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Old 08-05-2011, 07:22 PM   #1
W6ZKH
ex-K6YDW
 
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Tulare, CA
Posts: 62
Default 7500 Miles and 6 weeks later..

Hello All...........well, I guess I should have gave this report abit ago, since we've been back for about 3 weeks now... the "big" trip........left June 10th an d headed north here in Commiefornia... turned towards the coast after Sacramento and followed Hiway 101 along the Oregon coast and part of Washington coast before heading east towards our sons place near Puyallap. Stayed there 3 days and got to visit the youngest grandson (5) before heading east along I-90 to Spokane. Turned north on Hiway 2 and went to Sandpoint, Idaho, where the sister-in-law lives and setup for 5 days there..great weather..if I was gonna move again, it would be to that area, everyone is so friendly compared to Commiefornia....anyway, left there and took Hiway 200 on down into Missoula, Montana and then east again on I-90 to Billings. Stayed there, and then took the side trip over to Custer Battlefield. If you have a chance, visit that monument...sure funny you get a different story from what you've seen on the movies, etc.....course, you get 2 views too.....the White mans view and the Indian view...both differ....heh...Leaving Billings, we went onto I-94 into North Dakota... just happen to see this attraction, which was almost hidden, and it is the "Painted Canyon" in Roosevelt NP. Very beautiful...onward to the east we went, making afew more stops. We got into Minnesota and went to Detroit Lakes area..found a real nice, remote RV park...stayed there 3 days, and this is when the government shut down all their road rest areas, campgrounds, parks...so ended up back tracking into South Dakota and headed for Sioux Falls....well.about Brookings, SD, we hit some bad weather, and glad I pulled into a Lowe's lot, as ahead of me were 'straight line winds' of 80-100 mph, plus awhole heck of alot of rain. Glad I did, as I got pictures of 18 wheelers that didnt, plus 1 tag RV laying on their sides on I-29. Stayed at the county fairgrounds in Sioux Falls, since this was the 4th of July, and we had no reservations in any of the commerical parks....heck, for $25 a night which included power and water, plus we had a 'front row seat' on watching the Fireworks from the infield of the fairgrounds racetrack. From Sioux Falls, we went back on I-90 in Minnesota and headed east. Since all the rest stops were closed we opted to stop in small towns to take our breaks...one town, Worthington, Mn was a great surprise.. found an empty car lot, which had a showroom and inside were classic cars from the 50-70's and alot of memorbillia inside...brought back my days of HS, etc. From there we ended up in The Dells, Wisc for acouple of days and got to take the boat tour of the Wisconsin River ....this place is like Disneyland.......never seen so many water parks and other attractions in an out of the way location. Leaving Wisconsin, we headed south into Illinois and MO. Since Connie just had to go to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, we opted to stay in an RV park on the MO side... the Arch is something else....she "just had to go to the top"... I should have known better, as she is scared of heights !!! Well the "clamshell" elevator you are cramed into going to the top, she had a panic attack !!! I never got to see anything from the top..............From St. Louis, we headed west on I-70 going thru Kansas and into Colorado. I was going to attend a hamfest in Monument, CO on 7/16 which I had planned for, as wanted to meet Steve, WG0AT, the GoatMan. (Google his call, and read about him and his Serpa Goats). We got into Colorado Springs 3 days early, so forked out the extra $$ for a weeks stay at the Campground of the Gods RV park. Alot of things to see in the Colorado Springs area, so plan on spending afew days...we need more infact. Checkout the Flying W Ranch, as great food and entertainment...was well worth it... From CS we headed west again on Hiway 24 from CS, over the divide and went to Leadville....WARNING: Dont believe their sign saying RV Parking....yeah, maybe for a pickup camper, but I darn near had to leave mine in the alley as a monument....I did get out, but it was a chore....narrow alley, no room to make turns....ended up jack knifing the rig and "just barely" cleared a 5 ft dropoff into a ditch with the tires...I think I had an inch to spare.. From Leadville, we headed to I-70 which comes out around Aspen and from there we headed back to Commiefornia, after making 2 overnight stops...

So, that is my report.......I hope it didnt take up too much room, hi.... xyl is already planning next years trip, which will be, according to her, taking the Queens Hiway 1 along Canada's southern border all the way from BC to NY.... we'll see !!

73 de John W6ZKH
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Head Wrangler John W6ZKH
Chief Cook/housekeeper Connie
Mess makers Bailey & Gretchen (dogs)
2002 Dodge 3500 Diesel-Dually
2011 Forest River Wildcat 313 5th wheel
Icom IC-2800 Dual-bander in truck
Yaesu FT-1900R 2M Xcvr in RV
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