Trip to Bozeman Spring 2010

With hugs and a few tears I left Ft. Stockton heading back to Bozeman.  I was looking forward to the trip as I would pick up my friend Bo in Amarillo. She was going to travel with me once again and we were going to see as many places along the way as we could fit in.  This also is high on my list of favorite trips.  Yes, I have a lot of favorite trips mainly with other people traveling with me.
My first night was at the Lubbock KOA.  The trip up was fairly easy other than the heavy rain I ran into just as I was getting into Lubbock.  Wow, it was really coming down and made driving difficult.  I managed to take a wrong turn.  The GPS got me back on track but not before I went through some pretty high water on the side streets.  I was glad to get back to the main highway.  The rain had eased off pretty well by the time I got to the RV park. I only traveled about 233 miles that day but with the rain I was glad to get off the road early. The folks at the KOA in Lubbock were really nice and I had a great site.  It was an easy pull thru just like I like when I am traveling.
The next day I was only going about 128 miles so it would be an easy day of travel.  The KOA in Amarillo is on the back side of the airport so it was really convenient for picking up Bo.  I got a pull thru and managed to pretty well get setup before it was time to go get Bo.  It had rained there the day before also so the site was a little muddy.  But mud is better than setting up in the rain!
Bo's flight arrived only about an hour after I arrived so I was not there very long before it was time to go get her!  It was an easy airport to get in and out of.
The first thing Bo did when we got to the motorhome was call to Ellie.  I had not had a chance to tell her that my little traveling companion was gone.  Of course she was sorry to hear of my loss.  Bo and Ellie had become friends when we traveled together the year before.
Bo and I made a trip to Wal-Mart and then treated ourselves to steak at the Big Texan steak house.  I must say that is the best steak I have ever had!  If you can eat one of their 72 oz steaks they will give it to you free!  Trust me we did not even try that one!  Talk about a wonderful start to a great trip!
The next day we headed north out of town on highway 287.   On this day our trip in the motorhome was only about 220 miles.  We were to spend the night in Lamar Colorado at the Country Acres Motel & RV park.  I had stayed there once before.  While it is nothing fancy it is a passport America park so it is inexpensive.
After we got set up we decided to do some sight seeing.  I just love being a tourist.  We drove over to Bent's Fort near La Junta.  Wow, I did not even know anything about this fort until I noticed it on the map.  I am so glad we went to see it as it is very interesting and much different than other forts I have seen.  This one was built as a trading post.

It is truly out in the middle of no where and you have to be going there to see it!  Bo and I both really enjoyed seeing it!  After we left the fort we went into La Juanta to see the Koshare Kiva.  It was a very interesting Indian museum.  We first thought it was closed when we arrived but were happy to see that it was not.
We almost had the place to ourselves.  All in all we had a wonderful day.
The next day we were headed to Sidney Nebraska to the Cabela's RV park.  Hmm this one did not start off as well as I decided we needed to get the house batteries changed.  We went to Wal-Mart because we knew they would have a large parking lot.  They first told me they could not change the batteries as the motorhome would not fit in one of their bays.  There was a lady there that told the guys as long as I could pull it up to the door so the camera's could see them working it would be okay!  Yea!  I got new batteries.  Then we hit the road heading out Hwy 50 to Hwy 385.  Both are two lane roads with wide shoulders so travel on them is fairly easy and there is not a lot of traffic.  I was really having a good day!  UNTIL!  Oops road construction had the road north of Burlington closed to traffic over 8' in width!  I caught just a glimpse of the sign as we were going into town.  We stopped and filled up with gas and then headed out.  I had not been sure what the sign said so we continued on.  Yep, you got it we finally saw another sign that told the limits.  I had to do a U-turn.  Fortunately the road was wide and there was a parking lot to help with the turn.  The detour we ended up having to take was not nearly as good as 385 and we had to go miles out of the way.  But we finally made it to Sidney!  I surely was glad to get off the road safely.  Sydney Nebraska is the home of Cabela's.  They have a really nice RV park right beside the store.  We of course had to go in and do some shopping.
The next day we headed toward Ft. Laramie Wyoming.  We stopped at Chimney Rock along the way.

 I had never stopped here before and only seen it from the highway.  I was glad we stopped.  After we left here we went on to Scotts bluff. The Bluff could be seen for miles and the wagon trains would use it as a land mark.

It is well worth the drive to the top of the Bluff.  I had never driven to the top before as the last time I was thru here I was pulling my trailer and did not want to unhook it.  Bo and I unhooked the car and drove to the top.  I am so glad we did.  We decided not to hook the car back up as we did not have too far to go before parking for the night.  So I drove the motorhome and Bo drove the car on to the Pony Soldier RV Park located between Lingle and Ft. Laramie Wyoming.
While we were on the road between Scotts Bluff and the RV park my friends Vicki and Bob called. They were in Cheyenne Wyoming.  We decided to meet in Buffalo in a few days as we were traveling through the area.
Bo and I got all set up in our site for the evening and then went to Fort Laramie.

This was a really huge Fort.  Above is a picture of the barracks.  After spending some time walking around the Fort Bo and I decided to head to Guernsey to see the Register Cliff and wagon tracks.

 I was amazed that the wagon ruts were so deep and easy to see.  You would think that after all these years they would be harder to see.   I can only imagine how tough the trip through here on a wagon was!  Sure am glad I travel in a motorhome and not a covered wagon!

This is a picture of the Register cliff.  The pioneers traveling through would write their names and date on the cliff.  Once again years later most are still readable.
I do not recommend going to the cliff or to see the ruts in a motorhome.  The roads are narrow city streets with no good place to turn around!  So park your RV and drive your car as we did.
Bo and I stopped at a grocery store before going back to the RV park.  We needed an onion!  It turned out to be the most expensive onion in the world.  Well maybe not but it sure seemed that way.  Never had sticker shock over an onion before!
The next day we headed for Rapid City South Dakota.  It was a trip of just over 200 miles so and easy drive.  Well it should have been an easy drive.  As we were traveling along highway 85 I noticed my mirror on my side of the motorhome was turning out.  I would roll the window down and pull it in then a few miles later it was back out.  We stopped at a roadside park to look at it!  Bo said we needed an allen wrench to fix it.  I of course did not have one.  We tightened it as best we could and then got back on the road.  We stopped at an auto parts store in Edgemont South Dakota.  I was really blessed to find a place to park nearby. When we went inside Bo told the guy behind the counter what size wrench she thought we needed.  He loaned us two to try.  Sure enough the one Bo thought we needed was the right one.  She tightened it up and we went in and paid for the wrench.  Now I can fix it if it ever loosens again.  We made it to the Rapid City KOA without any more trouble.  It was a really pretty drive.
After getting all set up we just had to go do some sight seeing.  Bo had never been to Mount Rushmore.

 It was an awesome day to be a tourist!  We really enjoyed seeing Mount Rushmore.  It is still amazing to me that someone can carve out a mountain like that .

 From Mount Rushmore we just had to go see Crazy Horse.  They have done a good bit of work on it since the last time I saw it.  Maybe someday they will get it finished.
The next day we drove to Wall Drug.  It is famous for advertising free ice water!

Wall drug is really a neat place to visit.  It is about 50 miles from Rapid City so an easy drive.  We also visited the badlands.

 It was not the best of days to visit the badlands as it was really windy and rain moved in while we were there.  I guess the rain was better than being there in the hot dry summer.  It is still a pretty interesting place to visit even in the rain. We returned to the Rapid City KOA for our second night.
The next day we headed to Buffalo Wyoming.  Wow what a day that was.
One of our first things to do was to drive through Sturgis.  Bo really wanted to see it.  It was a nice peaceful town when we were there.
From there we headed back into Wyoming.  Our next stop was Devils Tower.

 We were able to see it from several miles away.  However it was shrouded in clouds.  We were really blessed to find a place to park right at it's base and were able to walk all the way around it without getting wet.  It is really an awe inspiring place.  It is well worth the trip off the interstate to visit.
From there we headed on to Buffalo.  We were in for a pretty wild ride!  It got really windy and was raining hard as we left Gillette.  I did a good job holding the motorhome on the road but it was not fun.  Had we not been planning to meet Bob and Vicki I would have gotten off the road.
When we arrived at Buffalo Bob and Vicki were there ahead of us.  We were given the site right next to them and had a great evening visiting.  It is always wonderful to catch up with them on the road.

 We took a few minutes to take a few pictures before heading out the next day.  We were all going to stop at the Little Big Horn on our way to our next destination.  They were heading to Billings and we were going on to Bozeman.

 It was a really beautiful day to visit the Little Big Horn.  We spent a good hour there and then moved on down the road.  I was anxious to get into Bozeman and we still had a good way to go. The trip was a fairly easy drive on the interstate but over 300 miles.

I was really excited to arrive back at the Bozeman KOA.  It felt like I had come home.  This last picture was my site for the season.  I took Bo to the airport early the morning after we arrived.  We had another wonderful trip to put in our memories.