeway but we were in the express lanes and there were 4 of them and then there was the not express lanes and there were two of them coming into the express lanes and that is just where we could find enough room to stop.  There went Jack out and around the front of the motor home (cause you know it couldn't be the bins on the passenger side that opened--no had to be on the driver's side) to fix the bin.  Got that done and then we had to cross two exit lanes of traffic to get back in the correct lane.  Believe me we were so glad to get to the campsite.  Both of us decided right then that we saw enough of Toronto.  Never went back.  The campsite was great, located in Milton Ontario.   Had some real down time  and was able to get my laundry done and of course, Jack got the bin fixed.  
We headed to Niagara Falls on Tuesday the 25th of June.  AMAZING!!!  We rode the Maid of the Mist right up to the base of the falls.  OMG!!!!!  The noise and the water and the mist in your eyes and then you turn cause you want to be able to see and there are the falls right in front of you.  You look up and all this water is just pouring over the falls constantly.  We loved it.  I was so glad we took the boat ride.  Was a little intimidating when you looked at it from the park but was so worth it.  The Canada side is really beautiful.  Funny, when you come into town it looks like a real tourist haven but then you turn the corner and you are driving along the river and on the other side is this beautiful park that just makes the experience so much better.  Did a lot of walking from the parking lot to the boat but that was fun too.  After the ride we had lunch at a restaurant looking at the falls and when the wind blew you got wet from the mist.  Headed back home after that and hit a horrible rain storm.  Was glad to drive out of that.  Lots of winery's in that area.  My favorite name was the "Organized Crime Winery".  Wasn't fast enough on the way down to get a picture and thought I would on the way back but they only advertised on one side of the road.  Spent another day in Milton and then headed west on Thursday.  That was an interesting ride.  Started out on freeways and then 4 lane roads and then two lane roads.  That slowed us down a bit and can't say that the scenery was captivating.  Lots of trees for quite a while.  Finally had some interesting rocks.  In some places they blasted the road out and left the rocks in the middle as a divider.  There are some good pictures which you will see when Jack gets them loaded.  Back to two lane roads and construction.  We had to stop because they were blasting.  Trying to widen the road.  Would loved to have seen them blast but we just got caught in the traffic jam.  Stayed in a small RV park in  Sudbury Ontario that was located right on the lake on Thursday night.  Nice place with lots of Canadians arriving to celebrate Canada Day which is the 1st of July.  We were heading back to the USA on Friday and crossed the bridge and went through customs at Sault Ste. Marie.  That bridge will never have Jack Sheller on it again.  It was a two lane, very high bridge that separates Canada from US with Lake Superior on one side and Lake Huron on the other.  Got through customs and headed to St Ignace, Michigan.  Great little shore town in the Upper Peninsula.  Found a wonderful campsite and we were really lucky because there was a car show in town and most of the places were full.  We seem to be drawn to car shows.  Hyannis and now here.  Hmmh do you think it's a plot?  Spent Saturday afternoon looking at cars.  We are here until the 5th of July.  Gonna go into town and celebrate the 4th right here on the shores of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.  As I type this I am looking out at Lake Michigan and enjoying the great weather we are having.  Has been in the 70's during the day and 50's at night since we got here.  I will pick this up tomorrow and fill you in on our days here then.