Tag Archives: Camping with kids

Over the Mountains

2 Replies

One day’s exposure to mountains is better than a cartload of books. – John Muir

We pulled in late Wednesday night. Also our campground’s wifi is super slow. So tonight I’ll be a day behind.

Day 6 – Over the Mountains

What I learned:

IMG_4950

My wife is not part of the Audubon society. Before we left the Black Hills, Jennifer was wondering what alarm was going off. It was loud and it happened at regular intervals. She didn’t believe it was a bird until I showed her. Noisy sucker.  If you want to hear it click HERE.

IMG_4973

11 hours with windy roads is harder that 14 hours with straight roads. The last bit of our treck was through Yellowstone. It is 2 lanes. Slower. Lots of cars. It winds. And it has some fun decents. I was exhausted by the time we got to our campsite.

Pull-through sites do not mean easy sites. I pulled into the site and realized one of my hoses didn’t reach. I corrected and realized my kitchen slide-out was too close to the picnic table. I moved, hooked everything up, and realized I couldn’t extend my awning because of a tree. Not a fun 20 minutes.

IMG_0272

IMG_0277

IMG_4963

IMG_4967

IMG_4965

IMG_0231

Pictures aren’t immersive. I realized that the reason a picture doesn’t communicate, is that it doesn’t show you what is on the left and on the right. It seems futile to try to explain to everyone how incredible the scenery is. Every time you turn a corner it is something new. Every bend in the road reveals some amazing formation. Every horizon holds a new treasure. And that was just on the road. It was amazing! Our favorite part of the drive was easily crossing the Bighorn Mountains. Majestic is a good adjective. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, you got to descend into an amazing canyon.

IMG_0222

IMG_0199

People get worked up over silly things. I was reading whether to use Hwy 14 over the Bighorns or Hwy 16. My initial research was avoid Hwy 14 because the descent can be treacherous. I had Jennifer look it up one more time just to make sure and she found a post of someone who claimed to be an experienced RVer griping about how Hwy 16 was so bad and that they would never do it again. I just didn’t see what the big deal was. And honestly I’m so glad I did it. It was breathtaking. You climbed this incredible ascent, into peaks, pine forest, and snow pack. Then on the way down it was a pretty smooth 6-7% grade. I barely had to use my brakes. I assume it all depends on your rig. If you have good exhaust or transmission braking you are fine. My Allison uses transmission braking and I rarely had to use my brakes. Very smooth ride. I checked and had 6.6 MPG at the top, 10.6 by the time I hit the bottom. Is it colder at the top. YES! I was a little too giddy the entire time. Honestly, the descent into Yellowstone was way more stressful. For some reason the National Parks don’t seem to think they need to put up a sign that says “Hey! Curves ahead!”

Taco Johns is not Taco Cabana. We saw a place called Taco Johns that claimed ‘West-Mex’ food. So we figured what the heck. Think Taco Bell and down grade it a bit. I wasn’t a fan. We miss Taco Cabana of Texas. It’s what Taco Bell could be.

IMG_0297

IMG_0296

IMG_0293

IMG_0290

Pictures don’t capture smell. I know I’ve said this before, but it becomes even more evident when driving into Yellowstone. Wyatt and Weston were bickering about who passed gas. Of course, it was the sulfur rising from the vents in the park.

IMG_4953

The land is VAST!!!  In Wyoming we saw beautiful mountains, a whole lot of nothing for a very long time, and then beautiful mountains again.  If you want to disappear off the face of the planet, move to Wyoming.

Lastly, GPS’s aren’t always so smart.  Mine refused to take us through Yellowstone.  Even halfway through the park it was trying to turn me around and route me up through Montana.  Finally it figured out what I was doing.

Route: Custer, SD to West Yellowstone, MT, via Hwy 16 and through Yellowstone

Campground: Grizzly RV Park

Time: Left 8:00AM CT.  Arrived 7:20PM MT 11Hrs 40Mins

It’s Only a 5% Chance

Leave a reply

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike. – John Muir

What I learned, day 5.

FullSizeRender 22 FullSizeRender 68

FullSizeRender 79

Sometimes things don’t go as planned.  Where do I start?  First, I was planning on doing Iron mountain highway because it has several amazing tunnels that frame up the faces of Mount Rushmore.  But they closed part of the road and cut off 2 of the 3 tunnels.  At least we got the first one in.  Then, we were going to do the needles highway on the way back.  Road construction prevented us from following our schedule and made us push it to the evening.  We did the Wildlife Loop.  Most of the wildlife was on a coffee break.  The biggest unforeseen was, well read on.

FullSizeRender 56 IMG_0124 IMG_0128

Mount Rushmore really is remarkable.  However, we felt it was ‘take a picture and go.’  We did watch a 15 minute film on how it was made.  But that was just to beat the heat.  It was so hot today!  We got our pictures and got back into the A/C.

FullSizeRender 21

Pictures are deceiving.  We may look like we are having fun.  But I think at this point we were all spent.  Too much in one day.  The ATV seemed like a good idea.  But after about 15 minutes, 20% of your hearing gone, and your face windburned, you realize you’d rather be in the air conditioned truck.  Great picture though.

FullSizeRender 57 FullSizeRender 69

5% chance of rain means that there could be rain, not there’s a 95% chance it won’t rain. After driving in the ATV through the Wildlife Loop, we headed into Custer to top off the tank and get a blizzard from the DQ.  I just happened to look out the window as I was throwing away some trash and said “We got’s to go now!”  There were dark clouds on the horizon.  Keep in mind, we have no windshield.  We have no doors.  We have no windows.  We only have a fabric roof.  And we are about 10 minutes from our campground.  About half way back it started hailing – little pea size hail.  Not that bad if you were looking out the window.  But not too pleasant if it is hitting you while you are doing 30 mph.  Ouch!  At least the kids had helmets.  The wind kicked up.  The rain started.  And I am sure the temp dropped from 85 to 65 in a hurry.  It was cold!  We could not stop laughing the entire way back.  Soaked to the bone we turned the heat on and let the kids eat dinner in their underwear.  Of course, none of this was in my spreadsheet.

IMG_0146 IMG_0147 IMG_0162

FullSizeRender 76 FullSizeRender 89

Needles highway is a must see.  I’m so glad we made ourselves go back out and see it.  The rock formations are unreal.  I have just too many pictures to post!  At one point I thought I was Matthew Mcconaugheyn a Lincoln commercial because we had a buffalo staring us down.

FullSizeRender 65 IMG_4825

You can’t take a picture of smell.  Pine.  Mist.  Streams.  Wildflowers.  Clean.  When we went through needles it had just rained.  It smelled amazing.  Too bad I can’t share that with you.

IMG_0109

FullSizeRender 13

Route/Itinerary: Custer State Park – Iron Mountain Hwy to Mt. Rushmore.  Wildlife Loop.  Needles Highway.

Bad ain’t so bad

1 Reply

What I learned:

IMG_0054

Sleeping in isn’t what it used to be. Last night I was tired. Jennifer was tired. The boys were tired. We hosed them down, put them to bed, and set no alarms. I mean, come on! Just the other morning we couldn’t get them up! Surely they’ll sleep in?  Nope. 6:30 rolled around and you could feel the camper moving. Its like a jungle gym to them. Another thing I learned is the tooth fairy visits you no matter where you are. We’ve told Weston there isn’t such a person, but he doesn’t care. He still pretends.

FullSizeRender 7

The National Parks system is such a gem.  Jennifer wondered allowed if people drive by what we are seeing everyday without thinking about it.  I’m sure they do because we do the same.  But if you have a chance, get to a National Park.  Go visit a memorial in DC.  Go to Shenandoah.  Go somewhere!  There is a National Park or Monument close to you. I’m sure of it.  And they are there for you to enjoy!  I think that is why I love Teddy Roosevelt so much.

IMG_0061

IMG_0074

IMG_0076

FullSizeRender 10

FullSizeRender 9

FullSizeRender 8

FullSizeRender 4

FullSizeRender 5

The Badlands aren’t so bad. It was really remarkable to be driving in such flat country, and to top a horizon with these formations in your view. I truly felt I was riding through an attraction created by Disney, but so much better. You could spend a day in there letting your kids climb everything in site.

FullSizeRender 2

FullSizeRender 6

Rattlesnakes are shy.  I was hoping to snap a picture of a rattlesnake, but they resisted. I did get a prairie dog. They were running around everywhere!

IMG_0107

IMG_0095

Everywhere is God’s country. I used to say Tennessee was God’s country because it is so beautiful. Everywhere I have driven has been just as beautiful. The Badlands? Their own unique beauty. Then drive into the Black Hills. They are simply breathtaking. Tomorrow is Mount Rushmore, Iron Mountain Highway, Needles Highway, and Wildlife Loop.

IMG_0105

Chevy makes a mean truck. Everyone thinks my truck is new. “Is that a 2013?” “Nice truck! Is it new?” Um…. No. Its not new. I bought it with 113,000 miles on it and it’s a 2008 Silverado 2500HD with a Duramax Diesel and Allison transmission. I put on some airbags myself for added support, brake controller, and the fifth wheel hitch. Today we crossed the 1700 mile mark for our trip and we did some serious climbing. Up, down, around, up again, turn the corner, transmission brake going down. The truck just kept taking it. My transmission got hotter than I’ve seen it at 195. But according Allison I have till 270 to get worried.

FullSizeRender 3

Boys will look at anything you ask them to and then some if you give them a pair of binoculars. They look at the hills. They turn around and look at the truck. The turn and look at each other. You want to keep your kids entertained, give them some binoculars.

Route: Kennebec, SD to Custer, SD via Badlands Loop Road

Campground: Custers Gulch RV Park (Spotty website)

Time: Left 9:18AM CT.  Arrived 2:30PM MT 6Hrs 12 Mins