TwoMaineiacs
Near Freeport, Maine
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Joined: 04/08/2006
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Saturday, May 31st
Picture perfect day with blue, blue sky and bright white clouds drifting along like puff balls. No storms in sight but the fields were flooded in many places with tiny corn plants under water. The work the farmers do to plant every square inch available is amazing. What cannot be planted is left in cover for the field creatures and to act as erosion control.
We spent most of the day in Amana, Iowa walking around a town with no commercial blight, clean, friendly, lots of perennial gardens in bloom. We visited the butcher, baker and the candle stick maker plus the quilt shop, the woolen mill, the micro brewery, the general store and a couple of barns. This is one of four colonies founded by the Germans in the 1800s. The buildings are mostly made from sandstone and hand planed wood beams. I'd recommend a visit to this town as long as you aren't looking for a theme park experience.
Instead of heading north from Amana up to Route 20 and across Iowa to Sioux Falls and then over to Rapid City, SD, we cut over on I-80 to the Loess Hills Scenic Byway which parallels I-29 south to north. Loess is the remnants of the ice age rock debris that has been ground into gravel and sand and pushed into hills by the Missouri River. The flood plain of the river is many miles wide and ends at the pushed up hills which look like sand covered with some vegetation.
We're camped for the night at the Preparation Canyon State Park which is sort of near Moorhead, Iowa. I'm uploading this thanks to a camper with an air card. We don't get far from our technology do we? 80F at 8:30PM Central time. Doesn't get this hot in Maine on July noon.
Tomorrow we head up to Sioux City to catch Route 20, not an interstate but a country road through Nebraska and then north to Murdo, South Dakota where we will get on I-90 over to Rapid City. Looking forward to the Journey Museum and the Sioux Indian Museum. We'll then go to Mount Rushmore and camp after in Custer State Park. I want to wake up and look out the window at buffalo!
Anne and Joe
2011 Chalet Double Slide on a 2010 Ford F-350 Diesel DRW
On the Road Again from Rural Maine
Our travel blog with photos
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pjay9
Tacoma, WA
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Joined: 04/30/2002
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This sounds like a great trip. Rememeber us in the Pac NW, there is an invite here in Tacoma as well, power, water and sewer, if needed.
Now, want to know about the TOMATO SOUP CAKE!!! Pray TELL! Have a safe trip and hope to meet you. Capt PJ
2005 Lance 1161 2004 Dodge CTD 3500 Dually 2009 Raider 185 Pro Fish 90hp Yamaha
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routeforty
ohio
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Joined: 12/26/2006
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Keep those pics comin'-an occasional one with your TC in a nice parking place would be great too.  Gary
'05 chevy 3500, duramax, allison, '00 Coachmen Futura 2790 TT, 35th anniversary edition, 05 lance 1130-stable lift
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petekerwien
Camano Island, WA
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Joined: 06/28/2007
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The next best thing to being on the road...following your trip! Keep the photos and stories coming!
* This post was
edited 05/31/08 10:30pm by petekerwien *
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silversand
Montreal
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Joined: 09/12/2004
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Anne & Joe:
Nice in-progress travelogue! I'll do the "Heading out part I, II" and Heading back part 1, II" thing and get it into TR, giving it that "live report" feel.
Cheers,
Silver-
Silver
2004 Chevy Silverado 2500HD 4x4 6.0L Ext/LB Tow Package 4L80E Michelin AT2s| Outfitter Caribou
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FarcticOx
NH or somewhere else
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Anne & Joe,
We just got back from a long weekend in the White Mountains with Rhode Trip and Phil Slocum and so have just caught up with your travels so far. Sounds great, wish I was going to Custer SP with you. I can't wait to see the picture of Anne and her first Bison.
Many safe and happy (though expensive) miles
Ted
FarcticOx
Run Silent, Run Deep
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2003 F350 Diesel DRW.
2005 Arctic Fox B1150 solar powered dry camper.
220 Watts Solar, 2 300AH 6 volt AGMs, Yamaha EF1000iS Generator
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TwoMaineiacs
Near Freeport, Maine
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Joined: 04/08/2006
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Ted and the other New Englanders - would be fun to have company! Did sight a bison today but too far away to get a really good look. By tomorrow night they should be "ho-hum" I thought of you and Cheryl today and wondered just how far up into the Badlands you two would have hiked! Here's what we did today:
June 1st
What a truly amazing country the USA is. Neither of us has ever traveled west and it is quite the journey. Today we left Iowa and took Route 20 from Sioux City over into Nebraska. Talk about the heartland of farming - mile after mile of huge farms, cornfields, and
cattle feed lots which you could smell a long time after you passed them. North we then went on small roads from 81 to 18 to 281 to cross into South Dakota and finally to I-90. In Chamberlain, SD we stopped at an Information Center which also was an interpretive center for part of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Good artifacts and a lot of decorative panels added to the interest.
All along I-90 there are places where the earth just drops away in the
distance and all you see is a curve with sky and a thin line where
the land just stops. We'd never been in a place that you couldn't see something in the distance. We're very curious as to where all the cattle are that should be grazing the pastures. Yes there are a lot of
beef cattle but the land is so vast there surely could be more.
The weather radio sounded an alert just as we were getting a bit anxious of a huge thunderstorm ahead of us as we neared the Badlands. Did we feel it could be a tornado? No but what do we know! NOAA put out an alert for a severe hail/thunderstorm but fortunately it passed to our south.
and gave us a bright rainbow over the Badlands
We kept thinking of the pioneers walking across this land and coming upon the Badlands as a barrier to progress.
Fortunately the Badlands don't go as far north/south as a big mountain range but the sinking feeling seeing that range must have been a real downer. We walked out on three separate trails into the Badlands, each quite different in geological features. Many rabbits and ground squirrels but fortunately no rattlesnakes though there were many warning signs. It is a lot hotter than our normal New England and this is still the cool side of a western summer.
Tonight we are in a campground near Interior, SD so we can catch up on laundry, internet and a rest time. Tomorrow we go up to Rapid City to several museums and then to find a camp spot inside of Custer State Park. Let the buffalo begin!
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FreeLanceing
Grand Haven Mi
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Joined: 11/23/2007
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Great photo's, I hunt pheasents along 90 between 281 and Chamberlin. I went 4 times last year. I never get used to the vastness of the prarrie country. At least in the fall the sunsets are unbelievable and I see twice as many stars. I think that smog from Chicago and Millwakee filters my air a bit. I did not know there was a campground near Interior. If you have time go to Hill City and ride the train. When in the hills watch for tunnels, low bridges, and the wildlife. I wish I were going again I can relive the adventure on my 19 inch. Happy travels and take your time.
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skipbee
Glen Arm,Md. 21057 USA
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Your reporting is so good, makes us want to fire up the rig and follow in your wake. I spent three good years at SAC Headquarters at Omaha and remember the area fondly .We enjoyed a long stop at the original Cabellas, on your present route, in central SD. They have free camping in the parking lot. Also I remember a TC height problem on a tunnel in the Mt. Rushmore area maybe on route to Custer SP. We camped in Roosevelt SP in ND with Bison around the TC like the ponies at Assateague, it was not tempting to get up close and personal with the buffalo. Happy Trails
skip
skipbee
2004 F350 Diesel CC SRW 19.5" Rikson W/T 4WD
2005 Lance 1121 well found.
12' Porta-Bote alongside
All that glitters is not gold. All who wander are not lost. See us on YouTube" Living the Lance Life" 3 of 4.
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headinsouth
St Mary's, Maryland
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Joined: 11/17/2003
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Your trip sounds great. We had actually planned to be out that way during this time too but due to having to install a new bathroom.. We are now planning this trip for a few years from now.. If we can get fuel that is! Enjoy seeing the west.. we can't wait to get there.
We are in Southern Maryland and I'm sure you won't be in this part of the country on this trip.. But if you should get this way, we have power and water and there is a place to dump that is close by. Making a network of places to overnight across the country would sure cut down on camping expense. So count me in. If you or others need an overnight in Southern MD.. drop me a line! maybe with the help of others, we can afford to go out west sometime too. Have a great and Safe Trip.
Daryl & Barbara & Timmy (RIP Buddy)
Navy Chief Ret. St Mary's City, Maryland
2006 Dodge Ram 3500 DRW 4x4, "The Cannonball",
2008 Lance 981 Truck Camper "The Dodge Lodge"
2009 Montana 3665RE 5th wheel, "The Shady Rest" Lookin for Hooterville!
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