Sept 4 (1 night, Prince George, BC Canada)
Drove to Prince George today from Dawson Creek. We stayed at the Southpark Campground, just up the road from the Bee Lazee campground where we stayed on the way to Alaska. We had Internet that was $6.00 for 24 hrs, and Cable TV, so both Sim and I were happy. The Internet turned out to be highly frustrating and not worth the time or money as it constantly logged me off every few minutes. I finally was able to send an email to the provider and got them to reverse the charges on my credit card. Sim was happy with the cable and she got to watch Big Brother.

Sept 5 – 6 (2 nights, Jasper National Park, AB Canada)
Today we are driving to Jasper. Need diesel first and the Shell station down the hill is also a Flying J. Diesel was cheap here in Prince George compared to the rest of BC so I wanted to get at least half a tank here. We got a Flying J discount and got 100 gallons for $.92 L and headed out for Jasper. We got to the Whistlers campground where we had planned to stay but they were full. So we were directed to Wapiti campground that turned out to be a parking lot that had electricity at each spot. Not very scenic but functional. Well, the sunset the first night was not bad.

Sept 6
Our sightseeing plan today was to visit the municipality of Jasper, Miette Hot Springs, Maligne Canyon, Medicine Lake, and Maligne Lake. We headed out early in the morning for the drive up north and first to Miette Hot Springs. Just as we were leaving the campground area and made the right turn out to the main road we saw a small group of Elk grazing on the grass beside the road. The male was sitting down watching the girls eat their breakfast of morning greens. This was our first Elk sighting so we lingered for a while at the side of the road before heading off. We arrived at Miette Hot Springs just when they opened. The fee was $6.00 each so we paid and went to our respective locker rooms and changed into our bathing suits. Unlike the rock pool with a gravel bottom at Chena Hot Springs, the Miette Hot Springs was actually a shallow swimming pool. There were four pools; two were filled with hot springs water, one at 102 F and the other at 105 F. The other two were cold water pools, that we did not venture into. We stayed in the “cooler” of the two hot pools for about an hour. Sim was in and out of the pool now and then, but I stayed in for the entire hour. After soaking long enough when I started to get out, I got really dizzy when I stood up. Dehydration again I am sure. I was fine after drinking some water and getting up gradually. Sim said I should have taken breaks like her.

After the hot springs we drove out the Maligne River road to Medicine Lake and Maligne Lake. Both were pretty in their own way. Like many other lakes in Jasper, Medicine Lake has a beautiful blue to green color. However, what makes it different and special from the other lakes is that the water vanishes, without having an outlet, from the lake by October and is not refilled until next spring's runoff and snow melt. Medicine Lake was given its name by the Athabascans who believed the disappearance of the water was caused by “big medicine”. The fact is that the lake is drained by one of the largest underground river systems in North America. Cracks and fissures on the lake bottom allow the water to drain into the underground system.

The beautiful, solitary Maligne Lake, surrounded by the Canadian Rockies, is 22-km (14 mile) long. It is so pretty that explorer Mary Schaffer wrote “There burst upon us... the finest view any of us had ever beheld in the Rockies”. It was sunny day, but the air temperature was a bit on the cold side. We hiked along the shore of Maligne Lake for a bit and had to call our hike off because our hands were freezing. We didn't wear gloves as we didn't think we needed them on this sunny day . We headed back the way we came and just as we were leaving, it started to snow. We checked the temperature and it was 40 F.

We were on our way to Maligne Canyon, when a Class C RV going 60 mph in a 40 mph zone passed us in a no passing zone. What an idiot! It had a California license plate; no wonder.

I somehow missed the turn to Maligne Canyon and had to back track about 3 miles. The fact that my navigator was taking a nap might have had something to do with missing the turn the first time. Maligne Canyon is 50 meters deep and incredibly narrow. The Canyon was truly fascinating, and we spent a good hour exploring the canyon and river area. In winter when the river running through the canyon has frozen, visitors can take a guided tour inside the canyon.

Our last sightseeing adventure for the day was the town of Jasper. It is a very neat and beautiful town as if it was built especially for tourists. We drove around to see the town and took some pictures. There was an Internet service in town, but costs $2 for a half hour. Therefore, we decided to hunt down some free Internet. We cruised the bigger hotels on the main drag, but all of them were using a pay for time provider. We stopped at the Information Center and got directions to the town Library. We parked out front and fired up the MacBook. We got a 1 bar signal but not from the Library. Sim went in an found out to use the library Internet we had to have a library card and then pay a fee. We drove around the block to see if we could improve the signal we had and managed to get 4 bars shortly. We sent off emails and payed a few bills on-line sitting in front of some nice person's house who did not secure his wireless network. Thanks, MOJ-WAN, whoever you are.

Sept 7 – 8 (2 nights, Banff National Park, Lake Louise, AB Canada)
Today we are heading down to Lake Louise in Banff National Park. It was a spectacular drive down the Icefields Parkway. There are many lakes, rivers and huge glaciers at every turn. We stopped at the Athabasca Falls to see the falls and canyons carved by the Athabasca River. The 23-meter waterfall has the most powerful flow to be found anywhere in the mountain parks. It was really interesting and fun to walk through some of the now dry canyons that were formed by the flowing waters thousands of years ago.

Many travelers would agree that the fun of travel is the unexpected event. This is true in most cases except when it is the surprise of a cracked windshield on your coach. Here is the story “Stupid Hurts” or How We Got Cracked Up”. We are driving along the Icefields Parkway admiring the glaciers. Sim is always going “Ohhh-Ahhhh, pretty, lets get a picture. Sometimes there are places to pull off the road, sometimes not. We were coming up on a couple of glaciers, and I saw what looked like, at the time, a good place to pull off the road to take a couple of pictures. I pulled off onto the gravel OK, but the further in I went the more I did not like the look of the exit route. Sim jumped out and took her pictures while I surveyed how I was going to get out of this spot I was in. In hindsight, what I should have done was unhook the Jeep and back out the same way we came in. But I thought I could get out by approaching the 6 inch differential between gravel and asphalt at just the right angle. The last wheel was just coming onto the asphalt when we heard a loud bang. I looked over and the windshield had cracked on Sim's side right in the corner. The coach had just flexed too much and the windshield could not take it. We can still drive with it in this condition, but it will need to be replaced at some point. Live and learn.

Sept 8
We were advised to get up to Moraine Lake early as the parking lots fill up fast on busy summer days. We got there at 10 am and the lot was 3/4s full. I can imagine on a sunny day in the middle of the summer, that all the lots fill quickly. Sim and I are very surprised at the high number of tourists here in September after school has started and the Labor Day weekend is over. The drive to the lake was up through the clouds and we were worried that the views would be shrouded by the clouds considering the elevation of the lake. We were pleasantly surprised when the clouds parted and we arrived to a sunny sky. The lake is very, very turquoise.

We hiked down by the shore and then to the top of the moraine to get a good view of the lake. It was lunch time so we found a nice flat rock with a good views of the mountains and lake and had a peanut butter & Sherry's delicious homemade boysenberry jam sandwich for lunch. Remember Sherry? We stayed at Sherry and Guy's house in Idaho.

After lunch we headed further up the mountain to Lake Louise. We gave ourselves a self guided tour of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise . There has been a Chateau at this location since the 1890s. We decided to hike to the Tea House at the Plain of Six Glaciers. We headed out not knowing much about the hike, such as how long it was, what kind of elevation rise there was going to be, and whether it was rated , easy, moderate or strenuous. Unlike U.S. Parks, Canadian parks don't seem to give sufficient info to hikers. There are no informational signs along the way. We saw one sign on the way that told which way to go, but Sim got a bit frustrated with the sign because she wanted to make sure that the distance ahead would not be too far and too strenuous for me. We finally made it to the Tea House which was actually a cabin originally built by two swiss climbers as a rest stop for hikers. Staple supplies are brought in by helicopter only once at the beginning of season. Fresh supplies are brought by pack horse and pack man once a week to the Tea House. The staff works 5 days a week and stays in small cabins in the woods. They use the same 5.5 km trail to hike in to work. We had some homemade soup and of course, some tea before heading back down the way we came. Along the way most hikers greeted each other, and Sim was no different. As she was frustrated at the lack of signs and not knowing how far the destination was, on our way down, she was telling the hikers on their way up, how much time they should expect to finish the trail. They really appreciated this information.

It took us a little over an hour to get back down the hill it took us 3 hours to go up. We were freezing cold, and our fingers were numb especially our thumbs as we found out when we hit the restrooms on the way back to the car. I could not button back up my Levi 501s because my fingers were so cold. Sim experienced similar difficulties as well. We got back to the coach and warmed up. Sim made Pork Chops, baked potato wedges with steamed veggies and corn. We had fresh fruit for dessert. It was superb.

I was tired, but Sim was still active. I wondered where she got her energy from. She told me she was tired after the hike, but that was two hours ago, and I guess she got a second wind after dinner. I went to bed and finished reading James Patterson's Mary Mary. Good book.

Sept 9 (1 night, Banff, AB Canada)
It is a short 90 minute drive from Lake Louise to Banff. We decided to spend one night here to give us a chance to check out the town and surrounding area. We found the National Park Campground and got a spot with electricity. We had smoked salmon salad for lunch and then drove downtown. First on the agenda was to drive by some big hotel to see if we could find an open network to check emails and send off the August travelogue to our fine Webmaster Dennis. Someone named BOBROB was kind enough to leave his network open so we could send and receive some email.

We walked the downtown section and ended up at the Cascade Gardens and Canada Place. Canada Place is kind of the history lesson about Canada. Sim enjoyed the canoe trip she took down the Bow River. After finishing touring the town, we stopped at Safeway and picked up some needed groceries, and then headed back to our coach. It was 3 p.m. when we got home, so I suggested we go for a short hike. We headed over to the Hoodoos and checked them out. Well, there are no awesome Hoodoos in Banff, in fact nothing can compare to the Hoodoos at Bryce Canyon. But it was a pleasant hike on this perfect sunny and light breeze afternoon. After the Hoodoos, we headed off for Bow Falls. We walked for about 3 km, and it started to get cold and windy at 5 p.m., so we reversed our direction and headed home instead of to the Falls.

Sept 10 (1 night, Rest Stop in Saskatchewan, Canada)
We got on the road around 10 am this morning after taking on water and dumping the tanks. Our plan is to boondock a couple of nights on our way across Canada, and maybe the third night stay in an RV Park. Need to save some money so we can replace that broken windshield. We said our goodbyes to the Canadian Rockies. They were sure impressive. We have miles and miles and miles of farm land ahead of us, but that can be interesting as well. We were somewhere near Strathmore when a huge house appeared in the middle of the road. It was being moved to a new location and the pilot cars were madly swinging traffic light poles out of the way so the house would clear. Cars were stacking up behind the house until finally he pulled way to the right to allow cars to go by. The pilot car signaled everyone to go, but when it was my turn, it did not look like there was enough room for me to get by. I had been listening to the house driver and the pilot cars talking on the CB. When I heard the driver of the house say “the green coach is scared to pass,” I got on the CB and asked them if they were sure there was enough room and they said sure no problem. Mind you, we are doing all this at 60 mph. The house wasn't slowing down for anyone. I did get by as my left wheels ran through the gravel on the left shoulder but everything was OK. It was only a bit scary. We are parked at a Rest Stop about 100 km west of Swift Water. We will stay for the night unless a trooper comes along and makes us move along.

It is 10:00 p.m. We can't sleep. The noise from the traffic on one side and the freight trains on the other and the fact that it is hot and we need the windows open is all contributing to no sleep. We get up and decide to drive until we find a better spot. We drove two hours and found a pull off at the edge of the town of Regina and fell into bed exhausted. We slept until 9:00 am, then took off again.

Sept 11 (1 night, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)
Today's drive was through miles and miles of farmland. Farm after farm all day long. We saw wheat fields, corn fields, sunflower fields, cow pastures, and.. you name it. We spent the night at a campground and did our laundry. This was the first campground we have stayed at that was owned by an Indian couple. We learned the husband was born and raised in England, but his wife was originally from India. The Internet hotspot was provided in the park Cafe. We got one missed call from Lillian when we were ready to head off to Kenora to see her and Gary. So, we drove our coach and parked at the park Cafe and went inside to use our computer to talk to Lillian via Skype. The husband observed us all the time while we were having conversation with Lillian. Curious to know about this new form of communication, he asked me what, how, and cost. Here we go once again Mr. Skype, I promoted your product and service. I intended to keep the explanation short but enough for him to understand how Skype works. Boy! he didn't let me go, so I gave him very detailed information. Can I go now?

Sept 12 - 14 ( 3 nights, Kenora, Ontario Canada)
Today we will make it to Kenora to see Gary and Lillian, whom we met in Zihuatanejo last winter. We plan to stay for a few days after our mad dash across Canada. We could not find the campground, and had to stop and ask directions. We finally found it and got settled in late in the afternoon. Gary stopped by to said Hello. He said he saw our coach going both ways by the campground and figured it was us.

Lillian invited us over for dinner, so we got cleaned up and drove over to their house later in the evening. Gary and Lillian live right on a lake on a big piece of land in a beautiful wood home. We enjoyed dinner very much. The dishes were definitely different from what we usually have; wild-game meatballs, potatoes, salad, cucumbers in vinegar, tomatoes from their garden and blueberry pie. Sim said Lillian made her day because she loves wild-game and blueberry is her favorite berry. Gary will have an appointment to see the dentist at 9 am tomorrow. He said he will give us the City Tour in the afternoon. Lillian suggested we have her homemade lunch before the tour.

Sept 13
Today we are going on the “City Tour” as promised by Gary at dinner last night. We headed over to their house after we finished breakfast. While waiting for Gary and lunch, I surfed the internet while Sim and Lillian walked around the outside of the house to see stuff. We had Chicken Sandwiches for lunch. It was a delicious sandwich. It was big chunks of chicken pieces with gravy served on top of bread. Every one had a full sandwich except Sim who had only one half sandwich. She replaced another half sandwich with one big slice of a left over blueberry pie.

After lunch we all piled into Lillian's car, with Gary driving and headed off for the grand tour. We drove around Kenora. Kenora is actually a name made up of three towns in the vicinity. Kewatin, Norman, and something that starts with RA that I don't remember. We saw all the highlights and then some. We stopped at Faye's house, a friend of Gary and Lillian, and had lovely afternoon tea and blueberry muffins. I could see the smile on Sim face. Blueberry, Yum! Faye gave Sim a two pound container filled of frozen blueberries. She and Lillian went picking wild blueberry sometimes this summer. We stopped and bought a wild rice mix at the local rice company. The wild rice is harvested from the Lake of the Woods right around Kenora.

The tour ended at Greek restaurant in downtown Kenora. The lamb dish Lillian wanted was no longer on the menu, but the Chef accepted the special request tonight. Lillian and Sim had the lamb dish. Gary had something pork, and I had something chicken. We had to wait a bit longer than usual, as the lamb had to be thawed. But, it was worth the wait.

It was an excellent City Tour because Gary not only knew every corner and the history of the town, but also, was a good entertainer.

Sept 14
Yesterday the weather was cold and overcast but good for the city tour. Today the weather is better and the sun is making brief appearances now and then. Gary has promised us a boat ride on the lake and we are anxious to see the area by boat. We dressed warmly and got to the house around 10:00. Gary was down at the dock putting a boat in the water. They have 4 or 5 boats on lifts because the lake freezes in winter. One of Gary's businesses is boat docks and lifts so he has a great setup for getting his boats in and out of the water.

We were on the boat ride for about 3 hours. The temperature was a bit on the cool side for us. Most houses on the lake had at least 2 boat garages. There were a lot of small islands and bays. A few islands didn't have any inhabitants. Most of them had 6 or 7 houses at least. I saw 2 or 3 islands had one lone house on each. The idea of not having many neighbors around sounds good, but being isolated from everything doesn't seem fun to me. The last spot we went to was the border between Canada and the U.S. Gary made the trip more fun by taking us through a narrow reef strewn passage that required a precise zig zag at the last minute.

When we got back to the house, Lillian gave Sim a foot spa and gave me a pair of fuzzy slippers, and a portable heater to warm up our feet. While Gary, Lillian, and Sim were in TV room having afternoon tea with chocolate chip muffin and watching TV, I chose to sip the afternoon tea and to surf on the internet in their family room where there was a fireplace and it was warmer.

Dinner was served up with roast moose, potatoes, salad and fruit cocktail. Sim raided Lillian's vegetable garden before we left for the evening of Italian and Asian parsley, cucumbers, and turnips.

Sept 15 ( 1 night, Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada)
Lillian invited us to stop at her house for breakfast before we headed off to Thunder Bay. We had homemade French toast, regular bacon and Canadian bacon. Canadian bacon tastes like a combination of ham and regular bacon. Lillian learned that Sim loved wild-game meat and wild rice, so she gave Sim two moose steaks, left over roasted deer, and wild rice when we finally said good bye. We continued east towards Lake Superior. The plan was to turn south at the lake and cross back into the USA in Minnesota. We could not make it to the US today so we stopped again in Ontario. The first place we checked out was a State Park, that was charging $23. for no hook ups. We moved on and found a private park for the same money and full hookups. We had roasted deer spiced Thai salad for lunch and roasted deer sandwich for dinner. They were pretty good.

Sept 16 ( 1 night, Mountain Iron, Minnesota, USA)
We crossed back into the USA today. We stopped at the border on the Canadian side to find out how we apply for the GST refund we had heard that we could apply for and get. GST is a tax on goods and services in Canada. US residents could get a refund on GST by saving their receipts and submitting them to the proper agency for a refund. Well, apparently the government decided to discontinue GST refunds for US citizens sometime in 2007, so we were out of luck. Sim had spent several hours organizing and totaling all the receipts we had saved.

We crossed the border and headed down the west side of Superior on what is noted on the map as a scenic route. We were not that impressed with the scenery, but it was neat to see Lake Superior. That is one big lake. You cannot see the other shore and if you did not know better you would think it was an ocean.

We arrived in Mountain Iron late in the afternoon. We picked this town because there was a large kayak dealer here and I had seen some pretty good prices on their website. We drove around trying to find the dealer but decided to park and find them in the AM. We pulled into a big parking lot that looked as if it was shared by a Lutheran church and a community center. I talked to a guy parked outside the church about parking there for the night and he told me the church pastor was on her way. I met the pastor when she arrived and asked permission to park in their lot for the night. She said it was OK with her, but to make sure, she called the Mayor and left a message on his phone telling him that she had given us permission to park overnight in the church lot. Cool. We saw a lot of Lutheran churches in our travels across Minnesota. Minnesota seems to be as heavy on Lutherans as Texas is on Babtists.

Sept 17 – 18 ( 2 nights, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, USA)
We got up early and after getting directions to the kayak dealer, headed off into downtown Mountain Iron. The town used to be a booming mining community in the past but is currently less than half the size of its former self.

We found the kayak dealer and checked their inventory. We picked a couple of kayaks and Chris, the owner, put them up on his truck and we headed off to the local pond to give them a try. Back at the shop we negotiated on price, then I spotted a different model that I wanted to try out. So back to the pond for another test drive. Back at the shop again, we agreed on the purchase price, then picked out some accessories. We set up new kayak racks on the Jeep, loaded up our new kayaks and headed down the road towards Detroit Lakes.

Sept 18



We stayed a couple of days in Detroit Lakes in a nice family park with WiFi and a huge cornfield in the back. The weather was not conducive to kayaking but we did get out and ride our bikes around. They have some really nice houses right on the big lake. The scenery is quite pretty in this town. Some trees are turning red and some are turning yellow.



Sept 19 -20 ( 2 nights, Dickinson, North Dakota, USA)
Today we drove to Dickinson which is just east of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. But our first destination was Fargo. We love the movie “Fargo” very much and wanted to drive to the town just to be able to say “yes we been there”. We planned to have breakfast in the town, but unfortunately we could not find any restaurant that had a big enough parking lot for our coach. So, we drove through town and stopped at a weigh station to have cereal. Later in the evening we found the Wal-Mart in Dickinson and settled in the parking lot then did some shopping for food and a few miscellaneous items. Sim found a nice bowl she wanted and I picked up some odds and ends for the coach.

Sept 20
In the morning we drove over to Theodore Roosevelt National Park and took the scenic loop drive around in the park. We stopped at Prairie Dog Town and watched the prairie dogs go about their business. They are quite industrious and interesting to watch. We stopped at one of the many trailheads, and took a hike out along a dry creek bed for about an hour before heading back to the car and continuing our loop drive. Not too much to see in this park but it was a fun day nonetheless.

Later in the day, we drove down the famous Enchanted Highway. The Enchanted Highway came about when one local artist decided to erect some large scale iron sculptures in order to bring people to the small town of Regent. Now there are numerous sculptures spaced periodically along this 26 mile stretch of highway that entertain drivers and bring people to Regent.

Sept 21 – 30 ( 10 nights, Custer, South Dakota, USA)
Today we are heading down into South Dakota into the Black Hills. We have picked Custer as a base to visit the many attractions in the area. Before we headed for Custer, we took a side trip over to Devils Tower. I just love that movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind with Richard Dreyfuss. The tower was just magnificent and the drive to the tower was just like the scenes from the movie when Richard Dreyfuss was driving madly to get there. We just spent a hour or so just outside the park, then headed off for Custer.

We picked Beaver Lake Campground because we thought there might be a “Beaver Lake” that we will use to do a little kayaking. We found the campground, but alas there was no lake that we could use. In fact Beaver Lake turned out to be a private pond.

Sept 22
We got going early and headed out to visit Mount Rushmore. We arrived fairly early in the morning and the light was pretty good for taking pictures of the mountain. Rushmore is pretty impressive. We joined a ranger led group and spent a very informative 1.5 hours listening to the story of the mountain and its creator Boglund. Do you know why these four Presidents were chosen to be carved on the mountain?. Each president was chosen for a particular important period in American history: Birth , Expansion, Union, and Industrialization. Washington for being the father of our country; the Birth. Jefferson for playing an integral role in the expansion of our country with the Louisiana Purchase. Lincoln for holding the Union and our country together during and after the Civil War. And finally Roosevelt for playing a significant role in the industrialization of America. A lot of people did not want Teddy up there, but the artist and Teddy were buddies, so Boglund got his way.

After Rushmore we headed over to the Crazy Horse Memorial. $20 to get in. It seemed steep but we later learned that the entire project is privately funded. No government money is being used to finance the project. Ultimately this will be a huge complex with learning centers, museums, and public areas as well as the monument. We were not very impressed with the present state of the displays. As far as the monument itself, only the face of Crazy Horse is complete. Someone said the planned completion is 2050, while others said there is no completion date set. The monument is 3 or 4 times larger than Rushmore. Rushmore took 14 years to complete with government funding. So, you do the math. We think we will be long gone before the completion.

Sept 23
We headed off to Custer State Park today. They charge $5. per person entry fee, but that is good for 7 days entry. We took one of the two loop roads and stopped at Center Lake and put the kayaks in the water. We spent a couple of hours paddling around the lake and having fun learning how to turn, paddle and maneuver our new toys. We also got the chance to give our boats a wash in the lake. They were pretty dusty from being on top of the car for days. Made a note to buy some covers to keep them cleaner and out of the sun as well.

Sept 24
Today it rained all day long so we stayed inside and cleaned, straightened and put the inside of the coach in proper order.

Sept 25
The sun came out this morning so I decided to wash the outside of the coach. This park is one of very few that allow you to wash your coach in your spot. I really do not know why more parks don't allow it. I suppose some people abuse the privilege by leaving the hose running or making a big mess. Anyway I got the coach washed and was up on my 6 foot ladder polishing the awning cover when my ladder started to fall with me near the top. Nothing I could do but hope it did not hurt too bad when I hit the ground. I landed flat on my back on the gravel and my head bounced on the astro turf welcome mat we put out at the entry door to the coach. I laid there for a couple of minutes and tried my legs and arms to see if there were any broken bones. The local sheriff happened to be driving by and saw me go down and came driving over the grass field, lights flashing, to see if I needed an ambulance. Sim came running out of the coach when she saw the sheriff driving up. I was OK, except for a huge headache and various scrapes and abrasions on my back, arms and legs.

Sept 26
Today we drove up to Rapid City to look around. Rapid City is only an hour north of Custer. Sim was craving bagels, so we stopped at Black Hills Bagels and had a coffee and bagels. The bagels were really delicious so we bought a dozen to take home and freeze. One thing we need to buy are PFDs for our kayaking trips. We looked at some at the kayak place but did not like the fit on any they had. Rapid City has a Scheel's Sport shop so we got directions and headed there to see if they had any PFDs we liked. They did not but, the store was in a big mall, so we went window shopping. I picked up a box of disposable latex gloves that are great to wear when working on the coach or using metal polish on the shiny parts.

Next we headed over to Wal-Mart and stocked up on needed supplies, loaded everything in the cooler in the Jeep and headed back to the campground.

Sept 27
When I bought this coach the generator shroud needed to be repaired. I had a guy at the company I worked at make me a bracket to secure the shroud better to the generator. Well, over the course of 15,000 miles that bracket broke and I had gerry rigged the shroud with Ty-Wraps to hold it in place. I decided today to remove the shroud and get the broken taps properly welded. I managed to finally get the shroud off the generator and with broken tabs in hand, headed down to the local welding shop. The man running the shop stopped what he was doing and immediately welded up my tabs back to the shroud. There was one tab I could not figure out how to get off the engine but figured two was good enough.

Back at the coach, I kept looking at the third tab still attached and finally figured how to get it off. So back to the welder I went and he welded on the third tab. Back at the coach to install the shroud. In the process of re-installing, I tore the metal around one of the tabs. Back to the welder to get the tear welded up. All in all, three trips to the welder and he only asked for $2. for the work. I happily gave him $5.

So I am ready to install the shroud and I notice the rubber belt for the water pump is shot. Off to the Napa store for a replacement belt. They looked but did not find a match, so back at the coach I made some calls and internet inquiries to find a Gates part number or equivalent. It was late so I called it a day.

Sept 28
I finally got a Gates part number and headed back to the Napa store with a part number, got the belt and was finally able to get everything back together in proper order. I cleaned up and Sim and I headed back into Custer State Park to take the second scenic loop in the park called the Wildlife Road. We saw deer, bison, antelope and of course more prairie dogs.

Sept 29
We have been having Aqua Hot problems again and we were planning on going to Kansas to visit an authorized service center to have it looked at. But as luck would have it, and authorized repair person was only a couple hours away, so we arranged to have him come down to Custer to take a look at our unit.

Roger and Lynda arrived in the early afternoon and Roger came over to take a look. He found a few questionable components which he replaced and everything seems to be working just fine now.

Sept 30
Today will be our last day in Custer, South Dakota. We took off right after lunch and went back into Custer State Park to go to the Buffalo Roundup Art Fair and Chili Cook-off. This is an annual event here in Custer. The Art Fair and Chili Cook Off precede the Buffalo Round Up that happens on Monday. We got to the fair and walked around. The cook off was over but they had a Cowboy band playing and we enjoyed listening to some old time cowboy music.

We wandered around the art fair for another hour, but had to get back to the campground because we had invited Roger and Lynda to dinner this evening.

They came over around 6:30 with a nice bottle of wine and we enjoyed Sim's Pad Thai and talked about our adventures well into the evening.

Oct 1 (1 night, Sidney, Nebraska USA)
The big event this time of the year in Custer is the Buffalo Roundup. This world renown event was attended by over 30,000 people last year. On the way into the park yesterday we asked the ranger what time we should plan on being at the roundup in the morning. He said we should be there at 5:30 because a lot of people would be coming and there is only a 2 lane road out to the corrals where the buffalo ending up. We got up at 5:00 and on our way about 5:45. We came to a sudden stop about 3 miles from the event behind a line of cars 3 miles long. It took another hour to go that 3 miles, but we arrived 1.5 hours before the round-up was scheduled to start. Around 10:00 we saw the bison coming over the hill. They stopped the herding long enough for the Governor's party to re-position themselves on another high ridge, then the cowboys brought the herd in front of the general public and down to the corrals. It was quite a sight to see 1500 to 2000 bison being herded by cowboys on horses, in trucks and on ATVs. We left soon after as we still had a full days worth of driving to do to get to our next destination.

On the way there where two places I wanted to stop to see. The first was the Tri-State Old Time Cowboy Museum in Gordon, Nebraska. We found the Museum but no one was there. There was a sign on the door with a couple of names and phone numbers so I called Albert and he said he would be right down. Albert showed up in a few minutes and opened up the museum for me. I spent around 30 minutes wandering around checking out all the old cowboy stuff. Most of the artifacts were from local cowboys in Nebraska, Wyoming and Kansas.

The second stop on my list was Carhenge. You have probably heard of Stonehenge right? Well Carhenge is just what you think it might be. Cars buried vertically in the ground, with another car balanced on top of the buried car. I don't know when this “work of art” was first put together but today it is rather run down and poorly maintained. It is kind of interesting, if you are in the neighborhood it is worth a 10 minute stop.

We were really late because of the round-up, and the stops I wanted to make, so we arrived in Sidney after the sun went down. Sim had gotten directions off the internet and she was reading them to me as I drove through the dark streets of Sidney. Well we did not find the Wal-Mart on the first time through town, so we turned around and stopped at Safeway and got directions to the Wal-Mart. We pulled in really late and learned that our water pump had stopped working. We couldn't live without water, so I took a bucket to get water by draining the fresh water tank. Now at least we could use the toilet. I started to take panels off in the water pump bay and looked for any wires that were loose. I played with it for 30 minutes and it started to work again. I have no idea what the problem was but happy it was working again. We had dinner and went to bed really late. In the middle of the night the howling wind woke me up. It must have been blowing 40 mph. Hopefully we will have a good day in Colorado tomorrow.

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