MEMORYROADS, Sheridan, Cody, Yellowstone N.P., Montana, Glacier, Banff, Jasper, Prince Rupert, Queen Charlotte Islands

Long title indicating future postings and nothing yet on this site!  I know!!.... because we have not figured out how to post info and pictures under an umbrella of reasonable cost.  Will figure it out or be delayed a bit.  Stay tuned for more soon.
Did you Americans have any idea Regular Gas costs more than $4.50/gallon up here in Canada?
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''Beer'''''''''''''''''''''''''''$2/can, even in large quantities?
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''MOST every day costs seem to be high up here... but then again Canadians have "FREE" Health Care.

Hey OBAMA,, Zat how ya gonna do it?  (Hint Obama! Maybe Work for it and you get it..............sit on your ___ with your hand out and you will not!   except of course for those that have found "loopholes"....maybe even Presidential! status.)  but don't worry mr. o, the walls are tumbling down.

...............more to come when I get some kind of connectivity!  Stay well ya'll!!

Spearfish, South Dakota

Our motor home had a break down today!!  Whoa!!

Yes, about 30 miles up in the hills of SE Wyoming. While I sat and pondered the situation on the quiet turnoff, vehicles did pass....trucks to motorcycles. One even turned in and around us to get into a tiny side road. They looked..... (new Prius) and drove by. They left an hour later...looked again and drove off. 
Our cell Phone showed NO SIGNAL. (AT&T), our Verizon Stick for the data/computer, would not connect either.
I decided to roll up my sleeves and see what I could decipher. Removed engine box inside after checking the outside minimal engine view. Checked connections and looked for obvious things...but nothing evident. I got back on the computer with Verizon data plan, to see if i could find and reach a dealership or service center in one of the towns we had just passed through. No luck, no signal even with antenna booster.

OK. Everybody's "nightmare!!??"

Well, I then heard a door slam. Looked out the window and there was an older gent(80 ish I'd say but still solid) from an older Jeep, ready to knock on my window. I jumped out and greeted him. What a nice guy!
Long story a bit shorter...he drove me back up to his hilltop 40 acres
four miles into the forest so i could use his phone.  He was insistent to help, believe me. Now to balance the Prius notation.....this gent's jeep had more dirt Inside than outside...and most windows did not have a crack in them. Get the picture?
This guy only, ONLY wanted to be a helping hand!

Together we got through to Dealerships and Ins. and tow company etc. etc.
Bottom line is nothing got us a tow truck as we could not receive a call to confirm location once we headed back to our motor home.

I got the rig running again and chanced a ride downhill to Spearfish S.D. about 35 miles back east/south east. Got there, got to a NAPA, then thru them, a Goodyear shop. parts will be installed at 8:30 a.m. They, led THEN, led me to a City Campground that is JUST BEAUTIFUL.
Why tell you this? Well I think it is the serendipitous nature of life and good people helping good people. We are them, even if we are not all totally in sync all the time.
So yes, bad things can happen. It is not only NOT the end of the world, but may be the beginning of yet another wonderful experience.

Last thoughts for the evening. Thanks for the comments from those who on this net have kind words for my blogs. The info is there to help anyone that has had to step into my shoes. Maybe I've been able to make the shoes fit. 


The "Gent", Clarence, has called 3x to make sure we are OK or need anything.

I'd trade this for any payment connected to a New Motor home, that gives me a security "net" that might be only applicable a thousand miles from here. 



Also:  Drove back into Spearfish, stopped at a Car Quest parts store.  They recommended a Goodyear shop within a mile to check out the rig, as I had found 2 dealerships were booked up for a week.  Got the work order set up for 8:30 a.m. the next morning to replace the Ignition Control Module and at my request the fuel filter.  


They then told me of a wonderful City Operated Camp Ground a half mile away.  What a pleasant surprise!  things were working out.  Once we saw the campgrounds and park, with free attraction of an Historical Fish Hatchery, I opted for a second night.

We relaxed in the park with walks, tour and a few miles of window shopping downtown Spearfish.  Lovely town, reminded me of Durango, Colorado, before it 'happened'.

We played with our dog on the grass next to our camping site and with stream adjacent, let our rat terrier "Lady" learn of the world through sites and smells.  She tried to drain the water bowl....didn't understand it's a creek!

Tennessee to Wyoming

We decided to travel a bit harder and faster for a couple of days to make up for a slow start from Florida. In doing so, we passed many things of interest and somewhat lost what we were after, a grasp of the world around us.  We captured some in pictures which we will now reflect on and always remember...even if in a slow blur..

Artistic sculptures of horses or older men chatting.

Wonderful vegetables and fruits were found everywhere on the small roads.  We tried to stay off any road with more than 2 lanes and found America the way I remembered it.  Smiling faces, warm greetings were also included in the price.   Of course an extra 5 minutes or so chat time  could not be missed.  So glad we took this path.
.

Took time to view sights and really enjoyed some of those special little things each town can offer/one of the benefits of staying off interstate highways!


Sometimes, Older RV's like this Chinook of late 60's were seen.  This one was still being used by a used car lot by it's owner/salesman I think as his office/home.   This model of Chinook, the 1400 built on a Dodge truck chassis, and other big ones up to the 2500 series, went belly up due to gas prices in early 70's, but the company were inovators for using fiberglass front and back sections.  In later models almost everything was built of fiberglass.

Dickson Tennessee was one of my family's favorites.  We passed thru to pay my respects and place flowers on their graves..   I miss them, and as the sign says....Our Country roads have many tales to tell.

You never know what you will see out there.  A Studebaker Pick-Up truck!

A Hahn Motor Inc. firetruck?



Hahn was an innovator in the 30's and 40's making fire trucks and WW2 war equipment.  Loved the hood ornament. Often these older vehicles were works of art, in whole or in part.

How about a pig farm with a sign at the road, warning you to STAY AWAY!!  THEY WANT TO KEEP PRODUCING SAFE FOOD!!  yeah right!  check out the dumpster on their property!!

OK, we read the sign, yet the 2 photos attest to something probably different.  Safe?  Healthy? Hmmm.

Some small towns had amazing artwork.  This Bank Building was done in an extraordinary manner with either etching brick or carving them..  Absolutely extraordinary!!  Click to enlarge a bit.

 

Vintage travel trailers. were surprising still found in use

like this 1955 or so, 15 footer.  

Local campgrounds run by states were magnets on the weekends for families enjoying their local marvels...in this case a waterfall and gorge leading to a stream fit for swimming or tubing.

Small towns preserved their heritage as here, with this sod roofed cabin of an older female pioneer resident's.

 The Badlands of Dakota were spectacular.

The animal life unafraid of humans to a great extent.  It was such a pleasure to share the land we both stood on.  

Any idea what she's doing?

Well, she's cleaning the glass over a missle silo, so we citicens can see the last remaining Minuteman II missles in place.  yes, look down into the silo!

Talk about the Cold War!! yikes, memories of this are still chilling.

A chill easier to take was on our way to Mt. Rushmore monument to see Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Lincoln.

We found ourselves jamming on the brakes during a thunderstorm as traffic ahead were slammed with a hail storm..  2" of hail laid on the road 200 yds in front of us.  We stopped just short of it and only got a minor pelting.

Wheeler Dam, Tennessee

Back in '97 Dorothy and I took our boat, Memory Rose, up the Tennessee River during a 5000 mile river trip.  Now, driving north on our motor home adventure of 2010, we had the opportunity to cross one of the dam;  the Wheeler Dam.


  In 97 we had to use their lock system to raise our boat up to the next level on the river at each of these dams.  Now, we can just drive across.

 Viewed from the top, we smiled seeing the many fishing boats just downstream from the dam.  It seemed we passed a couple of thousand of them during our boat trip and it brought back good memories.

Stayed mostly on secondary roads and enjoyed the view and sense of America.

Decisions decisions....which way to go?










Stopped often to stretch our legs and give the little dog a break and in this case........ "Swim Training"!   Ready?  Set?

Later on we stopped on the Chattanooga River on a fine Corps of Engineers campsite.  Again, watching the river traffic put us in a great mood.  We sat outside till well after dark and enjoyed the setting.

This sight is common on the river.  In this case the pusher tug has 8 barges, 4 long/2abreast, moving upstream.
By the way,  the LOCKS are usually 800' long and 110'wide to accommodate these commercial operations plying the rivers.

Wheeler Dam, Tennessee

Back in '97 Dorothy and I took our boat, Memory Rose, up the Tennessee River during a 5000 mile river trip.  Now, driving north, we had the opportunity to cross one of the dams, Wheeler Dam.


  In 97 we had to be locked into with the boat and floated up, in order to pass it over it.

 Viewed from the top, we smiled seeing the many fishing boats just downstream from the dam.  It seemed we passed a couple of thousand of them during our boat trip and it brought back good memories.

Stayed mostly on 2ndary roads and enjoyed the view.

Decisions decisions....which way to go?












Stopped often to stretch our legs and give the little dog a break and in this case, "Swim Training"!

Later on we stopped on the Chattanooga River on a fine Corps of Engineers campsite.  Again, watching the river traffic put us in a great mood.  We sat outside till well after dark and enjoyed the setting.

Pensacola Shipyard...Gulf Oil Cleanup

While I went to this boat yard to see if a friend of mine, still was keeping his boat there, I was amazed to find dozens of individuals walking around in ORANGE or YELLOW vests..............

Orange seemed to mean "worker" and Yellow seemed to mean Security or "Onlooker/Decision maker". Either way, too many folks stood around chatting.  Maybe it was just a staging point but nothing was being done to alleviate any problem, unless we consider their personal bank accounts.  I had been hearing this on the news for weeks and now see it for myself, miles from any beach.

From what I witnessed, Orange mostly sat under a big shade tree while the Yellow's sat up near the coke machines and snack bar.

From the viewpoint of a casual observer, this waste of effort and money seemed to be a major facet of this event.

You can read into this on your own.