I bought a new red Ford diesel truck and a Coleman travel trailer with the idea of doing a lot of camping. Our granddaughter, Alicia, moved to Bismarck, North Dakota, and my sister was in a convelescent hospital in Spearfish, South Dakota, so we decided to take a trip in June with our trailer to go see them. That was the first time we had taken a trip with our trailer. We had to learn a lot about using our trailer. It had a pull out compartment in the dining area and a pull out compartment where the bed was. We stocked with pans, dishes and food. We had Oso, our dog with us.
Utah
We started for Utah to see Cindie and Rob in their new home in Cedar Hills near Provo. we stayed at a Walmart parking lot, which was free in Winnemucca, Nevada the first night. Then we headed up to Cindie's house. We got on Highway 15 in the worst traffic jam. We moved slowly or not at all. We finally figured where to turn off to get to Cindie's house. It was a beautiful home. We also got to see Amber, Roger and their family. Then we went to see Austin, Stacie and Sunnie in their new home in Stansbury Park by the Kennecott Copper Mines. Austin works as a chemical engineer for Kennecott. We took the truck and saw Hal and Mary Lou in Murray. We saw Stana and Don in Farmington.
Idaho
Cindie rode up with us to see Ashley, Casey and Arianna in Idaho Falls. They had a cute little new house there. We stayed there one night and then we headed up through Idaho to Yellowstone Park. We drove through some of the park, but one of the main roads was closed. Since we had been there several times we didn't get out and walk much. We mostly saw buffalo in the park, no bears or moose. Then Kaye checked the map and it showed the shortest way to Montana was out the northeast entrance. The mountain that the road went over was about 11,000 feet high. The road was narrow with all switchbacks with steep sides. I went slow with the trailer. It didn't bother me, but Kaye was scared to death, especially since going on the really scary road was her idea. She was so relieved when we made it down the mountain. Soon we were in Montana. We found another Walmart parking lot to camp in. The next morning we went through Montana into North Dakota. We stopped at a place where we could see cliffs and canyons. It was pretty. Then we went on into Bismarck and went to a campground by the Missouri River. we called Alicia and she came and got us and cooked dinner for us at her apartment that she shared with several friends from Oregon. She showed us the beautiful mall where she worked. She also showed the sights of interest in Bismarck-museums, the city and other things. There were a lot of mosquitoes there. We stayed a couple of days visiting her. Then we headed south to Spearfish, South Dakota.
South Dakota
We went to see my sister, Fern, in Spearfish. She had a stroke and was 83 years old and in a convelescent home. She couldn't walk and was in a wheelchair. Ken came to eat with her at every meal. She has lost a lot of weight and was pretty weak. When I first saw her I didn't recognize her. She is still very beautiful. We had a good visit there with her. We stayed in a beautiful trailer park in Spearfish. While we were there we left the trailer at the park and went sightseeing. We went to Sturgis where they have a gigantic motorcycle rally there with thousands of motorcycles. Then we went to Mount Rushmore. While we were there looking at Mount Rushmore there was a gigantic rainstorm and we got soaked before we could get back to the truck. We went to Crazy Horse Mountain to see how much they had done to it since we last saw it. It will be four times larger than Mount Rushmore. It will be 3 dimensional-the back will be carved also. It was all being paid for by private donations. The original carver and his family are in charge of all the work. It will really be impressive when it is finished many years from now. Then we headed back to Oregon.
Idaho
We went south in Idaho and took a scenic road we had never been on. It followed a river. The road department had put drainage pipes across the road about every hundred feet. They made bumps in the ground and it was terrible for miles to slow down and go over them. We went down the western part of Idaho.
We drove to Payette Lake and it reminded us of Lake Tahoe with beautiful homes all around. Then we went across to Ontario to head across Oregon and home.
Oregon
We went from Ontario to John Day Valley. we had never been there before. They had pretty colored cliffs on each side of the road. We went to the John Day fossil beds where they had a museum that had all kinds of fossils. It was really interesting. Then we went to Bend and on south to our ranch in Trail.
It was a long and fun trip. Our dog, Oso, was great on the trip. He rode in the back seat of the truck when we traveled. At night he slept in his dog bed underneath our bed in the trailer.
I started to put in the garden as soon as we got home. It was back to work.
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