The coming together of thousands

Since last September, our plan has been to tour some of the west,visit relatives, go to Yellowstone and attend the Escapees Rally in Gillette Wyoming.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Escapees, for all you uninformed, is a camping club that celebrated its 30th birthday this year with its 48th rally. The club owns several campgrounds and has several partnering campground throughout the US.
The rally consists of a merchandise mall, several large meetings, entertainment and seminars, plus fun and happy hours. There are over 1000 rigs here and approximately 2500 people. Incredible.
Now our mission is to get to Oshkosh,WS so that I can leave the wannabe pilot and go visit the awesome daughter and our friends.On the way we will go to Mt. Rushmore and surrounding areas, Sioux Falls to register to vote, see the House on the Rocks,etc.....
Always another corner to turn or hill to climb.

Devil'sTower

Hum the theme song to Close Encounters of the Third Kind as you view these pictures.
We chose a very muggy day to go sightseeing, but at least there was no snow. There were a few hikes we could take (as in physically able to) so we chose the one that skirted the touristy area. We walked Joyner's Ridge.Once again the ridiculous warning signs but then again some of the people we have met might need this warning.















Whew! We were uphill and down, clamoring over rocks and almost sliding down the sides, but it was fun. I have a terrible fear of heights, so I was quite pleased that I could do this. Erwin says his sides hurt from laughing at me as I whined and griped, but

I DID IT.We were up there on the top. As we were walking through the marsh we saw deer and bunnies, but that was it for wild life.

We then went to the tourist shops.This sign was on the front door...guess they got tired of cleaning the floor.

Then as we were leaving we spotted the Prairie Dog Town. These guys are a big pest here in the pastures and ranch lands but they are cute and busy!

Well, Hello again

It has been ages since I just sat down to the computer and wrote on this blog. We have been somewhat busy but also I was caught up on the spirit of doing things instead of writing about things, make sense?
We had a wonderful time in Gillette, WY with the thousands of other campers. There are often prototypes of new motor homes and campers. This one has a deck...always a useful feature
 

It was nice to meet others who share our lifestyle and that understand the gas /diesel prices do not run our lives. Yes they are high, but life goes on and the fun is still out there, ya just got to pick and choose a little more selectively now....Sermon over.
We were parked in this huge area called a Camplex.Behind us was a rodeo arena. While we were there the 4H clubs and the FFA were having a mini- rodeo as a trial for those that one day want to rodeo. It is sort of akin to T_ball and Baseball, ya know?While Erwin attended Red Cross disaster classes, I watched young ones learn how to do barrel racing and roping. Those horses are mighty big and powerful, but the kids seem to love it. Instead of having them rope steers and tie them, they use goats. Too funny.

Just like other things kids do, Dads do a lot of the set up.
Things we have noticed so far about the West:
  Pride in their state...very clean, no litter
  Kids play outside
  Lots of horses! and antelope (supposed to be more antelope than people in Gillette)
  Recreational choice for young teens has got to do with horses.
  Friendly people always making sure you have seen their favorite place.
  Cannot cook..some of the worst meals we have had have been in WY (except for those I cooked!)