Winter Trip 2024 - Boxing Day review

This post will mainly be a review of our trip up to this point. We left home on December 20 heading to Rapid City, SD, for the Christmas holiday. We were surprised that I-90 was bare and and mostly dry all the way.

Avoiding night driving, we spent one night in Bozeman, MT.

The next day we stopped in Sturgis, SD, to briefly visit with son, Josh, and his family before they headed out on a drive to the East coast.

Arrived in Rapid City at our usual destination hotel. It has a pool slide our grand kids enjoy.

Went on a mountain trail hike with son Alan, and two of his boys. We found some very interesting swings and rope structures.

 

Opened gifts on Christmas morning with Alan's family.

The Sunday before Christmas we attended the church that provided a family to pick Zoey and Wyatt up for AWANA. That is a marvelous gift to us! Then, we returned for the Christmas Eve service. We did miss any pageants that happened in WA or SD.

Home!

Roger enjoyed swimming with the grandkids until he realized he'd jumped in with his phone in his swim trunk's pocket!! It's still drying out - we hope it may work again.ng t

In MT we suddenly realized we were driving with a coolant leak. There was no indication of problems on the gauge, so it was only seeing the puddle under the R.V. that alerted Roger to issues. He couldn't buy coolant there - the nearest place was ~50 miles away - so we filled it up with water. After we were able to add coolant, we kept our eyes on the exhaust. It continued to spew white smoke showing that there was some engine damage. God allowed us to get home, but now we have to decide what move to do next.

Our last night was spent in Ellensburg at a prayer meeting. They let us spend the night there and on Thursday morning we continued home - arriving before lunch.

It was a good trip, but so glad to be home!

WB road!

Driving in WY, we realized we had the Wordless Book in sight! The road was red - certain areas have red rocks and use it in highway mixtures. The center lines were yellow, but had black alongside them. On the side of the road was the white fog line. And the grass was green. So, we had all 5 WB colors as we drove along.

SD

We arrived in SD and parked at the R.V. park in town. After Heather taught on Zoom, Alan's family came over. Shortly after they arrived, a torrential down pour ensued. We were able to eat dinner together and keep the kids somewhat happy with games. The pool is closed for the season, so we have decided to rent a motel room with a pool on hand.

The storm brought lightening for about an hour - sheet and forked without thunder! It was an amazing sight - and we could see it well on the hill that the park is located. Also looked out over the town all lit up for evening.

Friday we moved to the hotel. For 2 days the kids/g'kids came and left, enjoying the pool. Josh joined us on Saturday for a short visit, bringing his family. 

Sunday morning we moved out and left for church. Directly thereafter we drove to Sturgis. Josh found a wonderful park that we all enjoyed. First we had our Swiss Steak, potato salad, watermelon and cheese cake. Then we tried out many of the slides, swings, rides, etc. The bike park was a huge draw. Alan, Wyatt and Odin joined us for the afternoon. Galina stayed with home with Hunter and Zoey, who wasn't feeling good.

Sunday was Heather's birthday, and it was a delight to spend it with some family - a very rare occurrence.

Sunday night we plugged in at Josh's, and left Monday for home. Monday night was spent in Bozeman, MT.

Highway excitement

Traveling north on route 85 in WY, we were almost stopped as a great transport passed us going south. Two helicopters with machine guns hanging out the side guarded and flew above this transport. There were many (~6) official/police cars with flashing lights, etc., accompanying the semi that pulled a trailer. Several armored military vehicles were also in the convoy. I almost ran into the guy ahead of me as he decided to hit the brakes. The "caravan" was in the opposite double lane, but it was overwhelming. 

One local person told us they were transporting a nuclear missile warhead, since there are a lot of silos around here.  I don't like to link to outside media because I can't be sure of what else might on the site, but here's a tiktok video of pretty much what we saw. Very interesting.

This road was almost deserted, but it's a good highway between Cheyenne, WY, and Rapid City, SD.

Sometime later, as we travelled the "CanAm" highway route 85, we drove on roads that reminded us of the "wordless book". Do you recognized the colors?

 

Friends

We met with Doug and Becky G. at Focus on the Family, Colorado Springs, CO. Doug worked there for many years. Our friendship goes back to the 80's.

Heather always wants the sundae that Whit's End offers. It's really TOO big, but it looks so yummy. We had sweet fellowship (yep) and reminisced about the years gone by - where did they go??

Focus let us spend the night in their parking lot. We had to leave by 8 and the store didn't open until 9, so we pretty much wandered around and then returned. 

On Tuesday we drove to Kendall's place in Littleton, CO. We hadn't seen them in many years, so there was lots to update. They took us to a favorite walking place by the Platte River. Kathy packed a picnic lunch for us. There were no flies or mosquitoes to ruin our time. The weather was perfect. It was a good time of encouraging one another. In the evening we played several games.

Wednesday we were back on the road. Toward late afternoon Roger started looking for a church where we could attend prayer meeting. He found one in small town Torrington, WY. It's good to meet with fellow believers. They let us spend the night on their parking lot (unpaved).

McDonald's

We spent the night in a gas station/truck stop in CO. Around dark a farm truck pulled upwind from us (think manure)! Gag me!! He didn't stay all night. Early this morning a skull stopped by for a too long visit! Several car alarms went off. But we slept well. Now we're at McDonald's again.

McDonald's has been our friend for many years. This year, with the intense heat, we have gone inside just to cool off (although the manager said the a/c couldn't keep up with the heat). I've been told a/c only cools 30 degrees below the outside temperature.

In years past, the kids and now the grandkids enjoy/ed the playland. Happy meals (or as our granddaughter called the place "Happy Donald") have always been a favorite.

We are so grateful to go to a place that doesn't sell liquor! Today we had their coffee to save on starting the generator and use their internet. It's strong enough (the internet - lol) that we can operate inside the R.V.

Thanks, McDonald!! Roger (almost) always gives them a good review.