It's a Wrap!

In closing.....

There are always funny things that happen on trips and always issues you could have done without.

Some of the funny:

1. Thinking the smoke we saw in Yellowstone was a fire.  There were many areas we had driven through on the way to the campground that were recovering from the wildfires in recent years.  Oh how we laughed at ourselves when we realized it was steam and smoke from the multitudes of underground geysers and cauldrons!

2.  In the Grand Canyon we had no hookups so there was no furnace to heat the trailer.  We piled on the blankets and a quilt and stayed really cozy in our bed at night with the 3 dogs.  On Monday morning, the 25th, Jim asked me " dena, do have enough cover?" And I sleepily said yes, barely awake enough to hear him.  Then he said. "Are you sure you are warm enough?" 

Again I said uh-huh, without opening my eyes or turning over.  Then he said "look over here". When I turned over, he had no cover at all and I had a huge mound of blankets, etc for me and the dogs!  It was 6 in the morning and after laughing our butts off at the sight, we were both awake for the day.

3. When we made the reservation for the Black Hill campground, she informed us it was Sturgis week, but that the folks who camp in her park are always very polite and observant of the quiet hours.  Also, that the town of Sturgis is about 90 minutes from her.  Sounded like there would be no problem avoiding the melee of the Sturgis rally.  Well.....a good 150 miles out, there were multitudes of bikers!  They clearly owned every little town within probably that 150 mile radius.  To be on the safe side we decided to go ahead and fill up the tank with diesel before getting to the camp site area.  At every station we tried, there were easily 40 to 50 bikers crammed in and just sitting on their bikes and hanging out.  We went into the town of Custer about 8 in the evening that night and finally got fuel.  The bikers were probably busy eating and drinking by then. Lol!

4.   Those of you who know me rather well, know that I like to be prepared for anything.  I was expecting COLD weather! Even packed ear muffs and gloves.  Hahaha!  Never used those and only wore my jacket once.  Other times, a hoodie was all we needed and Jim wore shorts the whole time, pulling on his hoodie in the late afternoons.  Overall the highest temp was probably 72 and 41 for a low.  When it would warm into the high 50's, it felt warm to us.  Had some showers from time to time but only once did the showers interrupt our plans for the day.

5.  What seemed to become my obsession with photographing bison.  I have hundreds of shots!

The favorites:

In the final analysis, there is no way to choose a favorite.  Each place had its own personality and beauty.  We marveled at how different the landscape was on all the driving days.   Places we've never been or seen before.

The states: 

Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Idaho, Utah, Arizona.

Total miles traveled:

4555

In the end, I'm not going to bore you with the road back home.  Lots of miles.  The truck aka "the beast" and the trailer performed great.  We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to see more of this great country and the chance to share a bit of it with all of you.  Thanks for following along.

We will be planning another adventure soon.  We are already making our list of potential destinations.  Stay tuned until next time.