Waxed and ready to go.....
Rock could care about our trip.......
DAY 1: Maureen "all smiles" once packed and on our way out of San Jose!
Topping Donner Pass at 7,000'.
Sparse in western Nevada.
Ralph "all smiles" as cross California border into Nevdada and hit "smooth riding" roads.
More sparse in eastern Nevada.
First night camping at the Model T Hotel/Casino/RV Park in Winnamucca, NV.
DAY 2: Lots of snow-capped mountain ranges in eastern Nevada.
More mountains in eastern Nevada.
Bridge Mountain in eastern Nevada.
I-80 tunnels thru the hills.
Leaving Nevada.
DAY 3: Our RV in front of the Bonneville Flats Speedway (speedway is on this side of the mountains).
Morton Salt, we presume?
More of the Salt Flats.
Ralph readying to run the RV on the Speedway. Jerk with a 5th wheel thinks he can beat him. No way!!!!!
Entering Utah, about a hundred miles from Salt Lake City.
2nd and 3rd nights in KOA at Salt Lake City.
Day 4: Pioneer cabin at Temple Square.
Salt Lake Temple, taken from observation point top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
Sitting on edge of reflection pool front of the Temple.
Beautiful lobby of the Joseph Smith Memorial Bldg.
We had lunch at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Bldg.
A rose amongst the flowers.
Lots of brides on the Temple Square grounds. This is a beautiful water fountain on the east end.
Entering Wyoming and its many interesting rock formations.
A very desolate section of Wyoming.
Yet another Wyoming rock formation.
Wyoming tunnel on I80.
Couple of Pronghorn deer. Saw hundreds of these along the road.
DAY 5: Wyoming Territorial Prison historical site. The only prison that Butch Cassidy served any time in. Located in North Platte, WY.
Warden's home.....attached to the prison via an underground tunnel.
Front of the prison.
Prison guard station at entrance of wall.
Prison area that Butch Cassidy served his time in.
Front of safe that was blown up by Butch and the Hold in the Wall gang.
Back of safe that was blown up by Butch and the Hold in the Wall gang.
Picture of the train that was blown up by Butch and the Hold in the Wall gang.
DAY 6: Entering Nebraska....a long state to cross. Hoping to cross in 2 days.
Maureen attacked by wildlife just outside the RV door. She responded with chips!
The attackers, up close and dangerous (especialy the female one - most aggressive).
Maureen, looking over her shoulder, as she sneaks away from the attacking ducks. This is at our Cabela's camp site at Sidney, NE.
Another wild creature that attacked Maureen. Near the Cabela's Outdoorsman Store.
In Cabela's - some huge fish tanks with interesting fish such as this albino channel cat.
Looking down the center aisle of Cavela's. I wanted to buy one of the stuffed antlered deer for the RV; Maureen put her foot down, on my head.
Cavela's wildlife display. This Sidney store is the original and over 80,000 square feet. Each store has a wildlife display something like this.
Here we have 3 more wild creatures....... Beware!!! These ones bite......
DAY 7: Some where, or nowhere, in the middle of Nebraska. Stopped here for gas & Maureen had to take the picture.
DAY 8: At RV park in Minden, eastern Nebraska. This is behind the Harold Warp Pioneer Village, the #1 most visited attraction in Nebraska. This was absolutely fascinating.
Pioneer Village center park. Mr. Warp gathered over 50,000 items that tell the story of America and how it grew. It has 28 buildings on 20 acres.
Pony Express office from the early 1800s.
Actual gold strong-chest used to carry gold bullion on stage coaches crossing the praries of Nebraska.
Conestoga chuck wagon. These huge wagons were floated across the Platte River using logs. I thought they should have stuck to I80 like we did.
Yes, this is a VERY OLD gas pump. Has to be at 18 cents per gallon. Remember those days? I remember paying for my first tank of gas - $2.00 for 8 gallons.
Bike museum at Pioneer Village. This place had collections of everything - wagons, trains, tractors, farm equipment, cars, snowmobiles, lawnmowers, pens, china, etc.
The oldest bike on display......all wood. Think I'll make one for myself.
Late 1800s Baldwin coal locamotive.
Inside a general store for the early 1800s.
Ralph finds a copy of his first car, a 1946 Chevy half-ton pickup.
Ralph finds a copy of his second car, a 1962 Corvair.
Maureen has fond memories of her grandfather's 1963 Chevy sedan.
Within 15 minutes of checking into Camp a Way campground in Lincoln, NE, we turned on the TV to see the tornado warnings. Here we are in a shelter, the men's room, which was 150' from our RV. Even with coats, we got soaked in the high winds and rain.
DAY 9: Day after pics of the tornado clouds we had in the Lincoln NE area the night before.
Day after pics of the tornado clouds we had in the Lincoln NE area the night before.
This is the day after the tornado storms. Stayed an extra day at Lincoln just to relax after the late night before. Enjoyed some ribeyes and burgers on the grill.
Our campground in Lincoln was quite nice, once the storms subsided. Look how clean the RV is after the tornado down-pour and hail. Less fortunate campers had broken skylights from the quarter-sized hail we had.
DAY 10: Finally, leaving Nebraska. Seemed like we would never get across that state. Skies were clear and sun shining, but the big front (clouds ahead) were only a couple hours ahead of us.
We diverted from our planned trip across on I80 as it was closed in eastern Iowa due to flooding. Headed south on I29 to Kansas City to catch I70 east. Here we arrive in SW corner of Iowa. Some 99 of 118 counties of Iowa were declared disaster areas due to flooding.
We thought we'd avert flooding by heading south. Well, here is I29 where we had single-lane access, and it got worse.
Surrounded by water on all sides while traveling down I29. Might have to trade the RV in on a boat to get across Iowa.
And more flooding.........
More flooding.....
And more.........
Just outside Columbia, MO, we pulled into Crooked Creek Campground. We were a couple miles off the road; very quiet and lovely. However, Maureen complained about the frogs croaking all the time.
As we usually do, after dinner we walk the campground and talk to neighbors. Here we play for Sophie, a beautiful and very sweet Corgy from a farm in Illinois.
And speaking of the price of gas for our trip...... my friend Don sent me this solution which makes one hell of a lot of sense!!!
DAY 11: At a rest stop somewhere in the middle of Illinois. With the threat of further storms, we pressed ahead the rest of the trip.
Hanging out with the big boys......at a rest stop in Illinois. Funny parking with the big rigs. Made me want to leave my engine running, of course.
At our KOA campsite at Terre Haute in western Indiana, Maureen gives Grandma a call to tell her where we are. Getting close.
A night shot of us camping in Terre Haute, IN, with our campfire.
More wildlife.....this baby gray squirrel had gleaming eyes, threatening to attack Maureen if she touch its nuts!
Typical morning set-up in the RV to check email, plan our route, check road conditions, etc. Most sites had WIFI; otherwise, we tied the PC to my Blackberry.
Driving through St. Louis, of course.
Crossing the might Mississippi River. If you look closely at the lower right corner, you can see that river up over its bank and covering the road.
Another shot of crossing the Mississippi River. Again, swollen and very muddy from the upstream flooding in Iowa that was flowing into it.
Somewhere in Indiana, a pretty cross near a church.
Driving through Indianapolis, IN.
A very welcomed site - crossing the last state line into Pennsylvania. On on final leg of the journey across the USA.
All smiles as we make the last turn-off onto Hwy 18 going north to Mom's house in Greenville, PA. Only about 15 miles to go.......
After the trip, sitting in Mom's driveway. Our Four Winds RV did great, having covered 2,718 miles in 12 days of traveling (9 of them driving, 3 rest days). Couple scratches from hitting signs and a parking ticket in Utah. Otherwise, a super trip!!!
