ON THE ROAD AGAIN: 2009 GREAT WESTERN ADVENTURE WEEK SEVEN: CUSTER , SD TO BARABOO , WI Tuesday, July 07 Custer is a cute Western town on the edge of Custer State Park. After checking out of President Harrison’s Cabin we drove into Custer to a little bistro for an egg burrito (I also had a great chai) before heading out to the park. We then drove along the edge of the park for some time before seeing anything. Suddenly as we rounded a bend a herd of buffalo were on the crest of a hill munching on yellow sweet clover. [View Full Entry]

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Saturday, September 12, 2009 It rained through the night last night, right after I finished grilling some chicken thighs on the portable Weber propane grill. Timing is everything, or at least close to it. This morning, it was cool enough to warrant a touch of heat in Uncle Joe. Since we are plugged into a 50 amp pedestal, the electric area heater received the nod over propane heat. “What’s is that burning smell” some one inquired from the dark bedroom up front? “Why, its just me sweetie; I’m trying out our new area heater.” “I’ [View Full Entry]

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Saturday, September 12, 2009 It rained through the night last night, right after I finished grilling some chicken thighs on the portable Weber propane grill. Timing is everything, or at least close to it. This morning, it was cool enough to warrant a touch of heat in Uncle Joe. Since we are plugged into a 50 amp pedestal, the electric area heater received the nod over propane heat. “What’s is that burning smell” some one inquired from the dark bedroom up front? “Why, its just me sweetie; I’m trying out our new area heater.” “I’m [View Full Entry]

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OMG!! today was the best! As we were driving to Murdo, we just passed the central time zone lol so I couldn't tell you what time it was lol the car clock is still on Vancouver time and my phone is an hour later and passing into central time adds an hour LOL but it was in the early evening. I saw a sign that said scenic road into the Badlands, I asked Nat if we could drive through there, she pulls in and drives for a bit. We got closer and could see the peaks of the Badlands, OMG OMG [View Full Entry]

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Another day, another 500-600 miles. I got an early start out of Sioux Falls because I knew I had at least a five hour drive ahead of me. On interstate 90, I passed five HUGE fields of sunflowers, just starting to follow the sun. My original plan was to go straight to Mt. Rushmore, thank goodness I changed my mind. I decided to drive through Badlands National Park. It was amazing!!!! The formations in the park were unbelievable. I would love to ride a bike through the park. If I were not heading to Mt. Rushmore, I would have done so. [View Full Entry]

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I'd heard about it, read about it and seen films about it, but until I actually saw it, I didn't really appreciate the true beauty of Badlands National Park. It was not what I had expected. We started at the eastern side and drove a loop through the park. The usual visitor center at the park entrance was our first stop. It has always proven to be an important part of a visit to any of our National Parks because there is a wealth of information to make the visit more meaningful. There is usually a film about the park and [View Full Entry]

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We left Minneapolis/St. Paul around 10 am and got to Badlands around 5:45 pm. South Dakota was very green, mostly flat with small rolling hills. But the scenery was mostly monotonous until we got to Badlands. It was incredible to drive up to this "Wall" of rock formation that seemed to rise up from nowhere. Right before we arrived, we heard severe thunderstorm warning on the radio and we saw dark clouds rolling in. The lightnings started as we pulled up to our camp site at the Cedar Pass campground. The rain was full-on by the time we finished setting up [View Full Entry]

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Hallo allemaal ! Hier zijn we weer ! Vooreerst om jullie te vertellen dat we terug in onze originele tijdzone terechtgekomen zijn. Dit betekent dat we opnieuw slechts 7 uur vroeger zijn dan jullie. Kwestie van niemand te vroeg of te laat wakker te bellen ... Vandaag hadden we een beperkt doel : Wall Drugstore in ... euh ... Wall en het nationaal park Badlands. Op tijd vertrokken omdat we wisten dat we in de namiddag van de ene meter op de andere een uur ouder zouden worden doordat we opnieuw terecht zouden komen in de Central Standard Time-zone. Wall Drugstore [View Full Entry]

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Four weeks without phone or internet and I survived! We spent a few weeks in Iowa at a Winnebago Rally. 1400 rigs. Each state was represented. There was a military chapter and they played the bugle at 7 am and 10 pm. Non-stop bands entertaining and suppliers set up to give your rig a once over. We found out we are not "rally" people. But had to go to one, once. So we set out for peace and quiet in the Badlands of South Dakota. This is as far as the two of us have been together, driving. We camped in [View Full Entry]

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We left Yellowstone on Thursday, August 6th, and headed east on Wyoming state highway 14. We stopped at Cody, Wyoming for burgers at a roadside bar where everybody else was either a cowboy or a biker. We felt a little out of place (i.e. scared manureless) in our yuppie REI gear. We spent the night sleeping next to rattlers in the beautiful red Bighorn mountain range. Luckily, we didn't meet any of our rattler neighbors. We got up early next morning and after a slight delay (highway closed for an hour), we drove into South Dakota to see the presidents in [View Full Entry]

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