Five Minutes Too Late

Thursday, November 8, 2012

On the road by 7 am and expecting a fairly long travel day, we made it even longer.

Our overnight at the rest area midway through Wyoming on I 80 was just what you would expect with quite a lot of traffic noise. We hit the road for a couple of hours before stopping for breakfast at Denny’s, and fuel for the trucks.

  There are not a lot of scenic wonders to enjoy along the way, so audio books keep the boredom down. About 220 miles down the road, we entered Utah, and a few miles later stopped at the Echo Canyon Information Center and rest area. The attendant there was a very nice little older lady who was happy to help us with stamps for our books. First the date had to be changed, and she fiddled with one while Fred changed another. When the one she was working on was ready, she gave it a trial stamp and found it was November 80. Try again. Now it should be correct, and the trial stamp revealed it was November 9. Okay, next time she did get it right. But like I said, she was very nice to talk with.

At this point we decided to just keep driving and get home today, saving the stamps at City of Rocks for another day. We could be home by 9 pm.

Another stretch at a rest area and we’re still tossing around the idea of going to City of Rocks, spend the night at the campground, and get on home Friday morning. Yep, we turned off I 84 towards Malta. It was 37 miles, not 60 mph road conditions, and a few minutes to 4. The VC closes at 4:30. Oh well, we’ll spend the night and get our stamps in the morning.

At 4:35 we arrive at the closed VC. One car is just leaving, and a young couple is searching the outside of the building for a water faucet to fill their bottles. City of Rocks is a very popular rock climbing area that we have previously visited – before starting our stamp collections!

Barney went to check, but it really was closed. He was talking to the young couple searching for water when the door opened and the ranger allowed them to get water and us to get our stamps! It was so nice of him. We mentioned we were going to the campground, and he said there would be several inches of snow in the area before morning, and since the campground is a little higher, maybe a little more there.

Another conference and we high tailed it out of the area before the snow could hit. Back on I 84, we trekked on home, still arriving about 9 pm, glad to be out of the weather!  (And by Friday morning we were hearing it was still snowing there, and travel hazardous, and in fact, Boise was also getting snow flurries – so thankful we came on home.)

The rock pads will be put away now awaiting our next journey. Thanks for travelling along.

Into Wyoming

Wednesday November 7, 2012

We were up fairly early in the Scott’s Bluff County Fairgrounds CG. A very busy rail line ran right next to the CG but believe it or not the trains didn’t bother us at all, even though they ran all night. Once in a while you would wake up and turn over then you would hear a train going through. We ate breakfast of eggs, biscuits and gravy with a little sauerkraut before leaving the CG.  The restrooms had a couple of shower stalls, but we didn’t try them. I don’t think they bothered to turn on the hot water heater for us! But it really wasn’t a bad place to stay.

We drove west on route 26 along the North Platte River and made out first stop of the day at the old Fort Laramie National Historic Site in Wyoming. We watched a video at the VC and collected 6 stamps for our passport books. The fort was originally a trading post then was taken over by the Army as a stop along the Oregon Trail, to provide security for the wagon trains and maintain contact with the Plains Indians. During the Civil War the Army shut it down and it was sold for $1400 and fell into disrepair. It was later purchased by concerned citizens and Wyoming then was turned over to the park service in 1903. Some of the buildings have been restored and refurnished with period items. It is quite an interesting place.  It was kind of cool overnight, but while touring the fort it was quite warm and nice to be out in it..

From Fort Laramie the day turned into a travel day. We continued west on 26 to I-25 and headed south toward Cheyenne and I-80. The wind was blowing from the west with gusts up to 35 mph. The cave-mobiles were rocking and rolling down the road. At times it felt like we were just herding them in the direction we wanted to go and they kind of wandered down the road. We made a stop for fuel and food when we reached I-80. We also made a quick stop at the Lincoln Memorial between Cheyenne and Laramie. Then we were back on I-80 west in what seemed to be a little less wind. We are now stopped at the Fort Steel Rest Area just east of Rawlins, WY. We plan on spending the night. A small herd of deer are also stopped at the rest area, but we don’t know if they are spending the night with us. They certainly act like they own the place and don’t let the traffic bother them. Almost seem to pose for pictures!

That’s it for the night. Happy hunting.

Western Nebraska

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

The Lone Eagle campground on Lake McConaughy in western Nebraska was a good stop. We could hear the rumble of the coal trains, but not enough to bother us. It was dark and quiet and led to a good night of sleep. There were a few drawbacks – like no water – but the biggie was the goatheads! We had to step on them barefoot on the rugs before we realized we had tracked them into the cavemobiles. So we plucked them out and made sure we stayed on the pavement while getting ready to break camp.   The ranger didn’t come by during the night to collect the CG fee or throw us out, so on the way out we stopped at the dump station and then slipped our fee envelopes in the “Iron Ranger” and departed the Lone Eagle Campground and Public Road No. 6.

It was a couple of hours drive north on route 92 to the Chimney Rock National Historic Site where we made a stop at the VC and collected 5 or 6 stamps and watched their video on the Oregon and Mormon Trails. Chimney Rock was a big landmark in the Oregon and Mormon Trail system. 

Then we went on up 92 to the Scott’s Bluff National Monument VC, where we got another 4 or 5 stamps.  We watched their video and spent some time in their exhibits. While we were there Wilma and Betty whipped up some sandwiches for lunch.  After lunch we walked to a few of their outdoor exhibits and took a few steps up the Oregon Trail. That crossing must have been some ordeal. It’s hard to imagine crossing the country at 15 miles per day, on a good day, in the rain, mud, heat, dust, wind and snow.  One sign told us that it took them two months to get to Salt Lake City from here.

From Scotts Bluff, NE we drove north on route 29 to the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument on the Niobrara River in northwest Nebraska. The fossil beds were found on a ranch owned by James H. Cook who had met Chief Red Cloud of the Oglala Sioux in 1874. Cook had a collection of Indian articles that were given to his family by his Indian friends. He donated the collection to the park service. The collection is housed in the Agate Fossil Beds VC. Harold Cook, James’ son donated his library and the land which became a National Monument in 1965. This was an interesting stop. Of course the required stamps were duly collected. The digs found a large bone bed and the VC has replicas of the skeletons of some of the larger animals found on the ranch. Looks like they were similar to rhinos, and there was a large bear/dog type animal.  The major digs in the area ended in the 1930’s.

By the time we finished out there we didn’t have time to go on to Ft. Laramie before they closed, so opted to check out the camping at the Scotts Bluff County Fairgrounds in Mitchell, NE. We got here about 5 minutes before the office was closing, and were told we could stay at any of their spots. We are settled into adjacent spots for the night. There are no other campers here. And, as is true of many of the places we camp, the railroad runs right next to the CG. This time we are not only close to the tracks, but obviously a major intersection judging from the amount of whistle blowing the trains do as they come through. It is loud, but I doubt if it will keep us awake! 

Have a lovely night. Toot toot!

Into the Fog on Double D

Sunday, November 4 and Monday, November 5, 2012

  Again leaving Magoo standing forlorn in the driveway, we pulled out and headed into the fog on DD. We fueled up in Houston and stopped to say goodbye to two of the musketeers, then headed out 63 toward Licking where we grabbed a super sonic to get us underway.

This was mostly a travel day, so we continued on 63 to 50 and turned toward KC. There are no official rest stops along this route, so we had to make our own. We joined a state police officer in one turnout and used our own facility while he continued trying to nab some speeders.

Skirting KC proper, we continued on toward Topeka where we found the Brown vs Board of Education VC and our park passport books took on a couple of new stamps. The ranger there was very friendly and informative. We went through the displays and watched a few segments of the video before heading out to find the local Wendy's for salad and potato.

We are tucked into a back corner of a Walmart parking lot for the night and will continue our homeward trek tomorrow.

The overnight location was not the best. Very noisy, but we did get a little sleep. We stopped in the store for a few things, then fueled up and turned west on I 70, turning off toward Manhattan. We stopped at IHOP to fuel us up for the long day ahead of us, then headed west to 81 and north to I 80. We figured we’d stop at a rest area overnight, then found some campgrounds listed that had power and shower, so made for them. Before getting there Wilma checked into them and found after Oct 15 the water was turned off, so no shower. So our plan was back to the rest area. The last one before the turn for Scotts Bluff was CLOSED!!!!!  So we stumbled on in the dark and finally found a campground. It does have power, but the water is turned off in preparation for the cold winter ahead. But at least we got off the road and got a good night of sleep.

We plan to get a few stamps along the way on Tuesday, then head back to I 80 and on toward home.

Haunting a Cemetery on Halloween

Wednesday October 31, 2012

We awoke in the Stephen A. Forbes State Park CG in southern Illinois. When we came yesterday afternoon a sign on the booth at the entrance to the CG read, “select a site and the ranger will be around to collect”. We did (select sites) and he didn’t (come to collect). After  Wilma and Betty had made breakfast burritos and the ranger had still not appeared we drove out to the park office and there was still no one around to pay, so we departed.

At Barney’s insistence we drove into Kinmundy, IL to contact a funeral home and check on the location of a graveyard to look for some more of his family members. There was no one at the funeral home so Barney called the number on the door and got directions to the Phillips Cemetery. We drove to the cemetery, which Barney stumbled upon by sheer luck, and which took us back almost to Forbes State Park. Betty found several Rubble grave markers and copied the information from them. The Wind was blowing and it was pretty cold in the cemetery but we got the information. It was very nice to get back into the rolling caves. Barney will share the info with the rest of the Rubble clan.

Since we were close to Forbes State Park we went back to see if the ranger had appeared. He had not. We decided that we won’t be surprised to see a bill come in the mail from the Illinois State Parks when we get home. If we don’t see a bill from them the only thing we can do is say “Thank you Illinois”.

After a fuel stop in Salem, IL we drove west on route 50 toward St. Louis, where we had talked about stopping at the Gateway Arch to get a couple of stamps that we don’t have. On the way we decided that we didn’t really want to try to find a place to park the rolling caves, and decided to forgo the stamps for now. Fred and his friend, Garmin found a Steak & Shake near St. Louis where we made a quick stop for a Bronto-burger. We continued west on I-44, where we stopped at a rest area and Betty almost lost a leg to a lady who tried to talk her leg off while Fred and Barney looked at her hubby’s MG Midget and a motor scooter which had 37 miles on it. Both were housed in a trailer that they were pulling to Arizona.

We got to Rolla, MO too late to get a Trail of Tears stamp so we turned south on 63 to the lair of the 3 Musketeers in Houston. We arrived just after sunset and are camped in the driveway and ready for a shower and a couple of down days before we head for out stationary caves.

That’s it for now, more on the rock slab in a couple of days.