Sorry, I missed a day.....Yesterday, we drove up through Banff National Park, saw lots of wildlife, and stopped off for a great hot springs pool experience at Radium Hot Springs....The water comes in at 114 degrees and is cooled to 103...then they also have a "cool pool" at 84 degrees. Then we headed North and saw a Bear! on the side of the road! Spent the night in a turnout area, where the tour busses pick up people.(Couldn't find the Rv park in the dark with 75 foot trees everywhere!) Then,the next morning, for whatever reason possessed him, Jimmy decided to wash the bus! Using our own water from our tank! If I miss out on a shower because of this!!!!!???

P.S. I forgot, When we were at the top of the closed road......Jimmy had to put the satellite dish up so we could get pictures and make a phone call!

Well....the rumors were right.The road was closed about 29 miles in, but it was gorgeous for those 29 miles, anyway! We took the Road To The Sun, started out at about 3100 feet, altitude level, then, where the road closed it was a little over 5900 feet! It was a very narrow road, and the drop off was on my side of the vehicle, going up....so I was leaning toward the center a lot. Finally stopped and got out and moved to the back seat....behind Jimmy!

The way down was a lot more relaxing and We stopped on the turnouts a lot, so I could take pictures! We're still a little early, in the season, so there wasn't a lot of traffic (thank heavens). Pictures don't do it justice, but I've included some, anyway.

On the way back, we stopped for a Huckleberry Milkshake and a look in the gift shops! Jimmy had to have a bottle of rocks! ( it's chocolate candy, that looks like little pebbles).

When we got home, the neighbors, in the RV park, had a little get-together, cooking hamburgers, etc. and some friends, we knew, also came.

I did some laundry, and,after a couple of loads, the dryer started smoking! Somehow, the things I were drying, got caught and the drum bound up and wouldn't turn, so it started smoking and smelling like an electrical fire! We emptied it and set up our Ionic Breeze, nearby. This morning, amazingly, not a whiff of smell, and somehow, nothing was hurt.....I think. It seems to work fine. Today, we watch the NASCAR race and just chill. Tomorrow, we will probably head to Banff, Alberta . (about 6 hours). Jimmy plans to do some organizing of bus storage today,( if he ever runs out of things to do, I'll go nuts!)

Well, gotta run,

Hello again!

Sorry it has been so long, but we have been sort of in a whirlwind, the past few days. After getting to Woodbury, Mn. Visited with our friend Jerry for a few hours, then went on to Alexandria, where Tracy, his wife, was staying with her parents. (Her Father is ill). Then stopped in a rest area before Billings, for the night. When we went into Billings, Jimmy had the Motosat people send us a new dish to go on top of the Hummer. The first one he bought, kept malfunctioning, so they sent him another one, when we were in Charlotte, a few weeks ago. But then he noticed that it was a refurbished one and requested a new one,(since that's what he bought). Spent the night in Wal-Mart parking lot, got out the Road Hog and did our shopping that afternoon. Zipped around to Petsmart, Office Depot, Post office, Costco....all the necessities. The next day, found out that my dad's friend Ardys, was in the hospital, so we parked the bus as close to the hospital as we could. (about 6 blocks away), got out the Road Hog and zipped over there. Had a nice visit, then headed out of town. Stopped by Freightliner for a part Jimmy needed for the bus, then went North. Butte, Missoula, now we are in Big Fork.

We were out exploring the town, when we ran across some friends from our Marathon Coach Club, that live here. Had dinner with some, then ran into others while driving around the Country Club area. The Catletts have invited us to stay on their "lot" for a few days. We plan to drive up to Glacier National Park, tomorrow,in the Hummer, but have heard the road is closed.....Will have to find out in the morning. More tomorrow......

Good evening! Well, after some "issues" were worked out, we stayed at the same campground, again. It is one of the neatest little campgrounds, we've ever stayed at. We met some people from Ohio.....also going to Alaska, and played 9 holes of "Chukker Golf" ,(even if you are a good golfer...you won't be here!)

Jimmy had everything in the bus, strewn out all over the ground....so he could "re-organize" ha!ha! he installed another satellite dish for HD TV, on the roof of the coach....I don't know what he'll do, once he's finished "re-organizing".

Tomorrow, we will leave for Woodbury, Mn. to see some friends, then on to Montana. More soon!

After turning right at Wausau, Wi. We arrived in Antigo,Wi. and spent the afternoon getting the slider trays, that Jimmy ordered, installed. Then, upon hearing that they had even let school out early, because there was severe weather coming. (grapefruit sized hail.) We threw everything in the bus and took off, driving west, hopefully to beat the storm coming from the southwest. We caught just the edge, with really hard rain, but only for about 30 minutes. Tonight, we are at a great little campground, just west of Chippewa Falls, Mn. Plan to see a Hummer friend in Woodbury, then to Billing to see another friend then probably hit Canada about Tuesday or Wednesday.

Good evening!
Today, we loaded up and left Tennessee, drove through Kentucky, and stopped just outside of Gary, Indiana, where we are waiting for an overnight letter from home. Tomorrow, we will fuel up and head for Chicago, where we will pick up some parts for our awning (for the bus) then to Wausau, Wisconsin for a couple of sliding trays, that Jimmy ordered. Nothing eventful, today.

Well, we are starting our trek across the country, we just left our friend Kaye Stevens, in Florida and headed North. We've stopped for the night in a little campground just outside Lake City, Tennessee (just North of Knoxville). It's way down a country road, deep in the trees....I swear I hear Banjos playing in the background, ha! But, it is really pretty and I think we will stay here for a couple of days.

Not much going on today, plan to drive to Lake Texoma to visit some friends from Australia, Rod & Pauline, that are staying there in their RV for a few days.

We have been to Martinsville twice, but have held season tickets to both races at Bristol for 4 years.

After Charlotte, we met our friends from Oregon that also have Marathon Coaches, and usually meet us at the Vegas and Phoenix races. They decided to venture East with us and go to the Martinsville race.(the best, along with Bristol, in my opinion).
Anyway, knowing some people in Mooresville....we decided to hit all the race shops!

We started By going to the race in Las Vegas, in March, for my birthday. I got to see my "daughter" from my college sorority, then on we went to Phoenix for the next race, Went home for the Texas race in April, where I won the Inaugural Checkered flag for Texas Motor Speedway and got to meet many of the current and former drivers. Then we went to Charlotte, where we met our Southern friends and had a fun 2 weeks of Pit crew Challenges, racing, etc.

Devil's Tower in Wyoming

Crazy Horse Monument

One lane tunnels

Mount Rushmore......!

Between a rock and a hard place!

Campground in Deadwood, S.D.

We meet in a parking lot in Oklahoma

August 21-24,2004
Hi everyone!
Time for another chapter of Jim and Kelli's Great Escapes.
This time, we are headed to Deadwood, South Dakota, for a Hummer Rally. Loading up the bus with the hummer on a car trailer, in tow, we head out.
We met other Hummer friends in Oklahoma and caravanned up there. Steve, his wife, Maribeth with her daughter, and her two sons, each driving a truck- they have an H1 and the smaller H2. We then met up with Mickey, from Dallas, and his silver "slant back" H1, and Dave and Ernie (his wife) with their white H1 on their car carrier "rig". (they are from Tulsa). Mark (Maribeth's husband, is to meet up with us along the way, somewhere, coming from a job, in Denver. We went straight North on I-35, through Kansas, where we met up with Mark, and continued through Nebraska. Then we turned west on 20 and finally stopped to spend the night in O'Neill, Nebraska. The next day, we turned North, in the Northwest corner of Nebraska, and headed to Deadwood, with a stop in Sturgis, along the way. (The Biker Rally had just ended).
We arrived just as a rain storm started, so we split up to find our campground and they went to their hotel. Whistler's Gulch R.V. Park was just up the hill from the main hotel headquarters, and was really neat! The sites were located all along the canyon, up the mountainside, ours was near the top.....what a view!
Keith,(our friend from Kansas) had signed us up for the extreme trails (of course) and the trail on Tuesday was so narrow and severe....there were warnings posted of possible severe body damage (oh boy! I'm thrilled)
At any rate, we spent Monday, driving through creek beds, and through the forest.....it felt like "jungle warfare". We even ran across a guy, panning or gold!
Tuesday was the "severe" trail. Only 6 trucks went (H1s) and there were over 40 at the rally. It was the narrowest, roughest trail we have ever been on! We climbed up the edge on one of the Black Hills mountains for about an hour, then started down the creek beds and "pig-trails". On one of the biggest obstacles, the rear tire slipped off a boulder and into a hole. (we are heavier than most other trucks because of all the tools Jimmy carries with us) This put the truck literally "between a rock and a hard place" (2 boulders)
After trying several different angles, etc., Jimmy decided to use the winch. This would mean that the left side back passenger door would be "crunched" big time, but otherwise, we'd be there another hour, working our way out, unscathed.
Anyway, after the initial "boo-boo", we continued down the narrow trail. At one point, the hummers wouldn't fit between the trees.( our left mirror's plastic cover got cracked) so.....out came the axes and down came 2 small trees!
After " funning ourselves to death" we decided to stick to the road on Wednesday. We went with a group of about 25 other Hummers on a sightseeing tour. We were headed for Mt.Rushmore, Sylvan Lake, along the needles highway and finally the Crazy Horse Monument.
I had never been to Mount Rushmore......it is really amazing and beautiful> Then we drove around the Wildlife Loop through the state park. We saw wild antelope, bighorned sheep, wild donkeys, prairie dogs and lot and lot of Bison (Buffalo)!
We had to stop while an entire herd decided to cross the road in front of us.
After a rest stop at Sylvan Lake- (really beautiful rock formations go right into the water!) we went down the Needles Highway, saw some beautiful scenery and went through three different tunnels that were one lane wide! The H1 hummers barely fit through!
Then we came to Crazy Horse......the most fascinating and incredible monument of all! We went into the welcome center a watched a movie on the history of the carving. Crazy Horse was a Lakota Indian War Chief. After he was killed with a bayonet in the back at a nearby fort (while under a truce flag), the elders of the tribe asked the sculptor (who assisted on the carving of Mt. Rushmore) to carve a memorial to Crazy Horse. The sculptor died in 1982, but his (18 years younger) wife and 7 out of 10 of his children, and now, their grandchildren, have continued this task.
The face was completed in 1998 (I can't imagine starting a project that I will never see completed!) the hole underneath what will be the arm took 1 1/2 years to make, so they could take equipment to the other side. The carving will be 360 degrees.
While we were there, we took a bus ride up to the base of the mountain and watched while one of the sons worked a huge bulldozer (a D-9 Caterpillar) pushing rocks down the mountain.....well into the evening. When they are finished, probably not in our lifetime, the horse's hoof will be touching the ground! 563 feet tall! Taller than the Statue of Liberty, or the Washington Monument. They figure it will be done in another 100 years! Something everyone should see, if they get a chance!
We met our Texas and Oklahoma friends for dinner at a great little steakhouse, called the Stampmill, in nearby Lead, S.D.

Aug.25-27,2004
Thursday, we decided not to go on the trails and just check out the town. This is where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried. There is no parking on the streets of town, but there is a trolley that will take you anywhere you want for 50 cents a person. There are no chain stores or restaurants there. Population 3,800. There are severl museums, many casinos and the restaurants are few, but half casino/half restaurant.
Thursday night was the final dinner, silly awards were given and then we head back to the bus. The next morning, we met up with Mark, Maribeth and family and decide to go to Devil's Tower in Wyoming, since we were so close.
Devil's Tower is a monolithic rock formation that is supposedly the core of a volcano- the rest of the mountain has just eroded away. Legend has it, that 7 little Indian girls were chased by a bear, so they jumped on a small hill an prayed that the mountain save them. It started to grow and grow and the Indian girls went up to the sky and became constellations. The marks on the side of the mountain were made by the bear trying to reach them.
After that, we turned South to Denver. We stopped to see my best friend, since kindergarten, Harvey, and all had dinner at a very nice Italian restaurant, named
"Il-Fornaio". Mark and the boys had a job in Denver, so they stayed, Maribeth and Markie (her daughter) headed back to Oklahoma and Jimmy and I headed home to Texas. We stopped in Lubbock to visit my other "best friend" since childhood...Peggy and her family, then home to Fort Worth. All in all, a very nice trip, without too much incident.....except the damage to the Hummer....oh well, Battle Scars Ha!
next, we go to Hollywood!