South Dakota--Gunslingers and "bad land"

The wind finally died down enough for us to make it to South Dakota. The first thing we did was head to Crazy Horse Memorial, which was by far more impressive then Mount Rushmore which we saw real quick afterward. The actual memorial isn't anywhere near completed yet, but is still a work in progress. The original sculptor has passed away, but luckily 7 out of 10 of his children and his wife have continued his dream.

Mt Rushmore was mush smaller in scale then Crazy Horse. We payed our $10 for parking, and walked up to take a picture, and that's about it. It was very unimpressive compared to Crazy Horse.

After Mt. Rushmore, we finally headed to Deadwood. We stayed at a campground right in town, so we could walk to town. The town of Deadwood (in case you haven't seen the show--which was awesome--to bad they cancelled it), was a wild west town founded by folks looking to make their fortune in panning for gold. The famed "Wild Bill" Hickock and Calamity Jane where infamous inhabitants. We got to see the bar where Wild Bill was assassinated, and their museum in town was interesting. Today Deadwood is like a minature old west Vegas. Casinos line the main street amoung the saloons and hotels. We hiked up to the cemetary where Wild Bill, Calamity Jane, and the sherriff Seth Bullock were buried. That was definitely a bit eery as it was cloudy and it even started hailing on us. So we took off after a nice lunch in town to head towards the Badlands.

A trip to the badlands would not be complete without a stop at Wall Drug, which was as silly as I thought it would be. There were many "Jackalope" souviners amoung other sily South Dakota trinkets.

We arrived at the Badlands late, so we set up camp and hiked them the next morning on the way out of town. One of the trails went up a steep formation and we had to use a ladder to make it to the top, where the view was amazing! After a good hike, we were on the road again to head towards Wisconsin to see my friend Allison...

A little bit of Colorado, and old friend, and some fierce wind

After Moab, Utah, we decided to head up to Steamboat Springs, Colorado--where an old friend of mine lives. I haven't seen her in at least a decade (wow, feeling older) and it was kinda on the way. Amy recommended a great campground in Stagecoach State Park around the corner from where she lives. So Zach and I got a great site right on the lake. After work, she come to hang out with us by the campfire--it was great catching up!

The next day we all went on a mountain bike ride along the lake before we took off, which was beautiful. We planned on hauling ass up Wyoming to Deadwood, SD, but unfortunately, the wind decided to gust up to 60 mph! The RV does NOT like this, nor did we and we had to stop tonight...only 60 miles shy of Deadwood. It took us 4.5 hours to go 150 miles, as we can only do about 40 in this kind of wind--otherwise the RV gets flung to the side.

Oh well, Deadwood, SD, mt rushmore, and crazy horse tomorrow!

Moab, Utah...

Wow, where to begin. I would've posted earlier, but our Internet wasn't working so great in Moab. Moab is exactly what I wanted to experience in terms of desert landscape. The red rock and arched were amazing! Saturday we went to Arches National Park to see the arches and do some hiking. The hike up to Delicate Arch was beautiful and well worth the steep climb up a rock face.

Moab is famous for off-roading and mountain biking. We camped in the Sand Flats which had incredible panoramic views all around--it was by far the most beautiful campsite yet! On Sunday, we decided to do what seemed very popular in this area--off-roading! We rented a beefed up Jeep Wrangler and tore ass on Potash trail, but we didn't realize that we would have to literally drive up a canyon on a small winding road--that was a terrifying 30 minutes for me. But the view once we reached the top of Canyonland Park was worth it!

We planned on hitting the famed SlickRock Mountain biking trail afterwards, but we didn't even make it to the practice loop after realizing that this trail was for hard core mountain bikers. Both Zach and I are a bit clumsy and did not feel like falling and sliding down 50 ft. of rock...ouch. So we thought it best to go back to the campsite and exercise our left and right arms...drinking beers.

I hope you enjoyed all the pictures, we couldn't take enough at this beautiful place.

Not Just Potatoes...

We came into Idaho expecting to pass through the en route to Yellowstone with out much event, but we did plan on visiting Craters of the Moon National Monument. Craters of the Moon is a giant lava field that tends to erupt every 2,000-4,000 years. It was fun to hike around the trails and all, but there were gusting cold winds. After climbing a large "cinder cone" where we were nearly blown off and exploring some caves we were ready to head off.

I had seen an add somewhere (where, I can't recall...) about Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. A small town of 5,000 in southeast Idaho--apparently they're famous for naturally occurring hot mineral water springs. The town runs hot mineral springs pools...for $6 a person.

Zach and I started our night at a place called the Blue Moon Bar and Grill. Having a burger and a few beers here gave us a glimpse of the real Idaho locals. Good beer on tap (Oregon is still close..) and cheap eats and live music, usually on the weekends. We happened there on a Thursday, where people from all over town come in to drink and jam together. They gather together in on half of the bar and pass instruments around and play/sing a variety of music--from country, old timey bluegrass to classic rock. We decided to come back after hitting the natural baths in town.

Unfortunately, we also learned that we had to change our plans for our trip. Originally we planned to head to Yellowstone National Park the next day, but the forcast was not in our favor. With daytime temperatures only in the high 30's and lows in the teens, the roads would not be good for the RV. So we must return someday in the summer to get milder weather...

so we deciding to go back to the desert! We're heading to the Moab, Utah to go to Arches National Park...and whatever else we can come up with before heading back northeast!

Rain, Mico Brews, Rain, Waterfalls, and more rain

It rains in the Pacific Northwest in case you didn't know. It has been raining for one week, since we hit the northwest coast of California! Oh well, that's how they roll in Oregon. But I must say that it does have an amazingly beautiful coast. It really reminded me of the movie Goonies for some reason...in the picture above where I'm pointing, can't you tell I can practically make out where One-Eyed Willie's ship came out of that cave?

Our main goal was heading to Portland, OR to see an old fraternity friend of Zach's. We took the coast route until we heard a forecast the proclaimed a "special wind event"--to define that in Oregon terms, that would be gusting winds up to 70 mph, fuckin' event indeedely-do. So we went to some Sea Lion caves on the coast and got the hell outta there right afterwards. If you haven't driven an RV before, it's like driving a billboard--25mph gusts will move your shit a few feet sideways if you don't have a death grip on the wheel.

Portland is a rockin city--I highly recommend going if you like beers, I like beers. Zach's friend Ken and his lovely girlfriend Jennifer were wonderful hosts. They took us to some great drinking spots--Henry's 12th Street Tavern (over 100 taps!) and Deschutes Brewery. Both were awesome, but Deschutes made a Belgian brew that was 9.5% alcohol and was named "Streaking The Quad"--which ensued many quotes from Old School out of us and the bartender. They also have a beer called Mirror Mirror that has 11.5% alchol, so this place is good if you like bang for your buck buzz wise. We also had the pleasure of meeting Jen's bird Pico, who was really cute and entertaining.

After sleeping off the beers of the night before, we headed to the Columbia River Gorge along the historic Columbia River Highway. We stopped several times to check out the falls and take some hikes.

So that's all for now, we're currently in Fruitland, Idaho enroute to Yellowstone in Wyoming. We plan on hitting up Crater Moon National Monument on the way!

Going to California...

I went dark for a while....sorry about that. My laptop is having issues, making blogging a bit difficult. But It seems to be working now, so I'll update y'all.

We visited our friends in Venice Beach--didn't take any pictures, this was kind of a break from the RV trip. We drank, made merry and that's about it ;). Venice Beach, Playa Del Rey, and Santa Monica are most definitely different from the LA that I know. There was much more of a chill, bohemian vibe going--which was welcomed. I admit, when I think of LA, I think of all the cheesy celebrity this and that-Venice Beach was a great place to hang out.

Next we headed up the CA coast and stopped at the Hearst Castle, then hit the 17 mile scenic drive in Carmel. Then we hopped over to wine country, hooray! Wine country is absolutely beautiful--the vines, the hills, the wine! We played it safe and hired a driver--which rocked as they were having discounts--so we were able to get a limo which was fun. After that we actually treated ourselves to dinner out and a wonderful French restaurant-Angele.

What stuck with me the most was the drive from Napa on Rt. 128 back to the coast. It wound throught the hills/mountains after taking us through Napa county into Sonoma country. Wine country just aches to be driven through if you have the chance.

The last big thing to do in California...the redwoods! Unfortunately it rained this part of the trip, but that's okay--the rain actually made the forest quite enchanting. I half expected fairies and knomes to come out of the forest. I had seen the redwoods before, but Zach had not--and we both were in awe. They are larger than life and make for an amazing hike through the forest. We camped in the Humbolt Redwoods state park--among the redwoods, which would've been a lot cooler if it wasn't pouring so we could make a fire.

Whew--so that was California. We're currently in Heceta Beach, Oregon--on our way to Portland, OR.