DAY 33-37 THREE FORKS, MT

Made our way from Rapid City to Buffalo, Wyoming the first night and arrived to about 35 degrees and drizzling rain.  Susan got out of the RV and says "it smells like snow", come to find out, the guys behind us had snow flurries hitting his windshield on the way in.  Who knew you could actually smell snow.  Drove from Buffalo to Three Forks, MT the following day, up and over our first set of huge mountains in the west.  Ubered it back to Bozeman that night to have dinner and drinks with our friends Laura and Harrison from home, and ended up in the middle of Montana State Universities Homecoming weekend.  Very cool college town tucked up in the middle of the mountains.  Checked out the ranch and fed the cows the following morning before cruising around the mountain towns surrounding Three Forks.  Found some great old saloons in Pony and Three Forks, and the Pony Saloon had a dog sitting on a barstool.  Amazing old west, with pictures on the walls of the town and bar founders and cowboys dating back into the 1800's.  Went out to the Lewis and Clark caverns state park for a nice hike through the mountains, and then to Headwaters state Park to see where Lewis and Clark discovered the headwaters of the Missouri River.  Met back up with our friends that night at the ranch and cooked up some Salmon and Steaks over a campfire while watching the sunset over the Jefferson River.  Once the sun finally set and the horizon went black, the stars were incredible, and you could see the Milky Way spread across the sky like light clouds.  Drove down to Yellowstone on our last day, and what a way to top off our time in Montana.  It was one of the most unbelievable things we have seen so far.  Expanses of wilderness, wildlife everywhere, canyons, waterfalls, massive lakes, geysers, smoking ground, sulfur gas, and the list goes on...you could spend weeks here!!!  This is truly one amazing place!!

DAY 25-27  WYOMING, MN (ST. PAUL/MINNEAPOLIS)

DAY 28-32  SOUTH DAKOTA

Day 11-13, New York, New York (and Jersey City, NJ)

Central Park

USS Intrepid Museum

Off to see NYC!  Amazing place, tons to see, lots of people, and we won't mention the traffic!  We caught up with friends for dinner both nights, was an amazing time. A lot of walking and checking out the city that never sleeps!

Got to Cherry Hill Park in College Park, MD Sunday evening and geared up for 2 days of checking out DC.  Took the Metro to National Mall and walked and walked and walked!  Saw the Capitol Building, Air and Space Museum, Natural History Museum, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, and Lincoln Memorial. Headed back on Tuesday for a night tour to see everything lit up in the evening, including what we missed the first day.   

Drove from Niagara Falls to Elkhart, Indiana on the first day.  Drove along the side of Lake Erie for about 5 hours at somewhere between 60-70 mph, that is one huge lake!!  Went through a nice cold front in Cleveland with some solid winds and rain, and ended up in Amish country in Indiana right at dark.  Woke up the next morning and packed up to head through Chicago on Sunday to try and miss the traffic....WRONG!  That is one huge city with a ton of people.  Crazy to see people standing in the middle of the interstate wating for the bus. Sat in traffic while the gas got low (learned to go ahead and fill up whenever you are below a half tank), but made it through, and ended up in a beautiful spot south of Door county in Two Lakes, Wisconsin just outside of Maintowoc.  Was a beautiful drive up the lake on Sept 11, saw a ton of huge flags flying at half mast.  Got to wish our beautiful niece a happy birthday and called it a night!

Headed up to Sturgeon Bay for the day, checked out the shops to get some cold weather clothes for the coming weeks.  Stalked a beautiful yacht just down the street from where Palmer Johnson used to be, KID ROCK has been on this boat for the summer according to locals.  Took a drive all the way around Door County, had a great "cheese tasting" at Renards, and picked up some more supplies for the trip.  Went to Al Johnson's Swedish restaurant for a late lunch and said hello to all of the goats hanging out on the roof.  Walked around the waterfront then drove down the Green Bay side back down and check out all of the beautiful little towns as we made our way home. Headed a little south the following day to see our friends Bo and Alex at the Wisconsin Skydive Center.  Didn't jump this time, but enjoyed seeing them and watching the jumpers while having a few beers.  Drove back to Two Rivers that night through the Wisconsin fields while the combines cleared all of the corn under the full moon.  

Drove from Minnesota to Mitchell, SD the first day through a few more hours of corn fields, and arrived just before sunset.  First time we have checked into a KOA where the guy behind the counter had a holster on his hip, Welcome to South Dakota!! Drove by the corn palace in Mitchell on our way out the next morning, checked out Wall Drug Store.  This is a must see in the middle of nowhere, kind of like South of the Border, but cowboy style. Ended up in the cool little city of Rapid City, SD.  Drove out to Mount Rushmore that afternoon to see it for the first time, and watch the lighting that night.  The lighting ceremony was an amazing salute to the country and our veterans.  Went out to see the Crazy Horse memorial the next day, and it is still hard to fathom the size of that sculpture.  You think Mount Rushmore is grand (and it is), but when you realize that all of mount Rushmore will fit on the side of the head of Crazy Horse, it really puts it in perspective.  We went out to Custer State Park to check out all of the Buffalo, Donkeys, Elk, Pronghorn, Deer, Prarie Dogs, and a multitude of other animals, and came back by one of the local parks to see all of the bears, wildcats, mountain goats, and everything else we didn't see in the park.  Spent our last afternoon wandering around Downtown Rapid City shopping and eating, found a great Brewhouse called Firehouse Brewing, and got everything ready for the next leg of our trip.

Hiked down 350 steps to get to the bottom of the Niagara gorge, beautiful!  Then had dinner at Share with Mark and Ann.  Such a cool place!!

DAY 21-22 NIAGARA FALLS, NY - TWO RIVERS, WI

​​Mike and Susan's Road Trip

DAY 14-17 WATKINS GLEN, NY

Made the short trip from Watkins Glen after spending the morning listening to the cars on the track echo through the valley.  Headed past Rochester and Buffalo through the countryside on our way to Niagara.  Incredible views of windmills, farms, and a few leaves starting to turn yellow and red even though it still feels like summer during the day.  Niagara Falls are truly amazing, we got in around 4 and rented a car for a few days.  Drove over to the Park and were able to catch a sunset over the Canadian backdrop.  The falls were unbelievably powerful, you can hear and feel them when you step out of the car in the parking lot.  Walked through the park to see all of the views, one of the most enjoyable stops so far!  Headed up to the park again on Thursday, and rode the "Maid of the Mist" up into the main part of the falls for a gorgeous wet view of the falls from the water.  The winds were already up due to the storms, so it really made for a great time!  Headed back through a couple of parks and checked out the trails before the storms rolled in.  Heading out tomorrow to hike down to the gorge then meet up with some AMI friends for dinner......

DAY 22-24 TWO RIVERS, WI and more!

Good times!

Brooklyn Bridge

DAY 18-20, NIAGARA FALLS, NY

Day 8-10, Washington DC

One World Trade

We decided to start heading west instead of continuing North due to Tropical Storm Hermine moving up the coast, and the fact that it was Labor Day weekend and campgrounds were full.  Spent a day north of the city in Deer Park, then headed over the mountains to Watkins Glen.  Went hiking at Watkins Glen state park, and conquered the 800+ steps and 2 miles up the canyon and back, including "Jacobs Ladder".  Not much water due to the drought, but still amazing canyons and waterfalls.  Headed out to a few wineries, who knew they had great red wines in upstate New York!  Thanks to Phil from Wine Rack Tours for showing us some beautiful sights along Lake Seneca.  Beautiful mountains, farms, and small towns as we got away from the city.

Rooftop dinner at Mark and Angie's place!

Drove From Two Rivers to Wyoming, MN (just north of the twin cities), to spend a few days with our friends Brandon and Liza (and of course Stella and Max!!).  Had a great time checking out the new Vikings stadium and a couple of great Micro breweries in Minneapolis and St Paul and had a great dinner on the lake!  Went for a boat ride on the St Croix river, checked out a few of the riverfront watering holes, and walked around on a really cool island in the middle of the river.  Spent the evenings around the fire pit playing one of our new favorite games "Hammerschlagen" (you have to look this one up if you have not heard of it before)!!  For the first time since we left home, we didn't sleep in the RV for a couple of nights and used a full size shower!