Day 9 - Belvidere, South Dakota

We had thunderstorms all the night but woke up to a beautiful sunny morning.  Had a little further to travel today but it was beautiful driving ....the farmlands of South Dakota slowly turned into bigger rolling hills ...the terrain is now changing the closer we get to the Badlands.  We crossed the Missouri River which I wasnt expecting.  If I had paid attention in Geography class it probably wouldnt have been a surprise !!!!

I must say tho, if I never see another stalk of corn it will be too soon ....but FINALLY the acres and acres of corn gave way to beautiful fields of sunflowers.

Right up the road from our KOA campsite was a town called "1880 Town" ...with all the buildings from 1880 ....and a place where they filmed the movie "Dances with Wolves"

A wonderful place to explore.

On to Piedmont South Dakota which will be our base for the next 2 days while we explore Deadwood, and Mount Rushmore.

Happy Trails!! 

Day 8 - Sioux Falls/Mitchell South Dakota

We pulled out of Austin Minnesota a little earlier than usual as we were hoping to 1. beat the bad winds in South Dakota and 2. get to visit Mitchell to see the famous Corn Palace.  We accomplished both ...the rest of Minnesota was filled with rolling farmland and beautiful farms.
It's funny how you never hardly notice wind when driving in a car ....but when you are 13' high its a whole other issue ...luckily we got parked before the real wind began.  By the time we were heading in to Mitchell to see the Corn Palace (in the van) the winds were gusting up to 30mph ....

The Corn Palace was as amazing as everyone had told us ...made completely of ears and kernals of corn and some husks too ....spent a couple of hours in Mitchell and then headed back to Sioux Falls. 

We had heard that thunderstorms were expected tonight and sure enough we were on tornado watch for about an hour ...no tornado evolved but we had a heckuva thunderstorm ...lightening across the skies ....and a downpour ....





On to Belvidere South Dakota tomorrow ....

Happy Trails!!!!

Day 7 - Austin, Minnesota

We left Madison about 945 and knew we had a longer drive ahead of us ....heading to Austin Minnesota...but it was another beautiful sunny day but by 1 p.m. it was in the 90`s ....Wind picked up to 20 mph in Minnesota and made for a tougher drive.

The vast farmland of Minnesota was so lovely and the farms seemed to go on for miles.    Our KOA campsite this day was in the middle of cornfields....and not nearly as nice but will do and we could turn the air ...imagine air conditioning while camping .....ohhh the only way to go !!

Tomorrow we are on to Sioux Falls, South Dakota ...You Betcha !!! we are going to make it to South Dakota ....another KOA and closer to Mount Rushmore...I am so excited

Happy Trails

Day 6 - Chicago

WE broke camp in Indiana at 9:45 and had a wonderfully beautiful day to travel. Now today we had to maneuver around/through Chicago. Our plan was of course to go around it....and we had it all planned out ....but ...due to a navigational error (mine) we ended up driving through it ....What a nightmare ....a very interesting nightmare but I am sure Phil didnt enjoy it as much as I did through the camera lens ...as we sat in 5 lanes of stopped traffic ....and it was sooooooooooooo hot ....but we got through it and out the otherside unscathed ....drove across Illinois and paid $35 in Tolls ...and let me tell you ...they dont use the toll money to fix their roads ...omg ...things shook out of cupboards that had never moved before ....

This is Sears Tower in Chicago as we got up close and personal with it.

We arrived at our KOA in Madison Wisconsin about 3 p.m. finally off the Toll Roads ... a wonderful campground and even found cheese Curds ...have never seen them outside Canada ...they were pretty good but not even close to ours in Canada.

On to Austin Minnesota tomorrow ...Happy Trails!!

Day 3, 4 and 5 - Livonia, Michigan

We left Toronto and a great visit with Joel and headed to the U.S. via the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia Ontario, going over to Port Huron Michigan ...Now we chose this bridge because it is a quieter bridge than the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor and we had a good experience there on the way over to Canada in May ....but ......we were not so lucky on our way over to Michigan ...it was very  busy and we got in a line that was moving very slowly.  The customs agent was really asking every vehicle a lot of questions ...well at 1 p.m. they changed agents so I thought maybe we would get one that wasnt going to take so long ...Noooooo... he held the car up in front of us for at least 15 minutes...he went thru all of their luggage and then still pulled them over ...so I knew we were in for a grilling ....the "gentleman" asked the same old questions ...how do we know each other ....do I own a house in Canada ....does Phil have a place in Cali ...blah blah b lah ...then he came right into the RV ....and looked through everything ..every cupboard, fridge freezer ...but eventually he let us go ....maybe we will go back to Windsor next time !!!!!

Finally arrived at Mom and Ron's about 3 and had a wonderful visit with them until this morning when we headed out about 830 and headed to La Porte Indiana .

Another beautiful day to travel and entered Central Time at 1 p.m. so went back to 12 ....our campsite is small but very nice and the man who owns it brought us fresh tomatoes and peppers and to help ourselves to his cherry tomatoes in his garden ...gee ...you dont get that too often ....

Will upload some photos tomorrow when I get to Madison Wisconsin and will have Wifi ...my internet stick is just too slow.

Happy Trails !!

Day 2 - Toronto Ontario Canada

It was a great travel day once we negotiated the dreaded Toronto traffic and after several miles of traffic coming from every which way we took off onto the Toll Road and the stress level dropped considerable.  Weather was perfect today ...bright sunny skies ...perfect temps ...

Joel joined us at the KOA campsite this afternoon and we enjoyed our evening and dinner out ...I wont see him till Christmas now so I was glad to have the time with him...we celebrated his September birthday a little early ...

On to the state of Michigan tomorrow and a visit with my folks ....but first we have to cross the border ....all 60 feet of us

Day 1 - Brighton, Ontario Canada

Well here we are at our first campground of many to come ....we had a good day ....but we did start it off in the rain and having to hook up the van to the RV ...in the rain....well I dont much like being wet ...but I had to help ...sooooooooooo we had bought ponchos for just this occasion ....so I opened up this lovely blue poncho to go help....I looked like mama Smurf ....but it kept me semi dry while we tied up the Van...now its been a few months since we had to do it ...but it came back to us and I guess it worked cause we didnt lose the van in Richmond or anything. 

It rained off and on through our drive but nothing that you would have to pull over for.   We didnt go too far today about 160 miles ...but good enough for our first day ...

There will be no photo today as I had the camera locked away from Phil in case he decided Mama Smurf needed her picture taken.

on to Toronto tomorrow and to see Joel

Happy Trails!!!

One More Sleep

Well here it is Sunday night and the RV is all packed and we are ready to go ....this is quite the Adventure we are taking and we are nervously excited about.  Will post pictures and try not to bore everyone as we travel west.

Happy Trails !!!