This must be the place

We got back into Jersey City around 7:30pm on Friday night. The drive through PA was smooth and provided some beautiful fall scenery.

It was fitting as we drove out of the sunset one last time in the RV. The sun was beaming against the downtown high rises of Jersey City showing just what a little metropolis it has become.

We pulled up in front of our place and quickly noticed the progress of the construction next door. The foundations have been poured and there weren't nearly as many big piles of dirt as there were when we left.

Jimmy unlocked the doors and when we both entered our home, we were thrilled. We love our place and always have. I guess the fact that we were away for almost 4 months made us appreciate it even more. It smelled like home and we quickly made it look like home as we brought in box after box. We really did accumulate a good amount of stuff while in San Francisco for three months. Once the RV was empty, our downstairs was jam packed with boxes and bags and luggage and clothes on hangers.

We agreed to let everything just be for the night. We wanted to relax on our comfy couch and veg in front of the TV.

I put in a quick call to our favorite local pizza place. When I said the order was a pick up for Jennie, they said "Your usual?" Medium plain pie and an order of french fries?

I was stunned. It had been almost four months since we've been there and they remembered our order in an instant. This family run pizza place greeted us warmly upon returning home and as odd as it felt during that moment, I felt like we had never left.

But, of course we'd left. The air was warm and sticky in July as the Four Winds rolled down First Street headed towards the west coast. Now, in November, the air was cool and crisp and the leaves were an arrangement of all of the autumn colors.

We've returned with an appreciation for everything and are grateful that we had the opportunity to see as many great sites as we did.

When we were out to dinner with some friends on Saturday, one of them asked about the highlights of the trip home. Grand Tetons and Wyoming in general was my first response. Seeing Mount Rushmore was pretty cool, too. Of course, its always nice to see friends. Oregon, Wisconsin and Illinois treated us to some quality time with some great people which was definitely a highlight. The whole trip was an experience with so many great parts. It is difficult to pick just one.

In the 2 1/2 days we've been home, we've unpacked and have re-explored downtown Jersey City. A few new stores and restaurants have opened since we've been gone while a few old favorites have closed.

We've both noticed that driving our car feels downright weird, too. We can't get over how low we are to the ground. I guess we're used to driving the big ol' RV. I must say, it is nice to have a home that isn't on wheels, even if I found that lifestyle suited me well for the most part.

I'll miss traveling around and waking up in a different location everyday but I look forward to getting back into the grove of things at home. The holiday season is almost upon us and I've got big plans for Sassy Sweet Treats so I plan to quickly switch over from vacation mode.

We look forward to seeing our family and friends in the coming weeks who we've missed so much while we've been gone. We appreciate all of you that have read our blog at any point during our travels. We hope you have enjoyed reading as much as we've enjoyed writing.

Who knows if we'll keep this blog going as we return to normal life...you'll just have to keep checking back periodically to see!

*~Jennie~*

Home - is where I want to be
But I guess I'm already there
I come home - -she lifted up her wings
Guess that this must be the place
I can't tell one from another
Did I find you, or you find me?
There was a time Before we were born
If someone asks, this where I'll be . . . where I'll be

May The Four Winds Blow You Safely Home

Well, this is most likely it. This will probably be my last post from the road. It’s hard to believe that we’ll be sitting on our couch in Jersey City tonight. I haven’t seen our apartment in 3 and a half months and while I think I could draw the place exactly (with the help of a sketch artist) I am sure I forgot something about it. I am looking forward to being there.

The Mercer, PA KOA took claim to the title of final campground the Four Winds called home on our travels to and from San Francisco. Today was their last day open for the season and we wanted to stay in the RV for a final night even though we probably could have powered through to Jersey City and arrived before the neighborhood left for work this morning. Instead we hooked up the electricity, turned on the propane and went through our routine of getting the RV prepared for an overnight stay.

Prior to pulling into spot #50 we had our last dinner on the road at the Elephant And Castle in Mercer, PA. It was a good meal with your typical bar fare, but it was our experience in the parking lot after the meal that would be in our minds for a while. Jennie jumps into the passenger’s seat and I looped around the front of the RV to get into the driver’s side. As I grab the keys to unlock my door I see a black cat take off from the RV. I assume it’s Sebastian and that he slinked out the door when Jennie got in. He goes darting across the parking lot and under cars. Now I am in a pickle. Do I try to trail him on my own? Or do I double back and grab Jennie so we have 2 sets of eyes? I see him run under a car so I take that as my chance to run back. I tap the window and wave my hands in a “come quick” motion to Jennie and as she is opening the door I am running away, but yelling loudly enough for her to hear “He Got Out!”.

“He? Who? Sebastian? Are you Sure?” He hadn’t taken the time to say hi and tell me his name as he darted off so I didn’t have all of the information Jennie was requesting as she trailed me now running through the parking lot. I can only imagine what we must have looked like to the patrons of the bar and the gas station nearby. Jennie suggested I go back to grab the flashlight and his crate so we can toss him in there when we find him. At this point he darts from under the car and down into a water filled ditch which is back by a corn maze. Jennie bounds down the bank of the ditch and I sprint for the RV. I jump in the RV, find the flashlight and grab the crate. When I do, the crate doesn’t come with me as easily as I thought it would and Sebs comes tumbling out of it.

He was in there the entire time! Another black cat must have been using our RV’s engine as a warm place to hang out while we ate. Disaster avoided, cat safe, Jennie/Jimmy finally have a normal heart rate again.

We did end up at the South Bend East KOA the night before, but just spent the night, woke up and got on the road to PA. I would have liked to check out Notre Dame, but the KOA was beyond it and I wasn’t up for going back. I’ll get to a game one day. Anyway, our travels took us through IN and OH. We missed the Indiana sign, but I believe we got it on the way out. We did get the Ohio sign, but I preferred the one on the barn side on the way out to SF than this typical roadside piece of metal. We did get a picture with the Four Winds though.

Before settling into the South Bend East KOA, we spent the night a few hundred miles west with friends in Chicago. The original plan was to stay in the Chicago area for a few days and make a few trips into the city, but we couldn’t find any open RV parks within 45 minutes. So the plan changed to dinner/hang out and a quick meeting of dogs followed by driving further east to an RV park along 80. Our friend, Dan, Lives in the Andersonville section of Chicago and knew of some areas that could accommodate for RV parking. Street RV parking!

We made our way from Deforest, WI and into the Chicago area just as rush hour started to settle in. It was the first time we’d been in traffic since San Fran and the first time in rush hour since our near empty gas tank in St. Louis. The traffic was easy and we soon were parallel parking the RV on a Chicago roadside. Jennie gave me directions (like Tad in his driveway in Utah) and I got the RV into the spot with no major complications.

Dan lived nearby and came to the RV with his dog, Mingus. Daisy and Mingus met and got along very well. We were bummed that we didn’t get to a park to let them romp because in their short time together they showed very similar playing tendencies. Mingus is also the first dog that not only enjoys Daisy’s kisses, but also gives them back.

After about 20 minutes in the RV, a walk with the mutts through the neighborhood and a stop at Dan and Rachel’s place we went to Charlie’s Ale House for some food and beers. Mike and Katie met us as well and we spent the night catching up in person. Jennie and I both like Chicago a lot and having friends to spend time with there makes it even better.

OK, battery is wearing down on the laptop and as Jennie mentioned, we have no connection with the lighter anymore. Thanks for taking the time to read during both of our trips and for our time in SF. I am glad we’ll have these times recorded and I hope you had fun reading.

I'd also like to thank everyone who took the time to wish me a happy birthday this week. Jennie decorated the RV for me and I know it'll be a birthday I remember forever.

Jimmy

In Franklin's tower the four winds sleep,
Like four lean hounds the lighthouse keep,
Wildflower seeds in the sand and wind
May the four winds blow you home again

-Franklin's Tower, Grateful Dead

Technical Difficulties

The Blogericks are having technical difficulties which is why there has been a lapse in posts. You see, the cigarette lighter stopped working for us during our travels yesterday. We use the cig. lighter with an adapter that keeps the laptop power going when the RV is in motion. Since we don’t have power in the rest of the RV when we’re moving, the cigarette lighter really comes in handy. We like using the laptop as we drive to have quick access to Google for maps and directions. It’s also fun to get online to email, surf the ‘net and of course, blog. We only have electricity when we stop for the night and since the past two nights have been later nights, we weren’t up for blogging.

I’m ready to catch up, providing this laptop doesn’t die on me since it’s not plugged in.

Last we left off we were in South Dakota and were grounded due to high winds. Luckily, the winds died down for us so that come Monday, we were able to head to our next stop in Fairmont, MN. We found ourselves on interstate 90 again passing sign after sign for Wall Drug. Our friend Tad had warned us against going there. He described it as just a drug store and definitely a Tourist trap. Since the chances of us being near Wall Drug again anytime soon were slim, we decided to stop. We passed exactly 50 signs along the way, all enticing us to stop for 5 cent coffee refills, donuts, Cowboy gear, dinosaurs, you name it...

How could we not stop?

It was a great pit stop for some much needed coffee. Since it was Jimmy’s birthday, we picked up some donuts to celebrate with later. We took a quick look around at all of the souvenirs at Wall Drug and we were back on the road. We wanted to drive through Badlands National Park and since it was just a bit passed Wall Drug, we made another detour. The dirt road took us out 7 miles to the beginning of the park. It took about an hour and a half to drive through. We stopped at many points along the way to snap photos……

We only saw a few other cars throughout the park. One was from Bucks County, PA which is so close to where I grew up. Small world! we declared and kept moving through the park. The day was gorgeous, as all of our traveling days have been so far. Getting back to the highway from here was cake.

We’d been warned that after Badlands, South Dakota would be a pretty boring state to drive through. I drove most of it while Jimmy and the dog were curled up on the couch taking a birthday snooze. I'd agree that besides lots of flat farming ground, there wasn’t much to see. Good music got me through and since Jimmy was sleeping, I was able to crank it up and sing loudly until my heart was content.

The drive to where we were staying in Minnesota was just less than 500 miles so it was a long haul for the day. Factor in the hour we lost switching over into Central time and we didn’t arrive at the Flying Goose Campground in Fairmont, MN until a little after 11:30pm. We’d been on the road since noon so it was a long day and we were both tired.

The owners of the Flying Goose insisted we call them when we were close. They were up working at their farm harvesting and drying corn so we wouldn’t be bothering them, they assured us. They wanted to show us to our spot so they met us there a few minutes after we arrived. We registered and pulled into our spot and settled in for the night. It was still Jimmy’s birthday according to the clock, but not for long.

We lit the candles on his birthday donuts and I sang Happy Birthday...

He opened my present, a fresh new pair of his favorite sneakers, and then we called it a night.

The next morning, we slept in a little bit and got ourselves on the road to head to Madison, WI. The RV Park we were planning to stay at was just outside of Madison in a town called DeForest. It was one of the only places open in the area. They’re closing on 10/31 so we JUST caught them, really.

The drive from Minnesota through Wisconsin was easy. The only thing we stopped off to see during this drive was in Blue Earth, MN. Our friend Ryan had told us about a 60 foot Jolly Green Giant in this town. Since we be passed right by it, we had to stop. There were actually signs for this thing so it was easy to find. The sun was glaring on the statue making it hard to see in the pictures, but I ensure you that he really was Jolly and Giant and Green.

Jennie at the Jolly Green Giant

Jimmy at the Jolly Green Giant

It was during this ride that we lost our cigarette lighter connection. We stopped halfway during the drive to see if we could figure out how to fix it. After talking with a few truckers, we were told what to look for in the fuse box and we got to work. Jimmy pulled each fuse out and we both inspected them. None of them seemed to have what we were looking for. They were all intact and all seemed to be working fine which led us to believe that the cigarette lighter actually shorted and didn’t just blow a fuse. We even bought new fuses and tried replacing a few of them with no luck. We were bummed we wasted over an hour trying to figure this out. We got back on the road, but knew we’d be getting to the Madison area later than expected now. We put in a quick call to our friends Travis and Jen who we were meeting for dinner and let them know we got held up trying to fix the fuse. It wasn’t a problem on their end, thank goodness.

Once we finally made it to DeForest, Wisconsin – my 40^th state – we registered got settled and then hit the showers. Unfortunately the water was completely shut down in Minnesota so we couldn’t shower there when we left in the morning. When we called ahead to Wisconsin, we wanted to make sure the showers were on and they were….but only in the men’s bathroom since they were working on the ladies restrooms. I asked if I could shower in the men’s room and they said it wasn’t a problem. At first, I wasn’t thrilled about this. No offense gentlemen, but the ladies usually keep their restrooms a bit neater so I wasn’t sure what I was in for.

Jimmy and I packed up our shower stuff and headed to the bathrooms. Living the RV lifestyle reminds me of being away at college when it comes to showering. You lug your toiletries to and from the bathroom everyday and you shower in flip flops , ha!

When we got to the men’s bathroom, I let Jimmy go in first in case there were other men in there to warn them I was coming in. The coast was clear and I entered to discover the nicest bathroom we’ve visited yet! It was newly renovated and the place was spotless. The showers were huge with nice size dressing areas right outside of them. There was so much room in the shower caddy for all my toiletries….it is the little things in life that make us happy, I realized. Most places we go to have small cramped quarters with no where to put toiletries expect on the shower floor. When I find place that has an actual spot for these sorts of things, they immediately get bonus points in my book. I took the longest, best shower of the trip and got ready for dinner.

Our friends Travis and Jen were coming from Middleton to pick us up at the RV park. They arrived, got a quick tour of the RV, met Daisy and Sebs and we were off for our tour of Madison. They were great tour guides showing us all of the surrounding lakes, Downtown, the Capital and town square area, the University of Wisconsin campus and noteworthy spots like the Terrace and the nicest Student Union building I’ve seen. We ended up at the Great Dane which was a brewery that served some delicious food.

My stomach hasn’t been happy on this trip with almost only fast food options. At a point, enough is enough and all you want is a real meal. We were very happy and thankful that Madison provided us with just what we needed. After dinner, we took a stroll down State Street and peered into all of the stores and restaurants. We made a stop off at Paul’s Club for a beer. Travis and Jen mentioned this bar was unique and as soon as we walked in we saw why! There was a huge tree inside this bar. It wasn’t alive anymore, but it sure looked it. We snapped photos under the tree after enjoying a beer…

Travis and Jen were kind enough to drive us around all night and even brought us back to the RV Park at the end of the night. It was so nice to be in a car and not have to concentrate on driving. We listened to Travis’s Phish Cover mix and relaxed as we headed back to DeForest. They came and hung out inside for a bit, and then headed home for the night. We figured out it had been since at least 2003 since we’d seen them, so getting some quality time in their town with them was so enjoyable. They’re such genuine people!

Today’s travels started around 2pm and we’re on the road now. We just left Wisconsin and have crossed into Illinois. We’re headed to Chicago where we’ll park near our friend Dan’s house for a few hours. Dan’s dog, Mingus, and Daisy have never met and since they’re both young, we’re sure they’ll have a blast meeting and playing. The plan for tonight is to see all of our Chicago friends - Dan, Mike and Katie - and have dinner together. Since we couldn’t find an open RV park within an hour of the Chicago, we’re only staying for dinner. Then we will head east to South Bend, IN (Go Fightin’ Irish!) and stay at the KOA.

I can’t believe we’re getting so close to home. It’s even looking like we’ll make it home a day early, on Friday. I’m looking forward to getting there, but I know I’ll miss the traveling lifestyle we’ve lived for the past week and a half, too. I think it’ll hit me once we get back to Jersey City that we’re no longer living in San Francisco. That definitely hasn’t hit me yet and I’m sure it will…..and hard.

The latest photos can be found HERE!

Happy Birthday to Jimmy!

He's 33 today so call, write or text him and send him your wishes! It'll be a loooong day on the road cruising east on Interstate 90 so I'm sure he'd love to hear from you!

*~*Jennie*~*

Stuck in Rapid City, South Dakota

Shortly after Jimmy posted his last blog, we crossed into South Dakota. It was late in the afternoon and the road was empty so it was a breeze to pull over to snap this picture...

After crossing into South Dakota, it was a quick hour to Mount Rushmore. Soon we were staring George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln in the face and it was pretty neat. When we first pulled up, I was surprised by the size of the monument. It's pretty big, don't get me wrong, but I was expecting it to be even bigger than it was. Still to read about the history and sculpting process was rather interesting. We walked around the area for about 30 minutes and snapped lots of photos......

Us at Mount Rushmore

Sebs at Mount Rushmore

Daisy at Mount Rushmore

Ab gets a kiss on the cheek

We drove off into the sunset and got to our destination for the night with enough daylight to get our barings. We had decided to stay at Happy Holiday RV Park in Rapid City, South Dakota since it was one of the only RV parks we found to be open. We didn't check in right away, but grabbed dinner in town first.

The owners of Happy Holiday greeted us when we arrived after dinner and showed us to our spot, #49A. We're right across from the bathrooms which is always a bonus, especially when its cold like it is here. Its not fun running outside with wet hair when the RV is far from the bathrooms.

We settled in for the night and decided to watch the latest episode of Entourage on the laptop. Its the first TV show we watched in the RV and its a favorite of ours. I won't spoil anything if you're an Entourage watcher and haven't caught up, but I like where they are taking this season. In my opinion, its one of the better seasons I've seen from this show!

This morning at 5am I woke up in a frenzy thinking someone was trying to tip the RV over. I'm not kidding either. The RV was rocking back and forth and it took a few minutes for me to really wake up and realize it was the wind. And, it was some wind.

I eventually feel back to sleep until our alarms went off to alert us that it was time to start the day and get to our next destination. However, the wind was still at. It was a steady wind blowing at 40 mph with strong quick gusts up to 60 mph. When those gusts would hit, I would try to convince myself that its highly unlikely that the RV would flip and tumble away, but at times, I wasn't so sure....that's how windy it was.

Then the discussion began. Should we really get on the road and try to head a bit east of Sioux Falls, SD? Its clear across the state and would take about 6 hours to get there. We figured the road would be flat the rest of the way and if it stayed gusty the entire time, it'd be a scary drive.

Jimmy headed to the RV office to ask about the weather conditions of where we were going along Interstate 90 and came back with the news that I saw coming. We're staying put. The owner didn't advise us driving with the 60 mph gusts on the highway. In fact, it would only get windier as we got east. Four other RV's had decided to stay another night because of the wind and even though it wasn't in our original plan, we decided to stay tonight and welcomed an 'off' day.

We took the RV out locally for some food and an activity which turned out to be a bit scary. The gusts tossed this 10,000 lb vehicle around the road, but going slow helped. I don't think we went over 35 mph the entire time. We went to Walgreen's, grabbed some lunch and decided to check out an attraction that was only a few miles from our RV park.

Bear Country USA was advertised on billboards all during our drive from Mount Rushmore. When we checked into this RV park, it was listed all over the tourist brochures we got so we decided we should go there. It was described as a 3 mile drive through a Wildlife park that held over 25 species. I was skeptical whether we'd see any animals because of the high winds, but the woman on the phone assured me the wind didn't phase them much. She was right!

It was $15/person to drive through and it was totally worth it. We got to see some amazing animals up close like....

Rocky Mountain Elk

Reindeer

Artic Wolves

Bull Horn Sheep

Dall Sheep

Rocky Mountain Goat

Black Bears

Mountain Lion

Red Fox

Cub

Lynx

Bobcats

Grizzly Bear

Pretty impressive, huh? We definitely thought so!

After driving through the park area, we went to the baby animal area. Our favorites were the baby cubs. They were adorable! Watching them run and romp and play almost made you forget they were aggressive animals and not what you want to cuddle up with. They sure did keep us laughing.

On the way home, we stopped off at Starbucks to get some beverages to help warm us up. It was a bright sunny day despite the wind. The temperature was 38 with a wind chill of 26. The coffee and tea we got hit the spot.

We decided to do some laundry when we returned and have been relaxing ever since. I imagine we'll venture into town for dinner again tonight and then get to bed early. We want to get on the road at a decent time since we've got a good 450 miles we want to cover tomorrow. We hope to end up in Fairmont, Minnesota for the night on Monday. Our next planned stop is Madison, WI to see our friends Travis and Jen, but that drive definitely needs to be split up. Minnesota counts as another new state for both of us, so we're happy to stay there. Though, tomorrow is also Jimmy's birthday. Neither of us would have ever imagined we'd be spending his 33rd birthday in an RV park in Fairmont, Minnesota!

All of the latest pictures from Mount Rushmore and the Bear Country USA visit are up HERE!

On The Way To Mount Rushmore

It's Saturday afternoon just after 1PM and we are cruising east along Rt. 90 in Wyoming. South Dakota is 200 miles into the horizon and the land around us is mostly flat (although we now seem to be in a mini mountain range) with the Big Horn Mountains staring back at us in the side view mirrors. We're treated to blue skies with clouds that resemble those in the intro to The Simpsons.

Today began at the Buffalo, WY KOA. It was a very nice RV Park and I've been learning that you know exactly what you get at a KOA. Some are nicer than others, but you're almost guaranteed clean facilities, nice people and a dog run at each one. All 3 rank highly on our checklist when giving a park a good grade.

We arrived at the KOA around 1:15am which was about 90 minutes later than anticipated because we had our first directional snafu in all of our adventures. While this is a good thing, I tend not to reflect on how good my directions have been over the course of close to 6,000 miles when it's late, I'm on pitch black roads in WY and all I want to see is that yellow KOA sign. Another thing I reaffirmed on this trip is I should leave Jennie with the directions. In the grand scheme of things we have certain "jobs" in our marriage. I do math and the bug killing. Jennie hooks up electronics and handles directions. We were having some difficulty with the local portion of the directions (in Buffalo) and I suggested trying Mapquest. Jennie is a loyal Google Maps girl. We tried Mapquest. Read the first sentence of this paragraph again and then remember to listen to Jennie if you ever ask us for directions.

I think this extra 90 minutes would have been met with laughter and a sense of adventure on most days. What's 90 minutes to us? We've been driving 6-10 hours a day for a week now (already a week!) and actually like doing it. Yesterday we were pushing close to 13 hours in a moving RV and we'd both had enough. I managed to drive the entire day and clocked 450 miles on the odometer. Wait. 450 miles? 13 hours? Were we being pulled by a horse? Nope, the first 6 hours or so were spent exploring Yellowstone National Park.

The park is huge and we're glad we did it, but both of us agreed that the Grand Teton National Park was much more scenic. Put it this way, Yellowstone was good to check off the list. Grand Teton we'd want to go back to and if you only had time for one I'd suggest GTNP. However, Yellowstone did provide us with our most interactive part of our trip to date. In searching the things to do at Yellowstone, I came across a live webcam at Old Faithful. Then it hit me. How cool would it be to tell our family and friends when we'd be there so they could see us?

We were excited for this as were our parents. Now we'd sent them the link, but both of us got detailed instructions on how this webcam process worked. It was cute. They didn't want to miss us. We got to Old Faithful, positioned ourselves in front of the camera and soon thereafter the phone calls and text messages started flowing in.

"We see you!"
"I'm waving back to you"
"Why don't you flash the camera?"

We're not sure of how many US states were viewing us at the time, but we do know for sure that 3 countries were tuning in (USA, Canada, Panama)


Other highlights from Yellowstone were seeing a group of Bison crossing the parking lot at Old Faithful


Driving through the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone"

And being invited to go elk hunting in Montana with a guy named Dennis and his wife. They are from LA, but pretty much live the RV life on the road. We'd driven behind them and stopped off at scenic overlooks together for a little while.

As I mentioned earlier, we loved Grand Teton National Park and it provided some of the most beautiful scenery of our trip, the day before Yellowstone. We'd rented a Subaru Forrester from the Grand Teton RV Park in Moran, WY, put Daisy in the back seat and stopped off for a bite to eat before exploring the National Park for the afternoon.



We arrived at the front entrance of GTNP in Moran Junction, got our weekly national park pass (good for Yellowstone the next day too) and followed the map for up close views of the Tetons. The loop was a little less than 50 miles and each turn provided views more beautiful than the next.



My favorite place was Jenny Lake. Only an "ie" off from being perfectly named, but it was gorgeous nonetheless. It was also the quietest place I've been to in a long time, possibly ever.




We came back to the RV Park thoroughly satisfied with our scenic viewing for the day and then got the most gorgeous sunset I have ever seen, bar none.



After the sunset we hopped back into the Subaru and drove into Jackson Hole for some dinner. We both loved the town square area and I'd really like to get back one winter for some skiing/snowboarding.

We're extremely close to the South Dakota border and should be at Mt. Rushmore within the next hour. Pictures of our time there will be up soon. In the meantime, there are plenty of photos since our last update. Check out this link for the latest.

Jimmy

"I never ever saw the stars so bright...."

Gold star count:
Jimmy - 2
Jennie - 1

Jimmy drove the entire way from Boise, Idaho to Moran, Wyoming and received another gold star in the process clocking another 400+ miles yesterday. The Blackfoots of Idaho sent us off with another nice sunset....



and before long, we were entering Wyoming...

The dark night made those windy curves and steep downgrades a little scary. Despite my utmost trust in Jimmy's driving, I continually grabbed and hugged the arm rest in the passengers seat as we rode in the darkness alongside of what I could only imagine to be a huge cliff. I know this drove him nuts......as did my continuous "Jimmy be careful, be really careful here....are your high beams on? They are? Oh! Go slower around that curve." At a point, I just had to take my eyes off of the road.

We did get to drive through Jackson Hole, WY long enough for me to hop out and snap a few pictures....



....our plan will hopefully bring us back there tonight for some dinner!

We arrived in Moran at the Grand Teton RV Park later than we expected since the last stretch of road was slow going. It took us a bit to figure this place out in the dark once we got here. Eventually, we got it and were hooked up at spot #114 and had the heat cranking. It was a low of 15 last night, afterall. We used almost 1/2 of our tank of Propane just to keep us warm for the night, too.

The funny thing about arriving at night is not knowing what your surroundings look like. When we stepped out of the RV this morning we were greeted by the snow capped Grand Teton's in the distance.


They are something. Our plan is to explore them today so I imagine we'll be getting great photos up later tonight or tomorrow. We weren't sure if we'd get reception in the middle of nowhere but we do.

Before we decided to turn in for the night, we wanted to go out and check out the stars. Since it was so dark, we'd knew we'd see them shining brightly. We leashed up Daisy for her last walk of the night and stepped outside of the RV. We looked up at the sky and got our barrings.

There it was - Orion. We look for this constellation every night now. It recently become very special and now carries a deeper meaning. Its a symbol of loss and of love and there it was. So bright, so big, shining above us. I was looking for the bow and had just spotted it when I saw a shooting star. It looked as though it came from Orion's bow. I was instantly brought to tears, it was beautiful. Within seconds, there was another that went right through Orion. TWO shooting stars in mere seconds. I knew we were meant to be out there at that exact moment to experience those and I'm so glad we were.

This beautiful moment quickly turned into something else......fear.

Not far from where we were standing we heard a bark. My first thought is, "Oh cool, there is another dog at the park. Maybe Daisy can play with it while we're here." The second the bark happened though, Daisy froze. Then, we heard the loudest howls that both of us had ever heard. We don't know if it was a wolf or a coyote, but I sure as hell wasn't staying around to find out. I was positive it was signaling its buddies to tell them human and canine dinner await tonight. Jimmy said he's never seen me run so fast, lol. I bolted back to the RV as quickly as possible and was happy once I was safe inside. We burst into laughter after what we'd just experienced and it was then that I exclaimed, "I'm not stepping foot out of our RV when its dark".

We're taking our time this morning/afternoon. We slept in, and are in the process of getting ourselves ready to head to Grand Teton National Park. The RV Park we are staying at rents cars so shortly, we'll be on our way!

*~Jennie~*

****Editor's Note: I received an email from my mom after she read this latest blog. "What bow?" she wanted to know. She didn't know about the bow I was talking about in Orion. I took it to Google and quickly realized that I don't have my facts straight. Orion is not carrying a bow and arrow, but rather a sword and shield. All of these years I had thought it was a bow and arrow. I even took Astronomy in high school. I sat through all of those cool lessons set to spacey music in the planetarium, too. Anyway, the first shooting star that I saw last night was NOT shot from the bow but bounced off of the shield.