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| Date | Town | State | Campground | Price | Narrative | |
| 1/1/1990 | Sopchoppy | FL | Ochlockonee River State Park | $12.84 | Only 4 people in this campground. Nice trees, river, and we saw a white squirrel, and a hoot owl. | |
| 1/2/1990 | Tyndall AFB | FL | Tyndall AFB Famcamp | $9.50 | The military campgrounds keep getting better. This is the best so far. Covered picnic tables, concrete parking pad, lots of trees and bushes. The store has a very good selection of RV parts. Jet fighter planes were flying overhead today. Loud and fast. Got some good pictures, worked on trailer and truck most of the afternoon. We are now in Central time. | |
| 1/3/1990 | Tyndall AFB | FL | $9.50 | Drove down the Gulf coast to Destin to see what there was to see and to get mail. Overgrown population and development without any control. Frank got a dose of artificial coloring from Burger King. Walked for several miles this evening trying to lose the hyperness. Lots more jets today. Big one man fighters. | ||
| 1/4/1990 | Eglin AFB | FL | Rucker Army Base Rec. Aera Famcamp | $8.00 | We are beginnng to think all Army travel camps are dives. We are alone in an area of 10 campsites, but there are not realy any sites, just open areas between trees. Rained this evening. Packed the Christmas decorations away tonight and will send most of them to Tom's sister in Ohio. Sent payment to new mail service today. | |
| 1/5/1990 | Gulf Islands Ntl. Seashor | FL | Fort Pickens Campground | $12.00 | Today we continued the slow move westward. We are camped on a barrier island at the western end of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico. We toured Fort Pickens, built in 1822 to guard Pensacola harbor. The entire day was spent in a heavy fog, which is sad due to the absolute beauty of this island. | |
| 1/6/1990 | Gulf Islands Ntl. Seashor | FL | $12.00 | Went shopping this morning for food, and pipe to hookup mercerator pump. Also sent Christmas decorations box to Tom's sister. Frank walked on nature trails and Tom read on beach in afternoon. Frank rewired relay system that he did wrong yesterday. It still has a problem. | ||
| 1/7/1990 | Gulf Islands Ntl. Seashor | FL | $12.00 | Spent most of the day cleaning out paper files and cleaning up the database in Lex. Rained all last night and most of today. | ||
| 1/8/1990 | Gulf Shores | AL | Gulf State Park | $15.00 | This is a nice campground. Paved roads and sites, full hookups, we are right on a lake. Kind of expensive for a state park, though. Did laundry in campground laundry, and ordered return address labels. | |
| 1/9/1990 | Biloxi | MS | Keesler AFB Famcamp | $7.00 | Unbelievable. The first site we tried to get into was 8 feet 6 inches between the electric box and water hookup, which was on the wrong side. Our trailer is 8' 3" wide. Finally got into a site. Painted inside of rear bumper. Cleaned storage compartment under bed. | |
| 1/10/1990 | New Orleans | LA | Navy Air Station Campground | $8.00 | The electrical outlet last night was bad, overheated and melted our GFI plug. This campground at first glance looked like a dive, but looking closer it is not bad. After all, it is winter. Went to look at campground at Naval Support Center, no water avaible because of frozen pipes. So we will stay here. | |
| 1/11/1990 | New Orleans | LA | $8.00 | Rode across the Misssissippi on a ferry, then took a bus tour of New Orleans. Stopped at an above ground cemetary and the city's 1000 acre park Afterwards walked to Ruby Reds bar & restaurant for lunch. They serve peanuts in the shell and the shells go on the floor. Walked through the French Quarter and along Bourbon Street. Bought 2 CDs at Tower Reco | ||
| 1/12/1990 | New Orleans | LA | $8.00 | Today was kinda disastrous...or at least not much fun. We drove down along the Mississippi River near Tulane and tried to catch a streetcar, but never made it. They are repairing the lines. Then walked through the French Quarter and visited Jean Lafitte's National Park. (Jean used to be a pirate). Later tried to find Barataria Tavern. Again, no luck. So | ||
| 1/13/1990 | McComb | MS | Percy Quin State Park | $10.00 | Our mail has not shown up. We put in a forwarding card to send it to Burnet, Texas. After getting through New Orleans, we went west on I-10 and north on I-55, on a bridge over the swamps and lowlands for 31 miles with out touching ground. This is a very nice campsite near a lake. Frank built a stand to hold a light over the BBQ grill. | |
| 1/14/1990 | Natchez Trace Parkway | MS | Rocky Springs Campground | $ | We were going to stay at Natchez State Park, however it was almost a slum. So we went on to here. Good choice. Quiet, we are the only ones in this 22 site campground. Walked to see remains of the town of Rocky Springs. In 1890 this town had a population of 2116, now it is 0. There is no charge for this campground. | |
| 1/15/1990 | Natchez Trace Parkway | MS | $ | Today we retraced traces of the old Nantchez Trace on the Natches Trace Parkway back to Natchez visiting traces of historic things such as a 1200 year old Indian ceremonial mound covering 7 acres. Now that was more than a trace. Also saw a restored "stand" or inn dating to the late 1770s. Lots of armadillos around here. Bought more water hose, now have 275'. | ||
| 1/16/1990 | Natchez Trace Parkway | MS | $ | Went to Vicksburg today. Started by touring the battlefield. Then went on a self guided tour of The Army Corps of Engineer Waterways Experimental Station. Saw a scale model of the Niagra river and falls. Dumped blue tank today and yesterday into a full length urinal in the mens room. OK, so it's tacky, but it worked. | ||
| 1/17/1990 | Texarkana | AK | KOA Texarkana | $11.94 | We were going to stay in Moro Bay State Park, however we couldn't get onto the ferry without grounding the trailer. We looked at a private campground in El Dorado, that looked terrible so we drove 90 more miles in pouring rain to this KOA right on a major interstate. Decided not to unhook the truck. We were supposed to be in Texarkana tomorrow not to | |
| 1/18/1990 | Tyler | TX | Tyler State Park, Big Pine | $12.00 | We drove through heavy rain all day today. Flash flood warning tonight. This is a nice campground. We are in an area by ourselves. Looks like most of the Texas parks will be nice. They gave us 2 Texas Parks & Wildlife magazines, very nice photos. Got the oil changed in truck. | |
| 1/19/1990 | Burnet | TX | Inks Lake State Park | $11.00 | Rained most of today. Cleared late afternoon. Was warm and muggy today, but is cooling off and clearing up tonight. Nice campground in scrub type semi desert. It was amazing how fast the terrain changed. Within 50 miles we went from treed, swampy, lowlands, to hilly, rocky, semi-arid desert, with cactii all around. We drove much farther than planned to get m | |
| 1/20/1990 | Burnet | TX | $11.00 | Drove to see an Air Force campground this morning. Nice but probably won't stay there. Then drove through center of Austin, heavy traffic but pretty city. Visited the L.B. Johnson Library. Lots of papers. Nice display. Got back to trailer after sunset. Fantastic cloud colors. | ||
| 1/21/1990 | Blanco | TX | Blanco State Recreation Area | $10.00 | This campground is not quite as nice as last night's but still better than most private ones we have passed. They look like parking lots in the desert. Got down to 37 last night. Warm today nice sunny day. Tom cleaned while Frank worked on computer. We bought a Texas State Park annual pass for $25.00. It saves $2.00 each time we visit a park. | |
| 1/22/1990 | Blanco | TX | $10.00 | Toured LBJ historic park today. Went through the boyhood home, walked to the first log cabin in the area, then drove to the LBJ ranch. A bus drove us around the ranch, looking at the different buildings, then let us off at a state park living history farm near the Visitors Center. Quite an interesting day. | ||
| 1/23/1990 | San Antonio | TX | Kelly AFB Fam Camp | $3.00 | We are in an overflow area, the campground is full. Tomorrow we will get a site. | |
| 1/24/1990 | San Antonio | TX | $8.00 | Drove downtown today, despite warning from campground host that our truck would be stolen and end up in Mexico; we had no problems. Visited the Alamo, Mexian market, walked along the riverwalk, and had lunch at a Fudruckers. Frank has 8mm movies his dad took along this river about 1945. | ||
| 1/25/1990 | Sandia | TX | Lake Corpus Christi State Rec. Area | $9.00 | This is much quieter. On a big lake with trees and fields all around. Picked up mail at Sandia. | |
| 1/26/1990 | Sandia | TX | $9.00 | Drove through Corpus Christi and onto the barrier islands. Stopped to look at a state park and Padre Island Ntl. Seashore. This will be our last look at the Atlantic Ocean for quite some time. We were going to head for Brownsville tomorrow, but changed our minds. Instead, we will head west toward Del Rio. Tom got more medicine from the Naval Air Station. | ||
| 1/27/1990 | Del Rio | TX | Holiday Trav-L-Park | $10.90 | The Amistead Lake is not very pretty. Kind of grey. Long drive today, long also tomorrow. The land is getting more arid the further west we go. Little to see except catus, cotton wood trees, and wide open spaces. We are now in the land of the purple sage. | |
| 1/28/1990 | Big Bend Ntl. Park | TX | Rio Grande Village | $5.00 | Fantastic rugged scenery all day. This is truly arid desert. Cactus, creosotebushes, road runners, and coyotes in the campground. The campground has larger trees from watering. We are within 200 feet of the Rio Grande River and 250 feet of Mexico. We are 110 miles from the nearest village which has a population of about 200. | |
| 1/29/1990 | Big Bend Ntl. Park | TX | $10.50 | Our furnace broke again last night so we moved to the full hookup area. Drove up to the Basin area in the middle of rugged mountains. Fantastic views. Hiked up a nature trail to an unbelievable view. Last night went to a ranger program on bats at the amphitheatre. Tonight same place for a geology program. | ||
| 1/30/1990 | Big Bend Ntl. Park | TX | $10.50 | Today we toured portions of the park which we did not visit yesterday. We drove the scenic Ross Maxwell route, stopping to see each exhibit. We had lunch at Cottonwood campground area, and saw the Rio Grand emerge from a beautiful gorge, Santa de Elena, which separates the US from Mexico. Saw a program on predators in the evening. | ||
| 1/31/1990 | Fort Davis | TX | Davis Mountains State Park | $10.00 | Lots of barren scenery. Beautiful mountains. This campground is nestled in a pleasant mountain valley. Wide sweeping views from top of ridge. Nice park. Had dinner at lodge restaurant. Not bad, good prices. Bought several books from Big Bend Park. | |
| 2/1/1990 | Monahans | TX | Sandhills State Park | $9.00 | This looks like a beach. Sand dunes completely surround us, and it seems you could just go over the top and see the ocean. But that is over 500 miles away. Lots of oil wells around. This morning toured McDonald Observatory, and Fort Davis Ntl. Historic site. This is the only old fort that still has original buildings standing. | |
| 2/2/1990 | Monahans | TX | $9.00 | Stopped at Odessa Meteor Crater about 600 feet across and 10 feet deep. Much digging during late 30s for research. Then went to the Petroleum Museum in Midland, Texas. Very interesting and well done. Some problems with atudio exhibits interferring with each other, but the rest was informative. | ||
| 2/3/1990 | Carlsbad | NM | The Windmill Groc. and RV PArk | $10.13 | Today we moved into the Carlsbad region of New Mexico. Tomorrow we plan to visit the caverns, but today was a leisure day. Did laundry and went shopping. Made sole stuffed with crabmeat for the first time. Not too bad. The VCR's clock mechanism went out this afternoon. Oophs. Static charge blew it out. Will have to repair or buy another one. | |
| 2/4/1990 | White's City | NM | Park Entrance RV Park | $14.85 | Took the long tour of Carlsbad Caverns, 3 1/2 miles self guided. First you walk down 800 feet, see caverns, then ride the elevator back to the surface. Rented 2 radios which give you narrated info as you walk along. 50 cents each. Called Frank's mother from restaurant in the bottom of the cave. | |
| 2/5/1990 | El Paso | TX | Fort Bliss Fam Camp | $7.00 | The vastness of the American west finally hit us with full force today. As we left White's City, New Mexico, keeping in mind the deceptive distances of the west, we were looking at a mountain about 20 miles away. 60 miles later we still hadn't gotten to the base which endded up 75 miles away. We bought 2 VCRs today as a trial replacement. Will return both tomorr | |
| 2/6/1990 | El Paso | TX | $7.00 | Drove around El Paso today. Went through a reconstruction of old Fort Bliss. Tonight we will drive up on a scenic mountain road to see the lights. Tom brought home a new JVC VCR. | ||
| 2/7/1990 | Alamogordo | NM | Fam-Camp | $8.00 | We drove north out of El Paso into high desert areas. After looking at a New Mexico state park, in which we chose not to stay, we drove to this Air Force base. Very nice facility. We visited White Sands Nat'l Monument, a gypsum sand dune area 10 miles by 30 miles...big! | |
| 2/8/1990 | Carrizozo | NM | Valley of Fires State Park | $11.00 | Beautiful vistas across a 2000 year old volcanic flow. So far New Mexico state parks have a confusion about their fees, but the two that we have seen are quite nice. | |
| 2/9/1990 | Caballo | NM | Caballo Lake State Park | $11.00 | This campground is a little more crowded than last night; however it is just off a major route. This is our 200th night out on the trip. We are on the edge of a large lake created by a dam on the Rio Grand River with tall mountains on the other side. | |
| 2/10/1990 | Caballo | NM | $11.00 | Drove to Truth Or Consequences today. Interesting name, but average small town. Spent most of the rest of the day preparing the 200th day letter. It is complete, just needs return address lables and a post office. | ||
| 2/11/1990 | Silver City | NM | Silver City KOA | $13.62 | Started off at site 22, but another trailer set up within 4 feet of us with 2 chain smokers and a breeze in our direction. So we moved. No water in this area. Beautiful drive today lots of mountains in far distance that looked near. Had lunch at a rest area where one of the Butterfield Stage lines crossed the present highway. | |
| 2/12/1990 | Silver City | NM | $12.15 | Drove to see Gila (pronounced HILA) cliff dwellings today. They were built in 1280 and abandonded about 30 years later. Crossed the Continental Divide twice today. Interesting road very steep and sharp hairpin curves. Saw an openpit copper mine about 1.5 miles across. Beautiful mountains. Sent off the 200th day mailing this morning. | ||
| 2/13/1990 | Tucson | AZ | Davis-Monthan AFB Fam Camp | $3.00 | Campground was full. In an overflow area for tonight. Very windy today, gusts in campground of 37 mph. | |
| 2/14/1990 | Tucson | AZ | $10.00 | Moved over to regular camp area this morning. Drove around some today, got oil changed in truck, had parts shipped from Charleston, SC. Frank worked on starting Fulltiming Tape. It rained all day, and is now snowing in beautiful Tuson, Arizona. This is a very nice campground: however, the sites are a little close together. | ||
| 2/15/1990 | Tucson | AZ | $10.00 | We started to drive to see Tombstone, Arizona this morning, but found Interstate 10 closed due to black ice, so we spent the day around Tucson. Tom made phone calls and got furnace part ordered from manufacturer and Frank worked on editing electronics. Got parts ordered from Charleston today. | ||
| 2/16/1990 | Tucson | AZ | $10.00 | We made it to Tombstone today. Interesting, but highly touristy. Saw Boot Hill Cemetary. Nice scenery on drive back. Frank has a cold. Received replacement motor bracket for furnace and installed. Had to disassemble entire furnace to get to it. | ||
| 2/17/1990 | Tucson | AZ | $10.00 | Today we visited Saguaro National Monument. These beautiful 200-250 year old cactuses are magnificent. Some can grow to 50-60 feet. In the National Park we had a picnic and then returned to the trailer for some mundane work...like washing the truck and doing laundry. | ||
| 2/18/1990 | Gili Bend | AZ | Gila Bend AFAB Fam Camp | $7.00 | Campground was full but with the use of a hose Y and cable splitter we had hookups. Near a construction site and very dusty. Our goal was to stay in Organ Catus National Monument, but we got there just as the campground filled up. Took a 20 mile loop drive. Very beautiful. This is the only place in the US where this type of catus grows. Got Golden Eagle Pa | |
| 2/19/1990 | Cottonwood | AZ | Dead Horse Ranch State Park | $8.00 | Interesting drive today. We hit rain north of Phoenix, then snow. Heavy snow. The snow has stopped as of 6:00pm but may resume tonight. This is a very nice campground. We again find that the public campgrounds are almost always better than private ones. | |
| 2/20/1990 | Cottonwood | AZ | $8.00 | Saw Montezuma Castle, and Tuzigoot (too si goot) National Monuments today. 2 excellent examples of ancient Indian villages. Both cliff dwellings and above ground stone houses. Then went to another site where Indians used a natural spring to irrigate crops. Bought new window shade for bedroom from WalMart. Sent our broken VCR to Tom's sister. | ||
| 2/21/1990 | Holbrook | AZ | OK RV Park | $15.00 | Today we moved east to Holbrook, AZ. In doing this, we drove through 7000 foot elevations near Flagstaff and beautifully covered snow capped mountains. Holbrook is the nearest town to the Painted Desert and the Pertified Forest which we should see tomorrow. Spent rest of the day around trailer. Mailed Sally Hadley a book. | |
| 2/22/1990 | Holbrook | AZ | $15.00 | Today we visited the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest, both contained in the same National Park. The park is about 25 miles long. Beautiful scenes. The park is a little hyper about people collecting rock. They almost search you leaving. Spent rest of day working on trailer until we had a power failure. | ||
| 2/23/1990 | Canyon de Chelly Ntl.Mon. | AZ | Cottonwood Campground | $ | Campground has no one else here, but lots of people coming through. Canyon de Chelly (D'Shay) is a 400 to 700 foot deep gorge with bright red sheer cliffs. Ancient Indians built cliff houses on its walls and farmed the valley floor. Modern Indians still farm and live in the valley. Very beautiful views. Got mail at Chinle. | |
| 2/24/1990 | Grand Canyon Ntl. Park | AZ | Trailer Village | $14.24 | We drove through the Navaho and Hopi Indian reservations to the Grand Canyon. As we did, the scenery changed from arid desert, to tree covered, snowy high country. We got caught in the snow when we tried to reposition the trailer in the campground. It took several hours, two snow shovels, and lots work to correct the matter. Saw sunset at canyon rim. Beau | |
| 2/25/1990 | Grand Canyon Ntl. Park | AZ | $14.24 | Today was a work day inside the trailer. Frank started the trip video over again and made quite a lot of progress. Tom sent postcards and caught up on some phonecalls. Overall, it was a leisurely day. Went to the rim of the canyon for the sunset. Had Aunt Lib's corn pudding for lunch and dinner! Grand Canyon is the 100th campground for this trip. | ||
| 2/26/1990 | Grand Canyon Ntl. Park | AZ | $14.24 | Today we continued work on the trip's video tape and made major progress. Did some shopping and a short trip to the city to the south, Tusayan, Arizona. Went to the bank and post office. Besides this, it was a quiet day. | ||
| 2/27/1990 | Grand Canyon Ntl. Park | AZ | $14.24 | Frank finnished the video portion of the trip tape Part 1 and started on the audio. Tom did laundry and cleaned trailer. Later we walked to the Visitor Center and watched the slide program. One of the best we've seen. At 7:30 pm we walked to the auditorium to watch a ranger program on geology. | ||
| 2/28/1990 | Grand Canyon Ntl. Park | AZ | $14.24 | Went to see the IMAX theater this morning. Very good. After the theater drove to desert view at east end of park and worked our way back looking at the overlooks. Copied some tapes to send to Tom's sister. Drove to Hopi Point to watch the sunset, then went to the evening ranger program. Ate at the cafeteria. | ||
| 3/1/1990 | Grand Canyon Ntl. Park | AZ | $14.24 | Frank finished the trip tape this evening. HURRAH! Went to see the IMAX again this morning. Great picture! Washed trailer and truck this evening. The snow is beginning to melt and the ground is barren. We are afterall in desert. | ||
| 3/2/1990 | Kingman | AZ | Circle S Campgrounds | $14.02 | This is probaly the worst campground we have ever stayed at. Almost all the residents are slummy permanents, refrigerators outside trailers, all dirt, no grass, 20 amp hookup, broken-out windows in bathhouse. Frank made corrections to trip tape and made 1 copy. Tomorrow will try to get more blanks to send to friends. | |
| 3/3/1990 | Las Vegas | NV | Stardust Camperland | $11.64 | We have a delux site with a yard, about 10 feet x 15 feet. Nice though. Tom lost some at the machines this afternoon. Sallie, Vickie, and Mel came over for drinks and a tour of the trailer this afternoon. Sallie, Vickie, Tom and Frank went out to dinner. Afterwards, Sallie took us on a tour of some of the new casinos. Fancy. | |
| 3/4/1990 | Las Vegas | NV | $11.64 | Sallie and Mel drove us to Red Rock Canyon this morning, where we saw some beautiful sandstone formations. In the evening Sallie took us out to dinner at a fancy restaurant and later to see the show at the Alladin Hotel where she runs a "follow spot". Nice show, but too loud. Afterwards Tom and Frank got a tour of the backstage and the control room. | ||
| 3/5/1990 | Las Vegas | NV | $11.64 | Today we got up and worked on the trailer. Later we had lunch with Sallie and Vickie. After lunch, Frank went to Vickie's to properly set up her VCR, and later went to Sallie's and Mel's to look through catalogues. In the evening we went to dinner at the Stardust, and ate at a "1950's Dinner". Quaint, and the food was good. | ||
| 3/6/1990 | Las Vegas | NV | $11.64 | Today, Sallie came by at 9:00 AM, and Frank and Sallie went to Valley of Fire State Park. Tom did laundry, went to the Post Office, and went shopping. Later, Frank, Sallie, Vickie, Mel and Tom had dinner in the trailer. Belly bomber chicken, potatoe salad, green bean casserole, shrimp and ice cream. Frank's new boots came today. | ||
| 3/7/1990 | Las Vegas | NV | $11.64 | Today, we called about tires this morning...we need four new ones for the trailer. Then Sallie, Frank and Tom walked the Strip. We tried to repair the twin lever, but couldn't. We'll try again later. Tonight, Frank went to work with Sallie to watch her do "spots" during the show. Tom's five day loss was $ 50.00. Not bad. | ||
| 3/8/1990 | Death Valley Ntl Monument | CA | Texas Springs Campground | $5.00 | Said good bye to Vickie this morning and left Las Vegas. We are camped just below sea level (and we don't even have to hold our breaths). Almost completely barren country, but very beautiful colors. Water is nearby. The only complaint is lots of children running around making a great deal of noise. | |
| 3/9/1990 | Death Valley Ntl Monument | CA | $5.00 | After breakfast, drove to Badwater, the lowest road in the western hemisphre, 279.8 feet below sea level, the lowest spot is only 2 feet lower about 4 miles away. After lunch, walked a nature trail, went into an abandond mine, about 200 feet long, and drove to Dantes View, a mountain 5475 feet high and only a mile away from Badwater. | ||
| 3/10/1990 | Death Valley Ntl Monument | CA | Mesquite Spring | $5.00 | We are now at the northern end of Death Valley, and the wind is heavy, so far gusting to 27 mph. Visited Scotty's Castle, where a cowboy named Scott lived with a weathly person named Johnson. Beautiful mansion. Also saw a volcanic crater, but couldn't stay because the wind was fierce, and we thought it would blow us and our cameras away. | |
| 3/11/1990 | Lake Isabella | CA | Pioneer Corp of Engieers | $8.00 | We have truly seen it all. Maine during a record heat wave, Florida during an ice storm, and now Death Valley in a rain storm. Beautiful mountains and valleys today, lots of ups and downs, from below sea level to above a mile high, several times. This is our first Corp of Engineers campground. Very nice with paved roads, sites and beautiful views. | |
| 3/12/1990 | Lost Hills | CA | Lost Hills KOA | $14.40 | Got new tires for the trailer today in Bakersfield, CA. The old tires had 18091 miles on them. We came through the Sierra Nevada mountains this morning through a vast chasm where the road was just wide enough for 2 to pass. We are now in the San Joaquin Valley with irrigation sprinklers all around us. | |
| 3/13/1990 | Morro Bay | CA | Morro Bay State Park | $10.00 | We left the San Joaquin Valley today and headed for the coast. The hills near the Pacific Ocean are gorgeous, with a lush green color of spring. The trees are blooming, as are many of the flowers. Our state campground has a large amount of hummingbirds and monarch butterflies. We are camped several hundred feet from the ocean. A nice place. | |
| 3/14/1990 | Morro Bay | CA | $10.00 | We drove down the coast to San Luis Obismo. Also stoped at Montana De Oro state park which is a sea scape of cliffs right on the ocean. Beautiful. Left the rear leveler, which broke back in Ohio, at an RV repair shop. Hopefully they can fix it before tomorrow. Frank could not get the pin out which holds the system together. | ||
| 3/15/1990 | Morro Bay | CA | $10.00 | We decided to stay here another day. Drove back to Montana De Oro state park and took videos and pictures. Then down to a beach and videoed some surfers and big surf. Called Ellie and Curt just after sunset. We got the rear leveler back and Frank installed both levelers together on the rear of trailer. They work great. | ||
| 3/16/1990 | Fort Ord Army Base | CA | East Garrison Rec Area | $7.00 | We drove up the coast highway, Rt 1, today. Beautiful coastline scenery. Got mail at Big Sur. Paid telephone bills. The two rear levelers worked wonderfully. They raised the rear of the trailer with no trouble. | |
| 3/17/1990 | Fort Ord Army Base | CA | $7.00 | Drove around the town of Monterey and did some walking. Later went back to the Fishermans Warf and saw the sealions. Ten or 15 of them, full grown and making an awful racket. They wanted to be fed. (see tape S27) | ||
| 3/18/1990 | Lemon Cove | CA | Horse Creek, Lake Kaweah Corp of Eng. | $8.00 | Pleasant campground with paved sites. The brochures say electric hookups available, not so. We bought a Honda 650 generator today in Fresno. Frank had to remove a bat from the campground shower. The showerhead is a lawn sprinkler, not very efficient. Nice views of mountains, but very hazy. Visibility about 15 or 20 miles. | |
| 3/19/1990 | Lemon Cove | CA | $8.00 | We went through Sequoia and Kings Canyon Ntl. Parks today. The canyon was still closed from winter, but we saw many giant sequoias. Beautiful trees, some over 300 feet tall, and 50 feet in diameter. These trees can live over 4000 years and are the largest living things on earth. Lots of snow above 5000 feet. | ||
| 3/20/1990 | Atwater | CA | Castle Fam Camp Castle AFB | $7.50 | This is a stop before Yosemite to charge the battery and clean the trailer. Not a very good campground. Just an old parking lot with hookups. Our neighbors smoke, and the jet planes are making much noise. Got oil changed in truck in Merced, where Frank spent a night back in 1969, when visiting Scott Hadley. Got a gas can for generator at PX. | |
| 3/21/1990 | Yosemite Ntl. Park | CA | Lower Pines | $12.00 | Last night the Air Force tested big jet engines at 3:00am. We entered Yosemite early to find a campsite. Lots of sites to chose from. Overheated the truck's front breaks on a long downhill run. The valley is as beautiful as ever. Yosemite makes the 111th campground we have stayed at. | |
| 3/22/1990 | Yosemite Ntl. Park | CA | $12.00 | Frank walked about 4 miles around the valley this morning while Tom did laundry. Tried to work on mercerator pump, but was missing a special tool. Later we drove to the tunnel overlook to take pictures. Used the generator for first time this morning. Worked fine. | ||
| 3/23/1990 | Yosemite Ntl. Park | CA | $12.00 | Walked to Mirror Lake this afternoon. The lake is filling up with sand and will soon be Mirror Meadow. On the way back to camp, we stopped by Happy Isles, an area where the Merced river splits, making several islands. The Nature Center there is still closed. Got mail at Yosemite Village. Bought stuffed racoon at Yosemite Village Store. | ||
| 3/24/1990 | Yosemite Ntl. Park | CA | $12.00 | Last night the changeover valve on the propane tanks went bad. Had to switch tanks in order to run heater. Today drove to Maraposa to shop, then to the grove of big trees near southern end of park. We walked the trail to the upper grove, about 4 or 5 miles, which climbed 1000 feet. We are tired. Got home about 7:20 after dark. Got new wheels for blue tank | ||
| 3/25/1990 | Yosemite Ntl. Park | CA | $12.00 | Tom worked on taxes while Frank drove around the valley and took videos. Later we walked around Curry Village, and Yosemite Lodge. There has been a pile of snow behind the trailer which is slowly melting. This morning something began to show through. After digging away more snow we found a 5 gallon blue sewer tank. This might be useful. | ||
| 3/26/1990 | Yosemite Ntl. Park | CA | $12.00 | After breakfast and a trip to the post office, we took off and climbed the Mist Trail to the top of Vernal Falls. Most of the climbing was on stone stairs. Beautiful views though. We are again very tired. The Mist Trail was not as misty as usual today; we hardly got wet. | ||
| 3/27/1990 | Yosemite Ntl. Park | CA | $12.00 | Hetch Hetchey Reservoir was the trip for today. This is a large valley similar to Yosemite, still within the park, that was damed up in the 1930s to hold water for San Fransisco. Beautiful mountains. This evening it rained some in the campground (.01 inch) with a little lightning. | ||
| 3/28/1990 | Yosemite Ntl. Park | CA | $12.00 | This morning Frank walked around the valley while Tom wrote several letters and postcards. After mailing them, we went to the tunnel overlook and shot some more pictures. Called Scott. | ||
| 3/29/1990 | Atwater | CA | Castle Fam Camp Castle AFB | $7.50 | Leaving Yosemite, we returned here to cleanup and recharge the battery. We have decided to stay 2 nights to do laundry and shopping. | |
| 3/30/1990 | Atwater | CA | $7.50 | We spent today doing laundry and working on trailer. Frank installed 2 more meters under sink, DC charge and AC amps. That made quite a mess in the kitchen. The airplanes are making lots of noise again tonight. | ||
| 3/31/1990 | Loomis | CA | KOA-Loomis | $17.55 | We left Castle Air Force Base after pulling the trailer up onto the grass and thoroughly washing it. Tom had spent over an hour the night before washing the truck. We are enroute to Reno, NV. We drove past Sacramento to camp in Loomis. Then we worked on projects and went to a mall to shop. Tonight, the 1990 US Census caught up with us. We are counte | |
| 4/1/1990 | Reno | NV | Bally's Camperland | $16.20 | Passing over Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevadas, we came to Reno. This town is not like Las Vegas. There are less people, less development, and the place does not seem as exciting. | |
| 4/2/1990 | Reno | NV | $16.20 | We drove to see Lake Tahoe and pick up mail at Crystal Bay, which is on the north end of the lake. Beautiful, the water is 99.1 percent pure. You can see many feet down. Beautiful mountains all around the lake. | ||
| 4/3/1990 | Reno | NV | $16.20 | Decided to stay here one more day and repair plumbing. The backflow preventing valve feeding the toilet broke and we needed a new pressure tank. Tom finally made about 4 dollars at the casino. Decided to go south to Mono Lake region before heading east. | ||
| 4/4/1990 | Mammouth Lakes | CA | Mammoth Mountain RV Park | $22.00 | We visited Mono Lake today. This is a beautiful area with strange formations called Tufa. These are formed as calcium rich springs emerge into the carbonate rich lake water. As the lake receded (water is diverted in the mountains for Los Angles) the towers are exposed to the air. This is not a bad campground, but they are gouging on their pr | |
| 4/5/1990 | Tonopah | NV | The Station House Casino & Campground | $12.00 | Wide open desert country today. Lots of it. Tall mountains with nothing but desert between. This campground is just a part of the casino's parking lot. We are looking at all the parked cars and the back of a tacky looking building. Tonopah is a mining town and they are proud of it. This is also the home of the Stealth Bomber. | |
| 4/6/1990 | Ely | NV | KOA of Ely | $14.58 | This is a nice campground with pleasant views. The owners are cordial. We saw a thunder storm, lightning, and a beautiful rainbow. it must be spring. Made many phone calls today, all useful. It is supposed to snow in Wash. DC tonight, and is snowing now in Luray. Wish we were there. During the day we drove for over 100 miles passing only 4 cars. | |
| 4/7/1990 | Great Basin Ntl Park | NV | Lower Lehman Creek | $ | Very beautiful. Snow capped mountains, broad flat valleys, interesting caverns. We are in a mountain valley, surrounded by white birch trees, a babbling brook is just outside our window. Snow on the mountainside just one hundred feet away. Quiet, peaceful, serene. We toured the Lehman Cave this afternoon. Nice ranger. Good tour. | |
| 4/8/1990 | Ely | NV | KOA of Ely | $13.61 | After taking a hike on the park nature trail, we packed up the trailer in a blinding snowstorm and left the park. Returning to Ely, we spent most of the day working around the trailer. | |
| 4/9/1990 | Wendover | UT | StateLine Campground and Casino | $8.71 | We moved north today enroute to Salt Lake City, Utah. Tonight we are camped in a very nice campground with full hookups. Even the site is nicely paved and lighted...with tiedowns in the cement for the awning. We visited Bonneville Speedway area today. Flat, salty, and alkaline. We are camped next to a casino. The casino in Nevada; the campground in Ut | |
| 4/10/1990 | Layton | UT | Hill Air Force Base Campground | $ | Crossed the great Salt Lake Desert this morning. 100 miles of absolutely flat salt covered ground. No plants or animals. It rained here during the last couple of days so there are many shallow lakes. The base here is going through an alert drill. There are many airmen coming and going, with lots of jets taking off and landing. | |
| 4/11/1990 | Layton | UT | $ | Drove to West Jordan, Utah, to get a mail package. Then had a salad lunch and went to downtown Salt Lake City and toured the Square where the Morman Tabernacle and Cathedral are located. Very beautiful. | ||
| 4/12/1990 | Layton | UT | $ | The campground empted out this morning and we decided to move futher from the road. Next we drove about 60 miles to Promontory, Utah, to see the Golden Spike Ntl. Monument, where the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. The occasion was marked by the driving of a golden spike to tie the Union Pacific & Central Pacific Railroads together | ||
| 4/13/1990 | Layton | UT | $10.00 | Frank spent the entire day working on Lex trying to restore the trailer inventory system which was inadvertently deleted when the new update of Lex was installed. Tom did clothes and some shopping. The campground started charging today. (Until now it had been free.) | ||
| 4/14/1990 | Richfield | UT | KOA Richfield | $15.25 | We had a pleasant day driving south of Salt Lake City into the western central section of Utah. We are headed for the National Park systems in the southern part of the state. Richfield is a nice, quaint town...busily preparing for Easter...tomorrow. Met a neighbor who worked for Firestone in Akron when Tom lived there. Nice conversation. | |
| 4/15/1990 | Bryce Canyon Ntl. Park | UT | North Campground | $6.00 | We got a nice campsite not too far from the restroom and water. Tried using the 5 gallon blue sewer tank we found in Yosemite this evening. It is light enough to carry easily. We walked to the rim of the canyon this afternoon, and again after dark to look at the stars. Beautiful, but not as crystal clear as expected. Frank installed GFI in breaker box. | |
| 4/16/1990 | Bryce Canyon Ntl. Park | UT | $6.00 | On our 2nd day here we drove the park road and stopped at the overlooks. Very beautiful. Rugged spires of red and white rock. This could really be called Badlands. As the rancher Ebeneezer Bryce once said "This is a hell of a place to loose a cow." We wanted to hike a nature trail to see some bristle cone pines, but the trail was covered with 2 feet of snow. | ||
| 4/17/1990 | Cedar City | UT | Cedar City KOA | $15.20 | We left Bryce Canyon this morning enroute to Cedar City. Our plan was to leave the trailer in a campground at Cedar City, and then visit Cedar Breaks National Monument. Unfortunately, snow had closed the road to Cedar Breaks, so, we went to the bank, grocery store, K-Mart, did laundry, cleaned the trailer, and installed new fog lights on truck instead. | |
| 4/18/1990 | Zion Ntl Park | UT | Watchman | $6.00 | This is a beautiful park. It does look like a Yosemite in color. Our campsite is in the bottom of the canyon, looking up onto the red and white cliffs. Light rain in late afternoon. Even though only about 20 percent of the campground is occupied, several very noisy campers have picked the site right next to us. We will probably move tomorrow if they don't | |
| 4/19/1990 | Zion Ntl Park | UT | South | $6.00 | The noise continued until after 11:30 last night so we moved to the other campground. That was a good move; we are 20 feet from the river, nice rushing water, and are looking out our window directly at a beautiful peak. Hiked the Emerald Pool and Gateway to the Narrows trails. Lots of walking and climbing. Truck turned 50,000 miles today. | |
| 4/20/1990 | Glen Canyon Ntl. Rec Aera | AZ | Wahweap Canpground | $6.00 | Pleasant campground with a good view of Lake Powell. We stoped at Pipe Springs Ntl. Momument, a reconstructed Mormon Fort with a working farm and ranch. Quite nice. Saw a very interesting cloud with rainbow colors on the desert,(see tape T30 near end). Toured Glen Canyon Dam in afternoon. Went down inside the dam and saw the generators. (1.03 gigawatts.) | |
| 4/21/1990 | Moument Valley | UT | Goulding's KOA | $16.37 | We are in a canyon looking out toward the fantastic rock monoliths of Monument Valley. The valley first became famous back in the 1930s when the film western "Stage Coach" was made here. That film was the first major role by John Wayne. | |
| 4/22/1990 | Capitol Reef Ntl. Park | UT | Fruita | $5.00 | Long drive today. Stopped at Natural Bridges Ntl. Park on the way, three beautiful arches carved by water action. This is a nice campground, in a narrow valley, with 300 foot red sandstone walls, lots of grass and fruit trees. We changed the oil in the generator this afternoon, then couldn't get it to run, will try again tomorrow. | |
| 4/23/1990 | Capitol Reef Ntl. Park | UT | $5.00 | On our full day here, we drove the 20 mile dirt scenic drive and walked about 2 miles down a wash in the bottom of several hundred foot shear cliffs. Beautiful red brown and yellow sandstones. Made reservations for The Denver & Rio Grande railroad, and ordered a new GFI plug for the trailer. The old one died on us on Friday. | ||
| 4/24/1990 | Moab | UT | Moab KOA | $15.97 | Today was quite an experience. We started off in a heavy rain, then 60 miles out, we ran into road construction. Not just mud, but the type of mire you hear about on the dirt roads of the early 1920s. We turned around, and went 200 miles out of our way.Somewhere along the way, we lost a wheelcover off the trailer. Washed the trailer in Blanding. | |
| 4/25/1990 | Moab | UT | $15.97 | A day of spending was in store for us. After installing a new trailer brake control unit, we discovered that this was not the problem. A trip to the RV service place ended up with new brake shoes, and repacking all 4 bearings. Expensive, but it was needed. That occupied the entire day. You would not believe the mud. Trailer milage at brake change-- 21, | ||
| 4/26/1990 | Moab | UT | $15.97 | Drove through Arches Ntl. Park. Beautiful sandstone arches created by wind dripping water, frost, and exfoliation. Over 1000 of them, ranging from 3 feet to over 200 feet. Later decided to go to Canyon Lands Ntl. Park, about 30 miles away. We are very impressed. Not as big as Grand Canyon, but more stark. It looks like God used a laser to cut the landscape | ||
| 4/27/1990 | Mesa Verde Ntl. Park | CO | Morefield | $14.50 | We were suprised to find hookups in this campground. Took a guided tour of Spruce Tree House Ruin. The ranger was very interesting. Lots of new ideas about the Indians. We now know they left the cliff dwellings because of the "Little Ice Age" which reduced their already short growing season below what was needed to grow one harvest of corn, much less to try | |
| 4/28/1990 | Mesa Verde Ntl. Park | CO | $14.50 | Today was leisurely and quite productive. We toured the Ancient Indian ruins, including several of their homes...some constructed in A.D. 900. Later we went shopping in Cortez, Colorado. Frank got a pair of cordless earphones that aren't quite what we need (to be returned), a Honda dealer helped us get the generator running again, and we did normal shoppi | ||
| 4/29/1990 | Navago Lake State Park | NM | Pines | $13.00 | After getting here, we setup camp and went to see Aztec Ruins National Monument. A partially restored stone city with over 500 rooms. Also there is a fully restored Kiva, a religious type building. Wonderful. Nice campground with small trees and a view of the lake. | |
| 4/30/1990 | Bandelier Ntl. Monument | NM | Juniper | $6.00 | Pinion Pine/ Juniper forest again. Nice, but we miss tall trees. We returned the headphone system this morning, and Frank installed a test device on the trailer brakes. They still are not working right. | |
| 5/1/1990 | Bandelier Ntl. Monument | NM | $6.00 | Went to the Los Alamos Museum, this is where the first atomic bomb was created. More recently, the Cray Super Computers were developed here. Much research is performed on nuclear energy, medical research, and more than can be mentioned. The museum was interesting and should be visited by anyone coming through town, but Frank found it a bit disjointed. | ||
| 5/2/1990 | Taos | NM | Taos Valley RV Park | $15.06 | Taos is an interesting town; all the buildings are finished in a southwestern style, rounded corners, stucco. Went to see Rio Grande bridge in the afternoon. Over 600 feet above the river which has cut a gorge in the bottom of a flat bottomed valley. Rained most of the day. This campground, although nice, is quite muddy with adobe clay. | |
| 5/3/1990 | Great Sand Dunes Ntl. Pk. | CO | Pinyon Flatts | $6.00 | These Great Sand Dunes are the largest in North America. Rising over 700 feet, they are caused by wind currents blowing through several passes in the mountains. Frank gave the trailer jacks a lube this afternoon. Lots of deer around this campground. Bought living room blinds. Walked near dunes but was stopped by a creek which flows only in the spring. | |
| 5/4/1990 | Durango | CO | Alpen Rose RV Park | $18.74 | Today we were somewhat indifferent. We left the Great Sand Dunes National Monument and headed for Durango. But do we go half way or the entire 200 miles? It turned out half way was in the high country with snow and mud, so we went to Durango. Went through a beautiful pass in the Continental Divide. Tom washed the truck. | |
| 5/5/1990 | Durango | CO | Ponderosa KOA | $18.10 | Spent most of the day shopping in Durango. Watched the train on its first run of the season. Moved to a better campground. Changed oil in truck, and picked up train tickets. | |
| 5/6/1990 | Durango | CO | $18.10 | Drove to Silverton and looked around. Shot videos as we went over the mountain. Frank needed a neck strap to hold his glasses while video taping. The first store in Silverton we went into had them. So, Frank now has a strap which is "Glow in the Dark" light green. WOW! It blows his quiet, reserved image. Maybe in a day or so we'll try some shoe pol | ||
| 5/7/1990 | Durango | CO | $18.10 | A most exciting day. A ride on the Durango and Silverton narrow guage railroad. Beautiful scenery as the train winds through the deep and narrow Animas River Valley. The trip took all day. We had lunch at a restaurant in Silverton called the Pickle Barrel. We decided to return to the RV shop in Moab to have our brakes fixed properly. | ||
| 5/8/1990 | Moab | UT | Moab KOA | $15.97 | We drove back to Moab, UT, to get the same person who worked on the trailer brakes to continue to work on the problem. It appears there is a short, or a magnet that is not working correctly. The repairman was too busy today, so we'll try tomorrow at 7:30 AM. Moab is having a dust storm today. This is Franks's first major dust storm. | |
| 5/9/1990 | Colorado Ntl. Monument | CO | Saddlehorn | $6.00 | Today we had the trailer brakes (magnet) repaired, got propane, and moved on...into Colorado. We stopped for lunch at this National Monument and decided to stay the night. It is a beautiful, canyoned area with deep gorges. Tonight it should be below freezing. Live dangerously, we have lots of propane and the furnance works. | |
| 5/10/1990 | Black Canyon of Gunnison | CO | South Rim | $ | Only 2 other people in campground. The area is not like we remembered it, the bushes have grown since we were here 6 years ago. The canyon is 2000 feet deep and only 1500 feet across in places. Very dark rock. Stark, beautiful, forboding. No water is available at all. Not turned on yet. We decided to only stay 1 night, instead of the 2 we were planning. | |
| 5/11/1990 | Coaldale | CO | Hidden Valley Lake Campground | $12.04 | We drove east toward Colorado Springs. Enroute we climbed to 11,312 feet at the Continental Divide at Monarch Pass. We are now in a terraced, overflow area, which is quite nice. A little rudimentary. The entire campground was rented by a "camping-square dance" group---which is neat. That is probably why they looked curiously at us when we drove in. | |
| 5/12/1990 | Woodland Park | CO | Town & Country RV Park | $12.84 | Light rain and snow on and off most of the day. This is a nice campground; we have trees around us again. Went to Colorado Springs to look around, nice town, and we returned a pair of binoculars to the PX at Fort Carson. | |
| 5/13/1990 | Woodland Park | CO | $12.84 | This morning saw a trip to Florissant Fossil Beds Ntl. Monument. Some very large standing petrified redwood stumps; one of which is 40 feet around. Later went to see the Valley of the Gods park in Colorado Springs. Beautiful vertical red rock formations. Bought stuffed eagle at Garden's Visitor Center. | ||
| 5/14/1990 | Woodland Park | CO | $12.84 | Today we attempted to travel the Gold Camp Road to Cripple Creek, an old mining town. The camp road is the railbed of an old narrow gauge railroad which was used to haul out the ore. One of the tunnels collapsed so the road was closed. We went shopping and saw "The Hunt for Red October". It is a very good movie. | ||
| 5/15/1990 | Woodland Park | CO | $12.84 | Rising early this morning we rode up Pikes Peak on the cog railway. Some beautiful scenery. The train cars are modern Swiss-built railway cars, but without a steam engine pulling them, not as interesting as Mount Washington in New Hampshire. The afternoon saw us at Cripple Creek and Victor via another road. Old gold mining towns. | ||
| 5/16/1990 | Golden | CO | Golden Clear Creek Campground | $13.50 | After setting up, we went on a tour of the Coors Beer Brewery...largest in the world. They produce over 1,500,00 gallons of beer each day. They even give free samples of ther products. Nice. Later Frank worked on the truck's wiring. | |
| 5/17/1990 | Golden | CO | $13.50 | An early morning trip to Georgetown, CO., to see the reconstructed Georgetown loop, an unusual railroad where in order to gain elevation it loops over itself. Later drove to Echo Lake at the foot of Mt. Evans where Frank spent several days back in 1967. The paved road to the top is still closed. Bought Sony cordless headphones today. | ||
| 5/18/1990 | Estes Park | CO | Spruce Lake RV Park | $18.96 | We left beautiful Golden, CO, and the Coors brewery behind and headed toward beautiful Estes Park, CO, near Rocky Mountains National Park. This area is also beautiful with mountain peaks, and glaciers over 14,000 feet. The wind was fierce at about 35 MPH. Cable TV is a nice luxury. Picked up mail and Books-on-Tape today. Bought hardware supplies and Torro | |
| 5/19/1990 | Estes Park | CO | $18.96 | Did some shoping this morning, then went into the Rocky Mountain Ntl. Park. Saw their film, and bought a book on Grand Teton. In the afternoon, Frank worked on the trailer, while Tom did laundry. | ||
| 5/20/1990 | Estes Park | CO | $18.77 | Finished off the 300th day letter, ready to be mailed. Went into the Park after lunch and found ourselves in a blinding snow storm. It cleared just in time to see the view from Rainbow Curve, which is as far as the road is open. Tom washed the trailer in evening, and Frank installed the cordless headphones. | ||
| 5/21/1990 | Warren Air Force Base | WY | Fam Camp | $8.50 | Mailed 300th day letters and walked around the pretty town of Estes Park. In the evening, we walked around the AF base and looked at the historic buildings which make up the housing area. This campgorund has nice yellow aluminum picnic tables. | |
| 5/22/1990 | Douglas | WY | Jackalope Campground KOA | $16.52 | On the way we stopped at Fort Laramie Ntl. Historical Site. A partially reconstructed trading post along the Oregon trail. Quite interesting. We are now in the plains, grasslands as far as one can see. The front range of the Rockies is in the distance to our west. | |
| 5/23/1990 | Dubois | WY | Circle-Up Camper Court | $16.28 | Drove across a good portion of Wyoming today. Some nice scenery. Listened to more of Huckelberry Finn tape along the way. Tomorrow we will go into Jackson's Hole. | |
| 5/24/1990 | Jackson | WY | Best Holiday Trav-L-Park | $14.84 | This campground is in a beautiful setting, tall mountains all around, quite meadows, tall trees, horses in next field. It rained and snowed and sleeted this evening. | |
| 5/25/1990 | Jackson | WY | Virginian RV Park | $21.19 | Moved to a campground closer to town. Nice, but noiser than last night. Spent most of the day in trailer looking at rented videos. | |
| 5/26/1990 | Jackson | WY | $21.19 | Today was a western day. First was the Parade. We had never seen so many horses in one place. Next came the western music and Frank got thrown into jail. ($2.00 bail to the JCs to get out) Then trick horses. Finaly we ended the day with a Rodeo. This is definitely a horse town. Frank shot over one hour of tape. | ||
| 5/27/1990 | Jackson | WY | $21.19 | The Grand Teton Park is one of the most beautiful parks we have seen. The mountains rise over a mile above the flat valley floor with Jackson Lake in the foreground. This was a day to remember. Frank got a cowboy statue at the gift shop in the park. | ||
| 5/28/1990 | Yellowstone Ntl. Park | WY | Fishing Bridge RV Park | $16.80 | We moved to Yellowstone today. We were surprised to find a large RV park with full hookups here. No complaints though. It is supposed to snow tonight; we shall see. Saw several buffalo and a moose this evening. We had to buy a 50 to 30 amp adaptor. They don't have 30 amp plugs on their electrical hookups. | |
| 5/29/1990 | Yellowstone Ntl. Park | WY | $16.80 | We moved to a less congested area of the campground...one that has a higher concentration of bears. Oh well, better them than noisy campers. We toured Mud Volcano and Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls today.Frank worked on some videos and Tom did some writing. A pleasant day. It did not snow last night. | ||
| 5/30/1990 | Yellowstone Ntl. Park | WY | $16.80 | Today we toured the park's Upper Loop. This included Tower Falls, Mammoth Hot Springs, and various beautiful valleys. We saw deer, elk, bison, and mountain goats. We saw a new born goat about 3 minutes old, and a calf elk about 10 minutes old. Later we saw another calf elk that could hardly walk. Its mother was trying to cross a stream. Unbelievable beauty. | ||
| 5/31/1990 | Yellowstone Ntl. Park | WY | $16.80 | Today we toured the Lower Loop of Yellowstone National Park. We saw Old Faithful and other geysers in the area. It rained very heavily while we were walking around the geyser area. Later we had lunch at Yellowstone Inn. A beautiful old, multi-story log cabin. It was nice to eat real food. We have been on diets for some time. | ||
| 6/1/1990 | Yellowstone Ntl. Park | WY | $16.80 | We stayed around camp most of the day. We went to the photo store to redo a few prints, went for a walk through a campground that is not opened. Tom drove to West Yellowstone to get the mail, and Frank completed copying Star Trek: The Next Generation tapes. It is getting cold and it is June. It is now 8:30 PM and the temp is 39 deg. | ||
| 6/2/1990 | Yellowstone Natl Park | WY | Madison | $7.00 | We moved closer to Old Faithful today. Only 16 miles away. Unfortunately, it kept raining and we still did not get the "backlight photo shot". Later in the day we drove to West Yellowstone, MT; Frank now has a new grey western hat. We went for a walk along the Madison river. Even though it is June, the temperature dropped below frezzing tonight. | |
| 6/3/1990 | Idaho Falls | ID | Idaho Falls KOA | $15.89 | We moved on into Idaho to get new tires for the truck. Frank cleaned out the back of the truck and thoroughly cleaned the towing hitch. Tom did the laundry. It is amazing that we left behind weather that got below freezing in the evening, to weather that was seventy degrees. | |
| 6/4/1990 | Idaho Falls | ID | $15.89 | Today was an expensive work day. We needed two new tires for the truck and a front end alignment. We got the oil changed. Then we went shopping for CDs, coat racks with porcelain knobs, groceries and a movie. The weather was warm and sunny with occasional high gusts of wind. | ||
| 6/5/1990 | Craters of the Moon Mon. | ID | Lava Flow Campground | $ | Today we moved west from Idaho Falls, after touring the Falls. We past the Department of Energy nuclear breeder reactors, the first nuclear power plant, and the town which first used power from a nuclear source. We are in this beautiful, lava-volcano National Mounument. We even went into lava caves today. Nice area. | |
| 6/6/1990 | Boise | ID | Fiesta Park | $16.85 | Today we moved further west enroute to Crater Lake. We are now in the state capital. The campground is extremely well maintained with a nice pool. The lawn is the best we have seen...almost perfect grass without weeds. | |
| 6/7/1990 | Vale | OR | Bully Creek Resevoir Park | $5.00 | Today we moved on into the State of Oregon. At lunchtime, we pulled over beside a US highway just to start lunch cooking in the oven. However, we could not get the truck started again. AAA towed Tom and the truck to a gargage 27 miles away, while Frank stayed with the trailer. A new starter may help; the solenoid probably is bad too. Will change later. | |
| 6/8/1990 | Vale | OR | $5.00 | We worked on truck repair today. First we changed the solenoid, then the battery cable, and finally the battery...even through a load test read "GOOD". That corrected the problem. The truck now starts. Then we worked on the trailer and truck. | ||
| 6/9/1990 | Bend | OR | Crown Villa RV Park | $17.33 | Today we moved west toward Crater Lake National Park which neither of us have seen. It will take two days to get there. The truck starts, but may not be completely fixed yet. We are camped in a nice RV/Mobile home park which is practically empty. It is nice to have cable. | |
| 6/10/1990 | Crater Lake Ntl. Park | OR | Mazama | $8.00 | Our initial feeling of this park is tacky and poorly organized. No maps or brochures. Signs are poor. People are quite friendly. It was snowing on and off when we got to the top. In between however, the lake is fantastic. Deep blue even with cloudy weather. We are still having trouble with the truck starter. | |
| 6/11/1990 | Crater Lake Ntl. Park | OR | $8.00 | Today we made plans to have the truck's starter worked on by a Ford dealer. We will move to Klamath Falls in the morning and stay at a KOA. We toured the park and got some wonderful footage of Crater Lake. Today was sunny and the lake is beautiful. Got mail at a small post office in the Visitor Center. | ||
| 6/12/1990 | Klamath Falls | OR | Klamath Falls KOA | $15.28 | Today we drove to Klamath Falls's Ford dealer for service. They believe they will have the truck fixed by morning. We hope so. We need to get along on the visit to more National Parks. | |
| 6/13/1990 | Lava Beds Ntl. Monument | CA | Indian Well Campground | $6.00 | Today we got the truck out of the Ford dealer and drove on to Lava Beds National Monument. The caves here are much better than those at Craters of the Moon. This is a very interesting place. Nearby was a Japanese internment camp during World War II. Truck had ignition switch, lube, wheel bearings repacked, and sparkplugs. | |
| 6/14/1990 | Lassen Volcanic Ntl. Park | CA | Manzanita Lake | $7.00 | This is a very nice campground. Lots of space between sites. Got mail at Old Station, CA. We toured several more caves before leaving this morning, Frank used his movie light, which lit up the cave very nicely. One of the caves had perpetual ice in the bottom. | |
| 6/15/1990 | Lassen Volcanic Ntl. Park | CA | $7.00 | We drove the park road today. Quite pretty. The $2.00 guide was terribly written and a good number of the road markers were missing. Bought stamps at Old Station. | ||
| 6/16/1990 | Redding | CA | Sacramento River RV Park | $17.10 | After setting up, we drove around town looking for a box to put park folders in. No luck. Bought Lumiline lamp, and parchment paper for computer. | |
| 6/17/1990 | Redding | CA | $17.10 | Today we did projects around the trailer. Cleaning under the kitchen seats where the trailer hitch bars are kept, the back of the truck, laundry and other projects. We also visited a National Park - Whiskeytown Unit. This used to be a gold mining area, which has been dammed and flooded, making a beautiful lake. | ||
| 6/18/1990 | Arcata | CA | Mad River Rapids RV Park | $17.82 | Coming over the mountains today, we had much difficulty with the truck. Lots of pinging, noise and poor power. We will stay here until we get the truck fixed right. This is a nice campground. Paved sites, lots of grass, sites not too close together. | |
| 6/19/1990 | Arcata | CA | $17.82 | Took the truck into a Ford dealer in Eureka. After several hours finally found a broken spark plug. That seems to have fixed the problem. We now have a great weight lifted from our shoulders. | ||
| 6/20/1990 | Crescent City | CA | Crescent City Redwoods KOA | $16.65 | Left the campground early and drove north through Redwood National Park along US 101. After setting up here, we drove through part of the park along a one lane dirt road, and saw one of the biggest of the redwood trees. Very similar to the sequois. Very tall and very beautiful. This is the area where Return of the Jeddi was filmed. | |
| 6/21/1990 | Gold Beach | OR | Arizona Beach Campground | $15.00 | The truck is performing nicely. Our site is right on the beach. The ocean is about 400 feet away. Beautiful shoreline with huge rocks and cliffs. We spent most of the day just relaxing and looking at the waves. | |
| 6/22/1990 | Winchester Bay | OR | Umpqua Lighthouse Park | $11.00 | This is one of the best public campgrounds we have stayed at. Rated up with Fisherman's Memorial State park in Rhode Island. Lots of trees, paved sites and roads, full hookups (20 amp electric), decent spacing between sites. The restrooms are old, but clean and in good repair. Drove to the beach in afternoon. Rain and drizzle most of the day. | |
| 6/23/1990 | Lincoln City | OR | Lincoln City KOA | $14.85 | Not a very nice campground. The power kept going off causing us to have to reset the breaker. We are seeing some nice scenery along the coast, but tremendous traffic and the road is rough and keeps throwing the truck and trailer all over the place, making driving tiring. | |
| 6/24/1990 | Hammond | OR | Fort Stevens State Park | $11.00 | Oregon state parks appear to be the best overall state parks we have seen. This is another very nice park. Clean showers, lots of trees. We toured the area today, and visited Fort Clasop Ntl. Historic site, where Lewis and Clark spent the winter on the Pacific Ocean. | |
| 6/25/1990 | Hammond | OR | $11.00 | We extended another day today so that we could drive into Scappoose, Oregon, where Frank has his boots made. This is an excellent factory, known nationwide for the quality of materials and workmanship. Frank was fitted by the owner. He will have a pair of boots rebuilt. We later visited Ft Vancouver Nat'l Historic Site in Washington state. | ||
| 6/26/1990 | Hammond | OR | $11.00 | We visited Fort Stevens here in the park today. This fort was started during the civil war and closed at the end of World War II. It is noted for being the only military installation in the continental US which received enemy fire since the War of 1812. A Japanese U-Boat fired at it without damage during World War II. | ||
| 6/27/1990 | Toutle | WA | Seaquest State Park | $10.50 | Not a bad state park. The full hookup sites are like most private parks, close together. We visited the Mount St. Hellens Visitor Center this afternoon. Quite nice. Operated by the Forest Service. Had neighbors over in late evening and talked until 11:00 pm. They were from Canada. | |
| 6/28/1990 | Mossyrock | WA | Ike Kinswa State Park | $10.50 | Nicer park than last night. Lots of trees and good site width. Needs some maintenance. Drove to the north side of Mount St. Hellens today. Nice views, but the mountain had clouds almost completely covering it. The plants are beginning to come back to the devastated area 10 years after the eruption. Saw a very nice Forest Service campground along the w | |
| 6/29/1990 | Mossyrock | WA | $10.50 | We drove through Mount Rainier Ntl. Park today. Beautiful but the top of the mountain was covered with clouds most of the day. Lots of snow on top. Had a nice picnic in the park, and bought Mr. Woofers (a cute stuffed Husky Dog toy) at the Visitor Center. | ||
| 6/30/1990 | Puyallup | WA | Majestic Mobile Manor | $16.17 | We drove north today into the Seattle area. Later we went to Camping World, went shopping, and watched TV. Earlier we did some work on the computer and paid some bills. Frank has inventoried the National Parks/ Monuments brochures. | |
| 7/1/1990 | Kent | WA | Seattle South KOA | $19.30 | We moved to a nicer campground this morning. Most of the sites are very close together, but ours looks over a small yard and the street. Went shopping today. | |
| 7/2/1990 | Kent | WA | $19.30 | Today we drove down to Longview (110 miles) so that Frank could visit Kaiser-Permanente, his HMO. His elbow has been aching quite badly. He has an inflamed elbow and aspirin is the prescription. Then we came home, went to Camping World, and watched TV. While in Longview we went to Jiffy Lube for an oil change. | ||
| 7/3/1990 | Kent | WA | $19.30 | Spent most of the day shopping and looking around malls. Got new wheel covers for the trailer, and food. Frank installed a new fuse block on the trailer battery. | ||
| 7/4/1990 | Kent | WA | $19.30 | Today we went into the city of Seattle. We visited Lake Washington Ship Canal and Hiram M. Chittenden Locks (including the fish ladders), Seattle Center including the Pacific Science Center and an IMAX film, Klondike Gold Rush National Park, and the docks/restaurants/shopping areas. Later, at the trailer, we saw a nearby fireworks display and watche | ||
| 7/5/1990 | Hoquiam | WA | Ocean City State Park | $10.50 | Not a bad campground, but our faith in human kind hit quite a low when we drove in. The last camper had dumped all their kitchen garbage all over the campsite. It took us about a half hour to clean it up. Went to Pacific beach to pick up mail. It rained most of the day on and off. | |
| 7/6/1990 | Forks | WA | Bogachiel State Park | $9.00 | Nice campground, only electric hookups and they are new. The park has been here since 1931, operated by local residents; then in 1961, it was taken over by the state. We walked through the Quinalt rain forest today on the same path we took 4 years ago. They get 145 inches of rain here each year; that's compared to about 40 inches in Virginia. | |
| 7/7/1990 | Anacortes | WA | Washington Park | $10.00 | We drove north around the Olympic Range of mountains to Port Townsend. Here we took the trailer on a ferry for a half hour ride to Whidbey Island. We again visited beautiful Deception Pass where the waters are blue-green, deep and swift. We have a nice camp site and are lucky to get in since it is crowded. (Toll for the ferry was $26.25) | |
| 7/8/1990 | Winthrop | WA | Pearrygin Lake State Park | $10.50 | We drove east through the beautiful and rugged Cascade Mountain Range. The rivers were dammed and were green-blue. We had lunch beside a river that is used by spawning salmon and visited by bald eagles. We stopped to camp in a nice state park and had a very good site. | |
| 7/9/1990 | Electric City | WA | Coulee Playland Resort | $11.87 | The state park we were headed for was full. Even though we are on a lake, this is not a good park. We toured the dam this afternoon and in the evening went back to see the excellent laser show. They use lasers to project moving animated pictures on the spillway and face of the dam. Quite well done. Much better than the one at Watkins Glen, New York | |
| 7/10/1990 | Oroville | WA | Osoyoos Lake State Park | $7.50 | No hookups here. It is hot.. 95. We are miserable. Nice campground though. On the edge of a lake. Spent most of the evening working on the inventory. Tomorrow we will go into Canada again. Met 2 nice campers just as we were leaving last night's camp. They are from Seattle. | |
| 7/11/1990 | Kelowna | BC | Lakeside R.V. Park | $20.60 | Pleasant campground with a row of tall schrubs between each site. The sites are only 16 feet wide and 30 feet long so the truck is parked so close to the trailer that we have to go around the end of the row to get from one end of the trailer to the other. Got through customs without any problems. Campground and gas are very expensive. Gas is $2.00 a gal | |
| 7/12/1990 | Revelstoke | BC | River Boat Campground | $7.88 | We continued north into Canada and stopped in Revelstoke near the western edge of the massive Rocky Mountains in Canada. We visited the site where the Trans-Canadian railroad's eastern and western track laying met - similar Promontory in Utah. Went shopping in a very good office supply store. Had dinner in a German restaurant. | |
| 7/13/1990 | Revelstoke | BC | $7.88 | Tried to drive to the top of Mount Revelstoke but the road was closed just short of the top due to snow. Had a picnic at that spot. Beautiful views. Later went to see the Revelstoke dam, part of the Columbia River Project. Nice visitor center, but their hand held earphones needed much adjustment. | ||
| 7/14/1990 | Golden | BC | Golden KOA | $12.62 | Not as nice as last night. The campground guide said they had cable, not so. This town is in a beautiful valley kind of like Luray, but much larger and higher snow-caped mountains. Today we crossed through Canada's Glacier National Park. Beautiful. | |
| 7/15/1990 | Banff National Park | AB | Lake Louise Trailer Park | $10.74 | The mountains are spectacular. We are looking up onto a huge glacier and mountains like preschoolers draw. The sites are double (2 trailers next to each other), but huge. About 30 feet wide and at least 100 feet long. We drove to see Lake Louise with tall glacier-covered mountains in the background. Fantastic. Many mosquitoes. | |
| 7/16/1990 | Banff National Park | AB | $10.74 | Some rain last night and today. We drove up the Ice Fields Parkway toward Jaspar Ntl. Park today about 30 miles. Beautiful. Many large glaciers. The AAA magazine listed this road as one of the 10 most beautiful in North America and I have to agree. Had a picnic under a nice shelter while it rained. Let a group of bicylists use our grill to cook hotdogs. | ||
| 7/17/1990 | Banff National Park | AB | Tunnell Mountain Trailer Village | $11.39 | A big campground, over 800 sites. We went to downtown Banff, fought massive traffic and crowds. Walked around and bought Mr. Mounty, a stuffed toy moose. | |
| 7/18/1990 | Glacier Ntl. Park | MT | St. Mary Lake Campground | $8.76 | Nice campground. It is nice to be back in the US. No problems getting across the border. We decided to go all the way today rather than taking 2 days as we had planned. Rain this morning, partial clearing this afternoon. | |
| 7/19/1990 | Glacier Ntl. Park | MT | $8.00 | It rained all day today. We stayed in the trailer most of the day, except for an excursion to Browning, Montana to get mail. Paid truck and trailer insurance. | ||
| 7/20/1990 | West Glacier | MT | Glacier Campground | $12.16 | Today started out rainy, so we packed up and traveled to the west side of the park. Later in the afternoon it began clearing, so we drove up the west side of "Going To The Sun Highway". Spectacular. Later we drove to Hungry Horse Dam, but got there too late to tour. This is a nice campground. | |
| 7/21/1990 | Missoula | MT | Jim & Mary's Adult RV Park | $13.55 | Nice park. Open area with trees around sites. We went to see the Forest Service's Smoke Jumper School this afternoon. This is the only school where the Forest Service trains parachutists to jump in and fight fires. Interesting. | |
| 7/22/1990 | Three Forks | MT | Three Forks KOA | $14.04 | Long day today. We stopped to see Big Hole National Battelfield where the Indians won a war they didn't want. Later stopped at Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, what's left of a working big cattle ranch of the 1890s. They are celebrating their 100th birthday this week; however we got there too late in the day to see much of the celebration. | |
| 7/23/1990 | Hardin | MT | Big Horn Valley KOA | $13.10 | After a long drive and setting up camp, we went to see the site of Custer's last stand. The battle of the Little Big Horn River. Lots of people and some interesting rangers in period costume. 'A soldier once bit into a piece of hardtac and found something soft. He looked closer and found an old horseshoe nail'. | |
| 7/24/1990 | Williston | ND | Buffalo Trails Campground | $15.00 | Today we visited Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site. A reconstruction of the original fort owned by the American Fur Company in the 1800s. | |
| 7/25/1990 | Devils Tower | WY | Devils Tower KOA | $14.79 | We set an all time record on trailer distance today. We stopped by Theodore Roosevelt Ntl. Park north unit this morning. Then passed the geographical center of the US. Had a trailer tire loosing air this morning It turned out that the valve stem needed tightening. This is our 365th day. One year on the road. | |
| 7/26/1990 | Custer | SD | Big Pines Campground | $13.10 | Spent the morning preparing a 365th day note, and walking around Devils Tower. Left camp at 1:00pm, took only 10 minutes to break down. Picked up mail at Custer. Called Charlie Harrell. | |
| 7/27/1990 | Custer | SD | $13.10 | Started off by touring Wind Cave Ntl. Park. Then onto Rapid City, and lunch at The Red Lobster. Then had oil changed in truck, and to Ellsworth AFB and their BX. Lastly, a tour of Mount Rushmore where Tom found a major printing error in their brochure which no one else had discovered in at least a year. Tom bought Frank a new belt buckle. | ||
| 7/28/1990 | Kadoka | SD | Circle 10 Campground | $13.52 | Visited Jewel Cave Ntl. Monument this morning. Very pretty. Then tried to get gas in Custer, where we were stopped by a prade. Went back to trailer and hooled up, later took 45 minutes to get gas and get 3 blocks through town. Toured Badlands National Park this afternoon. Frank got another straw cowboy hat. | |
| 7/29/1990 | Pipestone | MN | Pipestone KOA | $11.29 | Another long drive. Tonight we saw The Song of Hiawatha Pagent. An outdoor play depicting the story of Longfellow's Hiawatha. Nice, but definitely an amature production. The sound needed much improvement. Frank got lightly sunburned today. | |
| 7/30/1990 | Fremont | NB | Fremont Lakes State Recreation Area | $9.00 | This morning we visited Pipestone Ntl. Monument, where Indians quary a red stone to make peace pipes and other items. This is a nice campground, but very dirty. We spent about 30 minutes picking up cigrett butts. The bath house is also dirty. There is a railroad just across the small lake and it is the busiest one we have ever seen. | |
| 7/31/1990 | Lawrence | KS | Clinton Lakes State Park | $8.00 | Heading further south we stopped at Holmstead Ntl. Historic site. A memorial to the first settler who filed under the Homestead Act. This is a nice park. Very large with much space between sites. Mostly open fields, but some trees. | |
| 8/1/1990 | Lawrence | KS | $8.00 | Drove through Fort Leavenworth where Tom spent 9 months back in the 70s. Then went to Kansas City and stopped at the Harry S. Truman Historic Site. Back home where we washed the trailer and truck. Hot day today. Had lunch at a Sonic drive-in. | ||
| 8/2/1990 | Farlington | KS | Crawfort County State Park | $8.00 | We saw Fort Scott today. This is a very well reconstructed plains fort from the 1840 period. The displays are very informative and a visitor may read all he wants or just the headings. Kansas state parks seem to be quite good. | |
| 8/3/1990 | Sarcoxie | MO | W.A.C. RV Park | $9.93 | Rained most of the day today. Still raining this evening. Had .67 inches. Went to Pea Ridge Ntl. Battelfield this afternoon. Then to George Washington Carver's Birthplace. More rain. Campground owner is overly frendly. | |
| 8/4/1990 | Sarcoxie | MO | $9.93 | Drove to Springfield Mo. and saw Wilson's Creek Battelfield. Very nice display with an electric map that was quite easy to follow. Got a new kitchen rug from a Wal-Mart. It cleared up this afternoon and is quite nice. | ||
| 8/5/1990 | Oologah | OK | Hawthorn Bluff | $10.00 | We are camped within a couple of miles of the birthplace of Will Rogers. Quite a nice campground, open and on a lake. Went to see the Rogers birthplace and then the Memorial and museum where he is buried. Tom got infested with Chiggers a couple of days ago. He is using calamine lotion to try to get rid of them. Tonight completes our 48th state | |
| 8/6/1990 | Fort Smith | AK | Spring Hill Lock & Dam #13 | $10.00 | Very nice campground. Open with large distances between sites. Visited Fort Smith today. This is where Judge Issac Parker (known as the Hanging Judge) served for 21 years. Called Charlie to arrange meeting at Shiloh on the 10th. | |
| 8/7/1990 | Mountain Pine | AK | Lake Ouachita State Park | $11.50 | This has not been a good day. The truck had problems with its transmission We were too late to get it worked on, and were too late to get into the Hot Springs Ntl. Park Visitor Center. We did get a new bed spread. The campground is kind of nice, but needs much maintenance. Tonight marks our 200th campground on the trip. | |
| 8/8/1990 | Tichnor | AK | Merrisach Lake Park | $10.00 | Very nice campground, open and right on a large lake. Nicely maintained. Today we visited Arkansas Post Ntl. Historical Site. Lots of history here. The people are much friendlier once we left Hot Springs. Yesterday was the pits. | |
| 8/9/1990 | Tupelo | MS | Trace State Park | $10.00 | Quite a nice park. Again we are right on a beautiful lake. Sites are nicely spaced. We wish we had made more use of public parks earlier in the trip. Visited Tupelo Ntl. Battlefield 1 acre on the corner of a main street. Kind of like a city park. Brices Cross Roads Ntl. Battlefield Site much the same. Stopped by the Natchez Trace Visitor Center. | |
| 8/10/1990 | Pickwick Dam | TN | Pickwick Landing State Park | $11.00 | Met Frank's Brother Charlie and his wife Rhonda. Had a nice evening talking. We drove part of the Natchez Trace Parkway on our way here. | |
| 8/11/1990 | Pickwick Dam | TN | $ | After a breakfast of bacon, eggs and muffins, we all went to see Shiloh Battelfield. Then Charlie and Rhonda went their way and we decided to stay another night here. There doesn't seem to be anyone to collect the campground fee. | ||
| 8/12/1990 | Henderson | KY | Audubon State Park | $10.00 | After visiting Fort Donelson Ntl. Historic Site we decided to continue on beyond our planned stop for the day. So we drove until about 5:00 and tried another Kentucky State Park. This one is nicer than the last one, but the sites are too short for most longer RVs. We are about 10 feet onto the grass. | |
| 8/13/1990 | Vincennes | IN | Ouabache Trails City Park | $6.00 | Visited Linclon Boyhood Home Ntl. Historic Site today, after an early morning thunder storm. The main road was under construction and we had to detour about 15 miles out of the way. Vincennes is the home town of Red Skelton. Tomorrow we will visit George Rogers Clark Ntl. Mem. Had the truck oil changed this morning. | |
| 8/14/1990 | Mount Sterling | OH | Dear Creek State Park | $9.00 | After visiting George Rodgers Clark Ntl. Memorial early this morning, we started off and ended up driving 301 miles. We didn't intend to, but decided to go ahead any way. Nice campground. | |
| 8/15/1990 | Port Clinton | OH | Camp Perry Clubhouse Campground | $10.60 | This is an Ohio National Guard Facility. Looks like Army. Not too good. This morning we visited Mound City Group Ntl. Monument. A place of ancient Indian mounds used for burial. We are now about 400 feet from Lake Erie. | |
| 8/16/1990 | Port Clinton | OH | $10.60 | There is a gun competition going on here and the distant firing of small arms is almost continuous. Sounds like fireworks. We took the ferry over to Put-In-Bay this morning and visited Perry's Battle Ntl. Monument. Very hot and humid today. Our hamburger lunch has to have been the worst of the entire trip. We rented bicycles to get around on the island. | ||
| 8/17/1990 | Manchester | OH | Baughman Family Campground | $ | Got to Tom's sister's about 12:30. Received a warm welcome. Had takeout chicken from Belgrade's. Talked until about 9:30. | |
| 8/18/1990 | Manchester | OH | $ | After going to the store, Frank worked on Pat's doorbell. Tom, Frank, Pat and Lee went for a ride to see Cuyahoga Valley Rec. Area and President Garfield Ntl. Historic Site. Later most of the family came over and we had a wonderful dinner, cooked by Pat, of roast beef, mashed potatoes, beans, and German chocolate cake. | ||
| 8/19/1990 | Manchester | OH | $ | In the morning Tom and Frank went to a store and bought a doorbell and Bar-B-Q grill for Pat. In the afternoon we all went to Stan Hewet Hall. Afterwards we returned, put together the grill and cooked hamburgers for dinner. | ||
| 8/20/1990 | Manchester | OH | $ | Tom and Frank worked their butts off today. We cleaned up the flood in Pat's basement, then installed a channel to divert water. We hope. Later in the evening Tom fixed supper of taragon chicken, coleslaw, bean salad, and everyone loved it. | ||
| 8/21/1990 | Ebensburg | PA | Woodland Park Inc. | $11.00 | We drove to see Tom's parents' grave this morning, then packed up and headed for Pennsylvania. More problems with the truck's transmission. Its slipping in 2nd gear. This campground is not bad; however out of about 200 sites only 5 are for overnight camping. Again the campground guides are unreliable. It rained most of the day. | |
| 8/22/1990 | Ebensburg | PA | $11.00 | A trip to see Johnstown Flood Ntl. Monument this morning where on May 31, 1859, 2209 people were killed by a flood resulting from a poorly constructed dam collapsing. Later we stopped at Allegany Portage Railroad Ntl. Historic Site where an early transportation system used a series of steep railroad lines to pull passengers and freight over the Allegan | ||
| 8/23/1990 | Luray | VA | The Country Waye | $11.79 | Rained all day, hard drive, but we are home. Found Ellie putting up a "WELCOME BACK TOM AND FRANK" sign as we drove in. Set up and then talked with Curt and Ellie quite a while. | |
| 8/24/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | We rested most of today. Tom went to Warrenton to shop at a Giant, and Frank helped around the campground. | ||
| 8/25/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | This morning we started off to look at open houses. Looked at 2 which were not exceptable, then drove to Reston to meet with Evelyn Doolin. Got some printouts and got home about 7:30. Long day. | ||
| 8/26/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | Today we went house hunting. Viewed 5 of our list. Tom really liked one, while Frank liked another. We still have many to look at before making any decision. Next weekend we will look some more. | ||
| 8/27/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | A picnic with Tom's sister today. We met her along with Lee, Jay and Ron, at Humpback Rocks near the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, at about 12:30. We talked hiked, and said goodbye before returning home. | ||
| 8/28/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | This is the last official day of our first US tour. We have been on the road for 400 days. It has been quite an experience and lots of fun. Maybe we can do it again. Today we stayed at the Country Waye and did yard work. Our muscles are quite sore. | ||
| 8/29/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | The next 30 days were spent in Luray. They are installed into the data base to make totaling of days and expenses run properly. No mileage was put on the trailer during this time. | ||
| 8/30/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | * | ||
| 8/31/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | Bought stamps today at $25.00. Tom bought a used lawnmower at $35 to use at the campground. | ||
| 9/1/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | * | ||
| 9/2/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | We bought a Honda Accord LX today from Miller Honda in Winchester. | ||
| 9/3/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | * | ||
| 9/4/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | * | ||
| 9/5/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | * | ||
| 9/6/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | We had to order a replacement circuit board for the refrigerator today. The old one burned out. | ||
| 9/7/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | We bought an AC ammeter from Radio Shack today. | ||
| 9/8/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | Visited the Marine Corps Exchange and bought a microwave for Charlie and Rhonda as a wedding gift. | ||
| 9/9/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | There were no entries between 9-9 and 9-26 | ||
| 9/26/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | Paid insurance on Honda Accord, for the next 4 months. | ||
| 9/27/1990 | Luray | VA | $14.58 | We are now preparing to leave the Country Waye to go to Maine. We had a pot-luck dinner (number 3). This was the best one so far. | ||
| 9/28/1990 | Gettysburg | PA | Drummer Boy Campground | $20.90 | Today we worked on the trailer, rested, bought some screws for the tool box and settled for "Chickens R Us" for supper. Not a bad day. It is nice to be back on the road again. | |
| 9/29/1990 | Gettysburg | PA | $20.90 | We toured Gettysburg in the truck and bought $40 worth of screws for the screw collection. We planned the next several days of our trip. | ||
| 9/30/1990 | Unadilla | NY | East Sidney Lake | $10.00 | We are the only people in the campground. Run by the county, pretty campground, seems that they may be closing for the year. No one around to take money. Rained on and off this afternoon, heavy at times. Had dinner at a diner in town. | |
| 10/1/1990 | Perkinsville | VT | Crown Point Camping Area | $15.00 | Pleasant day today, beautiful weather, fantastic views, and wonderful tree colors. New York is in the peak of color. Campground is as beautiful as ever. It took us almost 7 hours to go 200 miles because of traffic and road construction. | |
| 10/2/1990 | Perkinsville | VT | $15.00 | Today we drove to the top of Mount Ascutney where they have installed a new lookout tower since last year. We had to come down early; we could see a line of rain coming our way. Later we visited Saint-Gaudens Ntl. Historic Site. Quite nice. It is getting colder, high today only 59. | ||
| 10/3/1990 | Williamstown | VT | Limehurst Lake Campground | $16.48 | Kind of pretty campground. Near a small lake. Cable has only 4 channels. We went to visit Ben and Jerry's ice cream plant this afternoon. We had blueberry ice cream for samples. Bought a toy pig stuffed animal, and a t-shirt. | |
| 10/4/1990 | Gorham | NH | Timberland Camping Area | $15.30 | Hazy today. Somewhat windy. Mail not here yet after 4 days. Rain and wind tonight. Frank fixed trailer-truck connector. Bought insulated boots, new hot pad for the grill, and rugs for car at Globe in Berlin NH. | |
| 10/5/1990 | Gorham | NH | $15.30 | Nice today but rained on and off. We spent most of the day in the trailer. Frank worked on database, and Tom did laundry. Made phone calls. We found out that someone else's mail was sent here, not ours. | ||
| 10/6/1990 | Skowhegan | ME | Two Rivers Campground | $15.70 | Nice day today. High about 75. The campground has more seasonals this year. Apparently a paper company has hired many workers, so better busness for campgorund. Frank fixed electronic cabinet today. It was coming off the wall. | |
| 10/7/1990 | Salsbury Cove | ME | Mount Desert Narrows Camping Resort | $17.12 | This time here we decided to pick a nice site instead of a full hookup. This site is much better than the one we had here last time. Today, after setting up, we drove to Main's Own Treats to get a mail order listing, then drove past Scott's and down to Lemoyne Beach State Park and looked at the ocean for a while. | |
| 10/8/1990 | Salsbury Cove | ME | $17.12 | In the morning we walked through Bar Harbor. A cruise ship from the Viking Lines was in port with many people in town. Later went to Ellsworth to shop. | ||
| 10/9/1990 | Salsbury Cove | ME | $17.12 | Today we drove to Bangor to see Fantasia, but the 12:30 showing we went to see was only shown on the weekend. No film. In the evening we had dinner with Scott, Sallie, and Daniel. | ||
| 10/10/1990 | Salsbury Cove | ME | $17.12 | Frank went with Scott and enjoyed the day talking, while Tom stayed at the trailer and wrote letters and sent packages of jam to friends. Rain most of the day. | ||
| 10/11/1990 | Salsbury Cove | ME | $17.12 | We bought jeans from Willies in Ellsworth this morning, then we took the wind gauge to Rainwise in Bar Harbor to have the bearing replaced. Later we drove to Bangor to see Walt Disny's Fantasia. Quite nice. Got home about 7:30. | ||
| 10/12/1990 | Salsbury Cove | ME | $17.12 | Frank went with Scott again today, while Tom enjoyed the day alone. | ||
| 10/13/1990 | Salsbury Cove | ME | $18.68 | More rain. Scott stopped by in the morning to show our trailer to Michael. Later in the evening Scott stopped by and we had dinner and looked at videos and pictures of our trips. We decided to use the air conditioner to dehumidfy the air. | ||
| 10/14/1990 | Salsbury Cove | ME | $18.68 | The rain ended this afternoon, followed by nice sunshine and warm weather. Tom went off and read, while Frank added titles to the Campground Tape. | ||
| 10/15/1990 | Salsbury Cove | ME | $17.12 | We spent most of the afternoon driving around the Island. Finally the weather has turned nice, but quite hazy. Frank went by Scott's in the evening. | ||
| 10/16/1990 | Salsbury Cove | ME | $17.12 | Frank went with Scott again this morning and worked with him until 11:30, when Tom picked him up. Then we drove back over some of the park loop road to look at the scenery under much clearer weather. We stopped in Seal Harbor for lunch at a very nice restarrant. Good hamburgers. Later did laundry in Ellsworth and changed oil in truck. | ||
| 10/17/1990 | Lexington | MA | Hanscom AFB Fam-Camp | $ | We left Maine and headed back tward Virginia. Most of the campgrounds are beginning to close down for the winter. This was a last minute find. Outside Boston, and right next to an airport, except for the noise, this is very nice. Tall pine trees and a very nice bathhouse. Worth coming back to sometime. No one here to collect camp fees. We stayed free. | |
| 10/18/1990 | Plattekill | NY | Hudson Valley Kampground | $20.70 | They no longer charge for cable here. Long drive today, lots of heavy traffic and gusty winds. Rain tonight. .89 inch. The leaves are getting thinner, but we may still see some color when we return to Virginia. | |
| 10/19/1990 | Gettysburg | PA | Drummer Boy CAmpground | $20.90 | Another long drive with high gusty winds. We went to Spangler's restaurant north of Gettysburg tonight. Very good hot turkey sandwich. | |
| 10/20/1990 | Gettysburg | PA | $20.90 | Spent most of the day cleaning the trailer. We disassembled the fan in the bathroom for its first cleaning since it was installed. | ||
| 10/21/1990 | Luray | VA | The Country Waye | $11.79 | Nice day, not very windy, warm. We are now home, and our 1990 New England trip is over. Tomorrow we start house hunting again. | |
| 10/22/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | Today we drove to Reston and looked at several condos in Waterford Square. One is quite nice. It has started to rain. | ||
| 10/23/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | We spent most of the day around the campground. It rained last night and this morning, 2.78 inches. Tom bought new window shades for the bedroom, and registered the car in Page County. Frank fixed the sink outside the bathouse and worked on house listings. | ||
| 10/24/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | House hunting today. We drove around looking at houses from a listing that had more than 1\2 acre and less than 13 years old. None were quite right. Then we looked at 303 and 204 in Waterford Square again. I think we like them. | ||
| 10/25/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | Campground chores today. After cleaning Tom went for a drive while Frank worked with Curt on designing more sites in the campground. | ||
| 10/26/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | More house hunting. We saw several nice detached units in Great Falls. On Sunday we will return to look at them inside. Tom rented "Hunt for Red October" from a store in Luray. | ||
| 10/27/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | Frank went to Woodford, Va., to help his brother Charlie with some wiring. Tom got the oil changed in the new car, and mailed "Hunt for Red October" to his sister. The gas and oil prices for the new car is now being included with the truck's entry. | ||
| 10/28/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | We looked at the inside of several houses today. I think we have now narrowed to 3, our prospects. The first choice is a contempoary deck house in Great Falls, on 2.3 acres of heavily treed land. | ||
| 10/29/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | Tom went into town and had lunch with a person from SAIC, while Frank located cables in the campground. We are now thinking of going off to see some more of the south, before getting a house. | ||
| 10/30/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | We went to Reston today and looked at several houses on Mediterrainean Ct. Maybe, but not likely. Tom may not go back to work as soon as we had hoped. Curt has rented a Ditch Witch and done most of the trenching to expand the campground. Put the camcorder back in for repair and extended its service contract for 1 year. Tried UHF antenna, no good. | ||
| 10/31/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | We cleaned the trailer, did laundry and rested today. Later we drove up on Skyline Drive to Big Meadows. Had dinner at Skyland Lodge. The waiters were dressed up for Halloween. Different. Bought Fireman Fritz Dalmatian. | ||
| 11/1/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | We wrote a contract on 520 Springvale Road today. We hope we haven't made a big mistake. We shall see if they accept our offer. We are waiting in expectation...... | ||
| 11/2/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | Today we got word that the company that owned the house rejected our offer and countered with higher. Too much so we have decided to withdraw from the market for now and go back on the road until March, 1991 so we are off again! | ||
| 11/3/1990 | Luray | VA | $11.79 | Today we drove to Northern VA. and took care of some errands. Got part for printer, looked for water pick at the Marine Exchange, no luck, got plugs at Arcade in Annandale, got replacement used hubcaps for the trailer, and had lunch at Fuddruckers. | ||
| 11/4/1990 | Shenandoah Ntl Park | VA | Big Meadows | $8.00 | We are back on the road again. Left Luray about 1:30. We will spend 5 or 6 days here, before heading south. Pleasant, high around 70. We are right next to a water fountain; it should be easy to fill the onboard tank. | |
| 11/5/1990 | Shenandoah Ntl Park | VA | $8.00 | Tom went into Northern Va. to have lunch with several people from the office, while Frank cleaned out the truck. They are shutting off the water at the fountain near the trailer. Tom bought a new 12 volt, Sony TV for the trailer. | ||
| 11/6/1990 | Shenandoah Ntl Park | VA | $8.00 | Frank spent the day with his brother Charlie. Tom did laundry and moved the trailer to a site closer to where a working water supply is located. | ||
| 11/7/1990 | Shenandoah Ntl Park | VA | $8.00 | Frank spent the day with his mother, while Tom drove around and bought more blankets. Without electricty, it can get cold up here on top of the mountain. | ||
| 11/8/1990 | Shenandoah Ntl Park | VA | $8.00 | We drove to Luray in the morning to get propane and go to the post office. Worked on sorting things to put into the car for storage during the afternoon. Found the generator's DC breaker had tripped and we had not been charging the trailer battery for the last few days. | ||
| 11/9/1990 | Shenandoah Ntl Park | VA | $8.00 | We spent most of the day cleaning the trailer and removing things from the trailer and truck, that we don't use. They are now stored in the car ready to be taken to Charlies. Went to Skyland for dinner. Found out later Frank got some artifical color in the meal and didn't sleep much during the night. | ||
| 11/10/1990 | Shenandoah Ntl Park | VA | $8.00 | Frank took off early and went back to Charlies to help them with their computer. Tom left later, went into Northern Va. did errands, and met with Frank at Charlies about 5:00pm. There they left the car (filled with stuff not needed) in storage while going south for the winter. Got KFC for all. | ||
| 11/11/1990 | Appomattox | VA | Yogi Bear's A Paradise Lake | $15.68 | We left Big Meadows early. The battery was completely dead. Later found out there was almost no water in it. We drove into Lynchburg this evening and had dinner with Tom's newphew, Jay, at Morrisons. Tom got his plastic rap from his sister via Jay. | |
| 11/12/1990 | Salem | VA | Dixie Caverns Campground | $9.00 | We visited Appomattox Courthouse Ntl. Monument this morning. Found all the buildings closed for Veterans Day. Then took the trailer up on the Blue Ridge Parkway to camp at Roanoke Mountain. IT WAS CLOSED, even though the books said otherwise. So we are here. Not too bad, but not where we wanted to be. | |
| 11/13/1990 | Holston | VA | Riverside Campground | $12.46 | Tom drove most of the day. We worked on planning the trip some. This morning we visited George Washington Carver Ntl. Historic site. (Where he was born). Then went to a ranger station on the Blue Ridge Parkway and got a brochure. | |
| 11/14/1990 | Limestone | TN | Davy Crockett State Historical Site | $11.00 | This is quite a nice campground. Right on a rushing river. Davy Crockett was born here, in a little log cabin. Nice museum. We visited Andrew Johnson Ntl. Historic site today. Problem with Golden Eagle Pass. Tom ordered a ham for his sister. | |
| 11/15/1990 | Limestone | TN | $11.00 | Early in the day we ordered another part for the printer. We replaced the left hand tractor feed last week, but a change in design makes the new one incompatible with the old one. UPS should deliver a new right hand unit to the campground tomorrow. Drove around the area during the afternoon. | ||
| 11/16/1990 | Limestone | TN | $11.00 | Today Frank worked on the computer waiting for UPS to arrive with the printer part. It arrived at about 3:30 PM so we stayed in this beautiful campground another day. Tom did laundry, propane, and groceries...his usual. We walked around the campground in late afternoon. It is quite peaceful. | ||
| 11/17/1990 | Corbin | KY | Stuckey's Campark | $9.28 | Not a bad campground for Stuckey's. This morning we found where the water under the sofa was coming from. The hot water heater is leaking. Made an appointment with Camping World in Bowling Green to get another. Finished relabeling small video tapes. Had dinner at an A&W in town. | |
| 11/18/1990 | Bowling Green | KY | Bowling Green KOA | $12.60 | Sort of a lazy day. Didn't do much. Drove to Camping World to find best way to get there tomorrow. Walked around a mall. Bought Christmas ornament rotator motors, and a new notebook for Log Diary. | |
| 11/19/1990 | Mammoth Cave Ntl. Park | KY | Headquarters Campground | $6.00 | An expensive day. New hot water heater, 500w power converter, water pick, and other standard stuff. We got the same campsite as last year. Peaceful. Tomorrow we start touring the cave. | |
| 11/20/1990 | Mammoth Cave Ntl. Park | KY | $6.00 | Two tours today. The Travertine Tour this morning, 1/4 mile 1 1/4 hour. in the afternoon the Frozen Niagara tour, 3/4 mile, 2 hour. Ran generator for 2 hours which seemed to charge the battery. It did need water. | ||
| 11/21/1990 | Mammoth Cave Ntl. Park | KY | $6.00 | We took the Gothic tour today. Saw a tunnel we hadn't seen before. Lots of historic graffiti. A very interesting tour. Later drove to Glascow and got parts to build an adaptor to make it easier to get water. Built a bracket to hold the new TV in the bedroom. | ||
| 11/22/1990 | Mammoth Cave Ntl. Park | KY | $6.00 | This afternoon we took the Historic Tour. 2 miles, 2 hours. From there we had dinner in the restaurant. Frank had turkey with dressing and sweet potatoes. They weren't like the ones we had last year. Tom had a prime rib It was raining most of this Thanksgiving Day. | ||
| 11/23/1990 | Mammoth Cave Ntl. Park | KY | $6.00 | Decided to take the half day tour. 4 miles, 4 1/2 hours. We are a bit stiff in the joints, but feeling healthy. Had lunch in the Snow Ball Dining Room in the cave. | ||
| 11/24/1990 | Mammoth Cave Ntl. Park | KY | $6.00 | Our last tour today was the Lantern Tour. 3 miles, 3 1/2 hours. No lights just kerosene laterns. Drove to Cave City for grociries and gas. In the evening had dinner at the restrant again, then went to the Visitors Center for a program of Kentucky backwoods singing and backporch story telling. | ||
| 11/25/1990 | Lebanon | TN | Cedars of Lebanon State Park | $11.00 | Average day. Left Mammoth Cave and drove through very heavy traffic. This is a nice park. Only 3 other people in this section. Went to Murfreesboro to shop in the afternoon. Tom had to restock the refrigerator. This park containes the largest red ceader forest in the US. | |
| 11/26/1990 | Lebanon | TN | $11.00 | Drove into Nashville today, looking for computer paper and a good grocery store. Didn't find the paper we were looking for, but the one we got is very nice. Got oil changed in truck. | ||
| 11/27/1990 | Natchez Trace Parkway | TN | Meriwether Lewis Campground | $ | Very windy, hard drive. We are now on the Natchez Trace Parkway, part of the National Park System, and we will travel its entire length over the next several days. This site is where Meriwether Lewis, (of Lewis and Clark) is buried. Low expense day. Only $3.00 for laundry. | |
| 11/28/1990 | Pickwick Dam | TN | Pickwick Landing State Park | $11.00 | Today we drove the Natchez Trace Parkway to return to this beautiful state park. We are the only campers here which makes camping fun. Only the sounds of rustling leaves can be heard. Had dinner at the campground's restaurant. Frank's cold is hanging on with some slight improvement. | |
| 11/29/1990 | Pickwick Dam | TN | $11.00 | Went to visit Shiloh Military Park. Traffic is light. Few tourists. Frank's cold has moved to his head. Put up Christmas decorations today. Nice to have a little green in the trailer. | ||
| 11/30/1990 | Tupelo | AL | Trace State Park | $10.00 | We continued down the Natchez Trace today. Our goal is to drive the entire parkway. Frank's cold is quite bad. This is our 2nd time in this park. Quite nice. Right on a lake. Only 2 other campers here. Gas was only $1.39 a gallon for 93 octane. Drove to a new mall in Tupelo and got wrapping paper for Christmas. | |
| 12/1/1990 | Jackson | MS | LeFleur's Bluff State Park | $10.00 | Only 2 campers here tonight. Nice camping all alone. We have continued down the Natchez Trace Parkway, and are actualy just inside the city of Jackson. Frank's cold has broken. We had some trouble getting air in the trailer tires. The Exxon station actually took air out. Finally got proper air at the Jeff Busby wayside on the parkway. | |
| 12/2/1990 | Jackson | MS | $10.00 | We went Christmas shopping at a mall this afternoon. We are a long way from being finished. Stuffed ourselves at Morrison's again, without really trying. Frank printed out the first 20 pages of campground listings. Tom is getting Frank's cold. | ||
| 12/3/1990 | Jackson | MS | $10.00 | It rained over 2 inches last night and was still raining this morning. We decided to sit out the rain and stay one more day. Went Christmas shopping again this afternoon. Today was the predicted earthquake day... none appeared. Had lunch at Morrison's again. Mailed Christmas present to Scott & Sally. | ||
| 12/4/1990 | Natchez Trace Parkway | MS | Rocky Springs Campground | $ | We finished tracing the Natchez Trace Parkway today. We have now driven the entire trace from Nashville to Natchez. (As much as is completed.) We picked a different site farther up the hill, than the one we were at last spring. Walked back to see Rocky Springs again. It is getting cold. It is supposed to get below freezing tonight. | |
| 12/5/1990 | Barksdale AFB | LA | Barksdale Fam Camp | $6.00 | Nice campground except for spacing and too many lights. Most of today was taken up in driving. Went to the BX and Commissary this afternoon. We replaced the foam in the bed mattress. | |
| 12/6/1990 | Tyler | TX | Tyler State Park, Big Pine | $10.00 | We are back in Texas. Nice to get out of Louisiana. Their roads were so bad that almost everything in the trailer was thrown about. We picked a different site here than last time. Further away from other people. Finished the 500th day letter this evening, will mail it tomorrow. Tried to run envelopes through printer, wouldn't work, had to use labels. | |
| 12/7/1990 | Jacksboro | TX | Fort Richardson State Park | $9.00 | Nice site. We bypassed around Dallas and Fort Worth today. The air is getting clearer, and the climate drier. Went from heavy forests this morning to scrub trees this afternoon. Got the 500th day letter ready for mailing. Tom is over his cold. Had dinner at a Sonic drive-in. | |
| 12/8/1990 | Witchita Falls | TX | Lake Arrowhead State Park | $9.00 | Texas State Parks are still proving excellent. We are now in dry country. Paririe grass and scrub oaks. There is an oil well in the center of the campground, which runs on its own gas. We went to a mall in Withcia Falls this afternoon. Very crowded. | |
| 12/9/1990 | Witchita Falls | TX | $9.00 | Decided to stay here another day. Frank worked on the computer while Tom went shopping. | ||
| 12/10/1990 | Quanah | TX | Copper Breaks State Park | $9.00 | Nice views from here. They have picnic table covers that look somewhat like teepees We are the only ones in the park again tonight. This area was the domain of Quanah, the last of the great Comanche Chiefs. | |
| 12/11/1990 | Quitaque | TX | Caprock Canyons State Park | $9.00 | The land is becoming more arid. Mostly grasses and junipers. Very clear, somewhat windy today. Dusty. We were visited by a large skunk and 2 large racoons this evening. We are again the only ones in the campground. Sent in subscription for Texas State Parks & Wildlife magazine. | |
| 12/12/1990 | Amarillo | TX | KOA Amarillo | $15.30 | Amarrillo is interesting. This is the town which the early cattle drives were headed. This was the only railroad in this entire part of the country back then. We are starting to have problems with the truck using oil. The campground is right next to a major airport. The winds last night gusted to 37 mph. We didn't sleep very well. | |
| 12/13/1990 | Amarillo | TX | $15.30 | Got 2 new tires on the truck, installed a cam to help the steering, got a new shade for the rear window. Bought a new cowboy hat and CB antenna at a truck stop here in Amarillo. We spent lots of money today. Made appointment with a Ford dealer in Lubbock for Monday to replace the truck's head gasket... And many other things. | ||
| 12/14/1990 | Amarillo | TX | $15.30 | Drove to Alabates Flint Quaries Ntl. Monument this morning. We were supprised to get our own personal ranger led tour. They don't get many people in the winter. Indians quarried flint for tools here as much as 12,000 years ago. We had a very good hamburger for lunch in the town of Fritch, Texas. | ||
| 12/15/1990 | Lubbock | TX | Buffalo Springs Lake | $9.75 | Well, we're home?? Interesting town, but we don't think we would want to live here. Went to a mall this afternoon, incredable crowds. One would think one was in Tyson's Corner. The new trailer battery is ready for pickup, but crowds are so bad, we will return tomorrow morning to pick it up. | |
| 12/16/1990 | Lubbock | TX | $9.75 | Went back to the mall and picked up the new trailer battery. Hope this one will run more than 1 day without recharging. Later we drove to an Air Force base and went to the BX. Rain all night and most of the day. | ||
| 12/17/1990 | Lubbock | TX | $9.75 | We took the truck into the Ford dealer this morning. It will cost about $660 to replace the leaking gaskets and a bad power steering hose. We have a "loner" Ford Escort car in the meantine. Stopped by Home Base (mail forwarding service) this afternoon and picked up packages. Frank started rewiring the kitchen in preparation to install the new power invert | ||
| 12/18/1990 | Lubbock | TX | $9.75 | The truck should be ready about 10:00 tomorrow morning. We drove around doing vairous errands today. We had trouble with a money machine which gave out $5.00 bills. Tom sent some Beta tapes to Lee, and Frank is working on the power inverter installation. | ||
| 12/19/1990 | Lubbock | TX | $9.75 | We got the truck back about 1:00, then looked at the bill. $945.00. They had done work not authorized. After arguing for a while, we went to lunch. Then looked at the engine. Several parts were not put back together. Back at the dealer, they finally fixed the problem and reduced the bill and replaced a part they apparently broke. Not much fun today. We feel | ||
| 12/20/1990 | White's City | NM | Park Entrance RV Park | $14.99 | Yesterday was our all time high expenditure day. We are back in the same site we were in last February 4. Had dinner at the same restaurant, very good. The humidity hit 1% this afternoon. A cold wave is expected to overtake us tonight. This is our 600th night spent in the trailer since we bought it. | |
| 12/21/1990 | Fort Davis | TX | Davis Mountains State Park | $10.00 | Toured Carlsbad Caverns this morning, the long tour, 3 miles. Compare that with the long tour at Mammoth Cave, 6 miles. While we were in the cave we bumped into of all people, Tom Bartelt and his friend, Carla. Frank worked with Tom at Channel 8 cable TV for about 7 years. Hasn't seen him for over 3 years. Incredable! Had dinner at lodge again. Bought Golden Eagle | |
| 12/22/1990 | Big Bend Ntl. Park | TX | Rio Grande Village | $11.00 | We toured Fort Davis Ntl. Historic site in the morning before leaving. We arrived in the mid afternoon, after driving through the most beautiful heavy frost just north of Alpine. The cold wave has caught up with us. Went to the evening ranger talk at the amphitheater on the history of the Big Bend area, and liked to froze our little bippies off. | |
| 12/23/1990 | Big Bend Ntl. Park | TX | $11.00 | It got down to 27 last night and the water froze. Beautiful sunset last night. Frank spent most of the day working on the 2nd trip tape. We walked around the campground and the nature trail. Very beautiful. | ||
| 12/24/1990 | Big Bend Ntl. Park | TX | $11.00 | Went to a good ranger talk on dinosaurs this evening. Frank worked most of the day on the trip tape. Took a short walk to see an old ranch, near the campground. | ||
| 12/25/1990 | Big Bend Ntl. Park | TX | $11.00 | Nice Christmas. Lots of books and video tapes. | ||
| 12/26/1990 | Big Bend Ntl. Park | TX | $11.00 | Frank tried to help the neighbors across the campground. They have electrical problems, probably internal to their converter. Frank did a temporary fix, but it needs work. Tom did windows of the trailer. Frank worked on video Part II, then installed a temporary CB connection. Had supper, then saw the evening Ranger program. | ||
| 12/27/1990 | Big Bend Ntl. Park | TX | $11.00 | Frank spent the morning and most of the afternoon working on the video. He now has about 50 minutes of picture. Tom did laundry and read. In the afternoon, drove to Panther Junction post office and got mail. Presents arrived from mother along with more Christmas cards. | ||
| 12/28/1990 | Big Bend Ntl. Park | TX | $11.00 | Frank spent most of the day on the video again. Tom did a lot of reading. Took a short walk to the river, which is about 500 feet away. | ||
| 12/29/1990 | Big Bend Ntl. Park | TX | $11.00 | Today Frank worked on the taping and added some audio track. Tom read, sent "Thank You Notes for Christmas", and answered some mail. Later we walked about the campground which is full. The overflow area is now being used. | ||
| 12/30/1990 | Big Bend Ntl. Park | TX | $11.00 | We drove to the Chisosos Basin and had lunch. Quite good. This park concessionaire is the same company as in Mammoth Cave. Have almost completed the video. Drove about 8 miles up the road this evening and shot video of sunset over mountains for closing title. | ||
| 12/31/1990 | Del Rio | TX | Holiday Trav-L-Park | $11.80 | Today we left the beautiful Chisos Mountains of Big Bend National Park and headed east. We spent the night in Del Rio, on the Mexican border. The Air Force campground was full. This campground has cable and is not as crowded as it was last year at this time. |