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Old 07-31-2011, 09:01 PM   #1
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Soloing across America

I'm right in the middle of a solo trip across the Heartland and thought I'd post some highlights from time to time. I'm a single Airstreamer, retired, sixty, and I'm heading back west after a year in South Carolina. My plan is to check out several western cities and towns to figure out a really nice place to base camp between trips. On the way I'm visiting relatives and friends and just generally wandering around. After a delightful two days sans hookups in Great Smoky Mountain National Park on the NC/Tennessee border, I stayed three days at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Also a nice area. I stayed three nights in a really great county park on the outskirts of Davenport, Iowa (no reservations, full hookups, $19/night). Rest and recuperation and fixing stuff on the Airstream. Now I'm staying in Wayne, Ne. while visiting my daughter's family. I'm at the Wayne Lion's Club RV Park ($8/night, 30/50 amp electrical and water hookups, no sewer or restroom) and it's really nice except for the sewer situation. That catches us up to the present. The heat is hitting the middle of the country hard and I'm really grateful for the stellar Airstream environment. Crossing the Missouri River was interesting; I turned north at Council Bluffs, Iowa intending to cross at Lewis and Clark State Park. The bridge was closed due to flooding so I crossed just north of Council Bluffs. There's a lot of water in that river right now!
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Old 07-31-2011, 09:11 PM   #2
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I'd love to hear more of your adventures as you go. I usually go solo myself ... there's an upside: I like to boondock and usually do, and being by myself makes the fresh and gray water and black water tankage last longer!

Hope you have a great trip, and do keep on posting.
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Old 07-31-2011, 09:15 PM   #3
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I like boondocking too, AirsDream, but the heat has been killer the last couple of weeks and I've needed the hookups for the AC except in the Great Smokies. It's getting better as I get further west, though.
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Old 07-31-2011, 11:05 PM   #4
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jdb,

Sounds like you are having a great trip. Hope you keep us updated. What is the name of the park outside Davenport? I'm heading that way later in August.

Thanks,
Stan
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Old 07-31-2011, 11:39 PM   #5
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Enjoying your posts and hope you keep it up. I was going to take a similar trip this summer but in reverse but my dear MH has been in the shop eating up my travel $$$. Are you planning on being in Q, AZ this winter?
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Old 08-01-2011, 05:59 AM   #6
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jdb,
If you are headed via the northerly routes don't miss Missoula, MT. On your way catch Pomey's Pillar near Billings. If you're working your way through Idaho and the town of Mountain Home is a timely stop, use the Mountain Home RV Park on Veterans for one of the nicest places on the western road.
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Old 08-05-2011, 05:16 PM   #7
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Stan, the park outside Davenport is West Lake Park, not far of US 61. I was well pleased with it.

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Old 08-05-2011, 05:21 PM   #8
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LuvRVing, I'm planning to do a bit of downhill skiing this winter (Bend, Or/Durango/Crested Butte Co/) but that doesn't rule out a spell at Q. I am not sure yet.
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Old 08-05-2011, 05:26 PM   #9
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Greg, I'm going to be in that region and greatly appreciate the advice on destinations and places to stay.

I'm leaving Wayne, Ne. tomorrow after a stellar week+ with the kids and grandkids. I'm heading over to Chadron Ne. and plan to see the Black Hills area if I can avoid the Sturgis crowd. Could be tense. I don't do well in the midst of hordes of drunks and nekkid women. Drunks, anyway. I've done 8 good days in Wayne at the Lion's RV Park. A good time was had by all!
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Old 08-05-2011, 06:09 PM   #10
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I also visited a nice state park on the Nebraska northern border called Niobrara State Park that had a great swimming pool with wonderful views of the Niobrara and Missouri rivers. The RV part had electric with water available but no water or sewer hookup. $18/night but I didn't stay there. Lovely park with a lot of activities out in the middle of nowhere. The grandkids and I went swimming there.
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Old 08-05-2011, 07:13 PM   #11
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The bikes are all through the hills. The Bandidos used to camp up in Custer Park. Not sure about this year. Your party towns will be Sturgis of course, and Deadwood, but there's action all over the hills. If I want a quiet family vacation, the hills ain't it the first two weeks of August.

Are most bikers there safe? You bet! Noisy? Yup! Personally, if I'm doing a travel trailer campground thing, I'll either park 100 miles away and drive through the hills for the day, or I'll skip it during the rally.
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Old 08-05-2011, 08:05 PM   #12
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If you like skiing don't forget Ca's Sierra's. You can work your way west & south by making Utah, hitting Tahoe & China Peak outside of Fresno. Lots of great skiing along the way to AZ by swinging really west.
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Old 08-05-2011, 09:28 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdb View Post
Stan, the park outside Davenport is West Lake Park, not far of US 61. I was well pleased with it.

I was also at West Lake Park last week for one night. It is the best bargain in camping.
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Old 08-06-2011, 04:28 AM   #14
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Hey jdb, where in S.C. were you? Safe and happy travels. John
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Old 08-09-2011, 10:32 AM   #15
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John, I was in a little place near Jones Gap State Park not far from Marietta, SC. About a a quarter mile below the big cliff that marks the NC/SC border. Nice place.
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Old 08-09-2011, 10:50 AM   #16
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OK, update time. I'm camping in Chadron State Park just a hair south of Chadron, Ne. GREAT state park, no water or sewer but they have a nice dump facility where you can also fill the water tanks. $18/night, plus park entry if you hadn't already bought an annual entry ($20). I had. Wonderful swimming pool with a good view. (Several Nebraska state parks have these view pools~!) Chadron is absolutely great for a place to stay.
Yesterday I took the tow rig up north, first to Mt. Rushmore then to Deadwood. Bikers all over the freeway. Bikers with dead bikes littering the side of the road. People towing trailers with bikes everywhere. Deadwood was filled to overflowing with bikers, bikini clad girls washing bikes, people looking at the girls, and barbecue stands, and free beer at the casinos. Hopping place! Warning: They charge to go see Wild Bill Hickock's grave. Turkeys...where is their respect? I made my way on over to Sturgis, which was even crazier than Deadwood. Musta been thirty thousand or more bikes there. Dragged Main and washed up at the Full Throttle Saloon, where a great time was had by all, including me. The Full Throttle is certainly the largest bar I've ever visited and is bordered on the east and west by twin railroad bridges that were relocated from somewhere or other, put on pilings, and outfitted with tables, chairs, and little sun umbrellas. There must be fifteen separate bars where you can get a beer, maybe twenty places to get various foods, lots of tattoo shops, a naughty underwear store, a place for bikers to do burnouts, scantily clad girls dancing on bars, even more scantily clad girls being painted, tshirt shops, and about ten thousand people all having a great time. (It was early) Quite a scene! After a decent interval, I dragged Main back through town and headed on east to Rapids City, then south through Badlands National Park and the Oglalla Sioux Indian reservation. Big, long, fun day. Sturgis during rally week is not for the faint of heart, but for the intrepid traveler, who just happens to be there it's a lot of fun. There are some dynamite bikes on the street and on display in the bars, casinos, and vendor tents. ANYTHING related to bikes is available in Sturgis during bike week.
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Old 08-09-2011, 02:26 PM   #17
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Good job!
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Old 08-11-2011, 10:12 AM   #18
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Greetings from Wyoming, the Cowboy State! I spent the night on Alcova Lake southwest of Casper. $7, pit toilets only, no hookups, but it was a lovely lake and a lakeshore campsite. Shredded a trailer tire yesterday but changed it out with no problem. I love double axle trailers; changing a tire is so much easier when you can just run the good tire up on a ramp and change the other one. Big O of Casper came through with a correctly sized tire to replace the shredded one. This update is from Lander, a nice little town at the base of the mighty Wind River Range. You sure have to watch gas here, it's easy to find yourself low between stations.
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Old 08-11-2011, 10:13 AM   #19
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Splitrock, you sure live in a nice area!
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Old 08-11-2011, 02:45 PM   #20
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South Dakota is pretty in areas but has a bad climate . . . hot and very humid in summer, very cold and dark in winter.
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