ROAD TRIP!!!! Michigan Here We Come

Just woke up from our nap. Time to put the slide back in make sure everything is off in the camper. Pack all the dogs and cat in the truck with all we are taking. Idiot check time.

Dogs.....check

Cat.....check

Totes....check

Tools....check

wallet......check

ourselves....check haha

Looks like we got on the road at the time we wanted. I am not a night driver but I napped longer so I will drive for 100 miles or so let Todd grab some shut eye and then he will take over. 

Woo hoo.... we are not longer in South Dakota anymore. We are trucking along making really good time and WOW our gas mileage is so good I forgot how nice it is not filling up the gas tank what feels like every 100 miles lol...

We get to Wisconsin and Todd pulls into an rest stop. Stopping for a nap, its about 3 am at this time we have been driving since 9 pm roughly. Sleeping in a truck with 3 dogs and cat who are hyper because they have been sleeping the whole night is tough. Cosmo wanted to bark at everything but hey I guess I feel safe knowing nothing can come within 100 ft of my truck without Cosmo barking at them. 

Wake up at 8 am, get out to go use the bathroom. As I was walking in everyone is staring at me and I was beginning to wonder if I didn't have pants on or something. I get in the bathroom and realized why everyone was looking at me I have bright blue hair HAHA I forget all the time. Walking back to the truck I tell myself "I ll change in the camper and brush my teeth" WAIT....... we do not have the camper with us. I did not realize how weird it would feel not pulling the camper behind us. 

The drive was fairly easy and uneventful, (thank god), except for when we were driving through construction city, oh I mean Chicago. Unfortunately its not easy to get to Michigan from the northwest without driving around that toll ridden city. so add 3 hours to our trip...ugh.

We have arrived at Todd's dad's house on a lake in Hastings,MI and boy is it beautiful here. We are staying in his camper it is smaller then ours with no slides, but the bathroom is bigger, thats a win. We get the dogs all set up and go say hi to everyone give hugs since we have not seen them in like 4 years. Now time to go get set up in the camper. Tons more storage in here WOW I could fit all my clothes and shoes in here :-) it is going to take some getting used to living in someone elses camper after living in ours all this time. We are very grateful they are letting us stay here Todd will be doing some carpentry and electrical work for them while we are here.

For now time to sit back and watch the lake AHHH I could get use to waking up every morning sitting on this deck and watching the lake. 

Storing the 5th Wheel for a two week break

We are always spontaneous we are heading to our next destination and we have decided that we are going to store the camper for a few weeks and head to Michigan to visit family and friends for a few weeks.

We drive straight through on the day we left and made it all the way to Sioux Falls,SD and we have stopped for the night at a little campground for $15 with passport america. SCORE!!! they also allow you to store the camper for $1.00 a day and we get to keep electricity on for the fridge you can not get any better then this. 

It is a tight little spot we are in but it is the best because we have all the shade LOL... it took us a few tries to get the 5th wheel in there with enough room to open our slide for the night. Finally we get it in the spot just right we think...Cross you fingers I am going in to open the slide......AH HA.... slide is open and it could not have been any closer LOL damn we are good at this :-) 

Now time to get the dogs out of the truck and give them some outside time because they have so much energy from being the good little travelers they are and sleeping all day. Of course the cat is always happy when she gets to explore the outside as well. We keep her litter box outside in the dog cage covered when she wants to go out we take her outside just like the dogs and she does her business and she never tries to jump out or run away she is a good kitty girl. 

As we are sitting here at 8 pm at night we decided that it would be rushing to pack our stuff tonight and leave tomorrow morning.We are going to stay an extra day and leave at night tomorrow night that way we will miss Chicago's rush hour traffic and get to Michigan in the afternoon. We will pack all our stuff tomorrow afternoon take a nap around 4 pm and we will leave around 8 pm. 


For now time to just relax!!

Ending Our Time in South Dakota's Black Hills

Summer is nearing the end and we never want to see it go we are leaving South Dakota onto our next destination. The campground we worked at is gorgeous and centrally located to all the fun things to do in that area. As far as working there BEWARE.... there are tons of places to work in the black hills area and that's all I will say because I am a positive person ;-)

Of all the things we have done here I wish I would have saw the Badlands but we did not have time and there is always another trip I can see it in. Pictures will not do this area justice you really have to see it with your own eyes. I wish you all could have saw it through my eyes I think the whole time I spend there every corner we turned I was in awe. I had never been to this part of the country until now and I do not want to leave it is so beautiful here!!!

The cave systems are amazing and informative, the hiking here is  adventurous and there are some leisure walks/hikes as well some of the best hiking we have done. The views are breath taking, the terrain is different almost every road you hop on, Devils Tower and Harney peak where the best thing we did in my opinion. If you ever get a chance to spend sometime in the black hills with kids or without i highly suggest that you take at least two weeks there are so many things to do, see and experience that any less then two weeks you will be leaving saying I wish we had more time!!!

This was the best summer ever so far of our full-timing adventure and we are hooked up and on our way to our next destination a few weeks early......

Devils Tower in Wyoming

It's our first day off is in 10 days because the 75th annual Sturgis rally was going on and 1.2 million bikers were expected to descend on the black hills area. we definitely knew it would be hard to get around with all the bikes being on the road so we decided to stick around the campground and be safe. On our first day off we decided to head to Wyoming and see Devils Tower.

It is amazing how the terrain changes from one state to another in an instant. We are not in the black hills anymore you can see for miles and miles it is so flat and green. Tons of cows, little did I know the Wyoming is beef country lol...Me never being up to this region of the country my jaw is dropped and I just can not stop taking pictures I wish I could post them all on here but once I get to my next destination hopefully I will have better internet connection to be able to post them all. 

We are getting close so I should be able to see it ahhhhhh...... it is amazing I am in total awwww STOP... there is a pull off perfect time to use the selfie stick..yes I said selfie stick it is perfect for a couple who wants pictures of each other together instead of handing you phone to some stranger and ask the to take a picture and then when you get to look at the picture they took, your heads are cut off.  hahaha amazing pictures are to come with Todd and I for a change not just me alone and Todd alone LOL...

The drive up to the tower I guess Todd and I both had the same idea of what we thought it was going to look like. Desert like terrain but it totally was not it was lush green terrain, reds and browns to compliment the tower its self it was just so amazing. 

We finally find a parking spot beware it is super busy and finding a parking spot is tough but they do have RV parking in case you do not have a car and you are traveling this is a must see place if you ask me...

It is $10 to get into the park, driving up and we pull over we are in prairie dog town. There are prairie dogs everywhere they are so used to people that you can walk up to them and they will pose for a picture I have tons of cute pictures. They ask that you not feed them or approach them and try to pick them up. Remember it is their town so drive slow so you do not harm them and enjoy them they are so cute!!!!  

Todd and I are ready to take the walk around the tower and we walk up on the start of the walk around and see a sign that says "climbing above the rock line requires registration" HMMM... we both look at each other........ what better way to see the tower them to climb up to the base of it. Up the rocks we go!!!! the rocks that we are climbing up are loose and it is just a huge area of rocks that take you up to the base of the tower. The rocks used to be the face of devils tower at one point. It is like a maze to figure out the best way to get to the top it was a blast.... I followed Todd and he was making it challenging for me to follow him but you only live once so go for it I said.... I had to stop and turn around and look out and I could not believe my eyes I was up so high and I could see for miles all I could say was "WOW" "This is amazing" I have to admit I was a little scared at first but there is no one else I would ever do this with. Finally we made it to the point were we could not climb anymore with out actually going up the tower vertical and believe me if we were more experienced and had the proper gear we would have continued. 

We sat at the top and I still can not believe that I did that and the views are amazing. sometimes you just have to stop and look at your surrounding and remember that life is amazing!!! and it is what you make it, so make it what you want and do not let anyone hold you back from it. I take some pictures while up there all the people at the bottom are starring and pointing .. its a shame that they will never get to see what we did because they did not make the climb. I Skype my mother and grandmother to show them the amazing views and what crazy thing I did. They always get a kick out of everything we do and my grandmother always says "you better be careful" and I love her for caring and as always we are careful. 

After a drink of water and more pictures, we pick our path down, which is different them the way up, since it is such a big area to climb in and we head down the rocks. I have to say the shoes that I had on were not the best for climbing anything, a tad slippery so going down the rocks and navigating is tough. Of course I am challenged by Todd and his route down and I go for it. I second guess myself sometime but he always reassures me that he would never give me something to do if he didn't think I could do it safely...thats why I love him so much. Down at the bottom I turn around and look up and it is crazy that we just climbed that. This in my opinion is something that everyone must see when in the area. Pictures do not do this place justice you have to see it with you own eyes to see the beauty. 

1880's Train Ride From Hill City To Keystone

It a cool day for a train ride and 1880's train that is. Got to the train station about an hour early and there was already a huge line waiting for the train at 10 am wow. Got our tickets and of course since we are VIP pass holder we get the train ride for free we saved $56.00 who doesn't like free stuff lol...

The train has arrived and they have to disconnect the engine and go to the water tower and fill up it is a steam engine very very cool. All aboard who's going aboard so lets go...... We decided that we were going to ride on an open air train i think it is better for all the pictures. The car that we sat in happened to be a old caboose car that was converted into a passenger car.  They also have a car that is completely enclosed but the windows will open if you would like they have a car that you can roll down plastic window coverings

what's that I hear horn sounds and we are ready for take off this is exciting.

This is one of the steepest railroads in the US you do not really get up to a high speed it is a nice leisure ride through the hills it takes about an hour and there are no bathrooms on the train so make sure you use them at the train station. There is a lady that will walk through the train and take pictures of you and your party and super impose you in front on the  1880's train or Mount Rushmore we did not do it but we saw people getting them done a little pricey for me $20.00 a picture. The guides on the train give you information about the black hills and the sites that you will see along the way at one point you can get a really good picture of Harney Peak.

Wildlife is everywhere deer,beavers, chipmunks etc.... Also you get to feel like royalty for the day as you cross over the roads people will stop and wave and of course you wave back. Half way through the ride a concessions person came by and sold snacks, drinks and popcorn. I would personally buy your drink before getting on the train it's $1.50 for a can soda snacks and reasonably priced though.

We are about to pull into Keystone the last horn will sound and that is when you are safe to stand up get off and explore Keystone and if you are going right back to Hill City you will get a 15 bathroom break and back you go.