September update -- and on the road again . . . .

I know its been a long time since we've settled down and updated this site, and we apologize.  It took a week or so to recover from the crush of the Sturgis Rally, then beautiful fall weather settled in and the park was very busy over Labor Day weekend (and it impacted us even more since a number of the seasonal staff had left) and we were running everywhere.  We were decompressing from that and realized that we had only a little time left in the Black Hills, so our days off were spent hitting the sights that we had not managed to see.  At the same time, we got wrapped up with getting things ready to hit the road (which can be a bit of a task if you've been sitting for 3-4 months).
In any event, we've left the Black Hills and are on the road again, on our way to Red Bay, Alabama (where our Tiffin motorhome was built) to get some service done, and some warranty items taken care of.  But, before we get into that, here are a couple of the highlights of the last month at Custer State Park ------

My brother Tom and his girlfriend Trish came up from Boulder, CO in late August to spend a few days in the Black Hills.  We had a great time with them showing them the area and visiting some of the attractions that we had not seen yet.
Tom and Trish visiting us at one of the entry gates 









Clowning around at the fish hatchery in Spearfish












Mandy snapped this one while we were looking at a classic fish boat from Yellowstone which is on display at the Spearfish hatchery





We also took the opportunity to go to the Wild Horse Sanctuary south of the Black Hills with Al and Claire on one of our last days off, and had a great time taking the tour and seeing the wild horses that are being taken care of on this 14,000 acre ranch.
Looking down from a ridge above the Wild Horse ranch along the Cheyenne River







Some of the wild horses that are being cared for here . . .

About the same time, Mandy had her 62nd birthday, and of course you know that means her eligibility for the NPS Senior Pass.  Here she is proudly getting her "old folks card"  at the local Forest Service Office in Rapid City.








Our seasonal tour of duty was over at Custer State Park as of the 16th, and so the rest of our time during the early part of September was spent taking care of all of the things we needed to do to get checked out and to get the motorhome (and us) ready for some time on the road.  We left Custer and headed east on I-90 on Saturday the 19th with no real schedule other than our appointment in Red Bay starting on October 7. 




We spent our first night in Mitchell, SD at the Cabela's store, and then went downtown and toured the famous Corn Palace before we left.  They were having a weekend Polka Festival, and, since it was Sunday, we happened upon an interesting midwest phenomenon -- a Polka Mass.  Not one of our bucket list items, but it was unique . . . . .


After looking at the maps as we approached Sioux Falls, we decided to head further east than we'd anticipated, and visit Wisconsin -- we wanted to spend some time with a number of our friends from Yuma who are from the area, and are there for the summer.  We arrived in Wausau, WI on late Monday and have had a great time being tourists, and cycling and visiting with our good friends Mark and Faye, Carl and Judy, and Tom and Carol -- as well as enjoying the outstanding Fall colors which are showing themselves all over the place.  We hiked up Rib Mountain, just west of Wausau, and Thursday dug out our bikes and did a great 40 mile "colorama ride" (as Mark puts it), seeing a lot of the area around Wausau and enjoying the wonderful fall weather and colors.
 

Visiting the Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota along the way








  
The "North Yuma Group" of the Yuma Foothills Bicycling Club enjoying a ride and the beautiful fall colors -- Tom, Judy, Pat, Carl, Mandy, Mark, and Greg -- (Faye took the picture)

 
Greg and Mark comparing their Merrills before the hike -- identical except for size (8 vs. 15) . . .











The North Yuma group upheld the tradition -- no bike ride is complete without a stop at a garage sale, a bit(?) of lunch, and an ice cream treat -- we had all three, in addition to our beautiful fall day in Wausau!!



As it looks right now, depending on the weather, we'll probably stay here until Saturday or Sunday (we're parked at the Marathon County park right in Wausau), and then began wandering south toward Alabama.  They have had a great fall up here, but it won't be long before the rains come and the temperatures begin to fall -- and we want to be out of here before that.  Fortunately, we'll get to take our time heading south as we still have a week and a half before our service appointment, and only about 800 miles to cover.  As of now we're thinking of spending a couple of days in the St. Louis area, and then following a non-freeway route through Tennessee to Red Bay -- we'll update our progress in a week or so.

Update:  We left Wausau on today (Saturday), as the weather was beginning to close in.  We're now parked at a Wal Mart in La Salle, IL (with excellent broadband internet reception) and looking at a forecast for good weather through the rest of the week.  We'll get down toward St. Louis tomorrow and then play tourist for a couple of days there.