Theo and Chris' road trip '05

[C Johnson]

Hi all ! Things are going well for the trip to and back from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Getting there from Portland it took three long days of hard driving. 6 to 700 miles a day. I used 194 gallons of gas to get to Milwaukee. I arrived Tuesday night about 1 am. The weather along the way was very nice.

Wednesday Theo and I took a tour of the Harley Davidson powertrain production and assembly plant. It was very cool. The weather in Milwaukee was good until Wed. night. They had a few really good T-storms. I stayed at his moms place in downtown Milwaukee. Kinda hard to park the AS there, but not impossible.

Thursday we headed out for the Badlands in South Dakota. We split the trip in two. Stayed the first night in Palisades state park in Garrison, SD.

Friday we arrived at the KOA in Interior,SD..

Today we took a driving tour of the Badlands National Park. We saw pronghorn antelope, deer, bison, and lots of prarie dogs. This park is amazing. The vistas seem to go forever.

Tomorrow we are heading out to Mt. Rushmore and then onto Yellowstone. I hope to see Rodney there and check out his Globetrotter.

Thats it for now !

Chris

[john hd]

good luck on your trip.

hope you enjoyed wisconsin!

john

[C Johnson]

See my pics here

[Stefrobrts]

Great pictures, Chris! Looks like you and Theo are having a blast. We plan to take the trip back to Mt Rushmore next summer maybe, so I'm enjoying the sneak peek

[Ken J]

I really enjoy seeing folks enjoy themselves. Looks like you are having a great time - a great reward for a job well done on the trailer.....

Now if I can only get mine finished.......

Ken J.

[Uberlanders]

Chris,
I hope that you were able to make a stop at Wall Drug for your complimentary "Where in the hell is Wall Drug?" bumpersticker. There is nothing like an entire city street lined with rooms of useless tiny plastic objects.

Can't wait to hear your travel tales in October at Beverly Beach.

[C Johnson]

We are having a great time. Everything in the AS is working fine so far. There are a few things I am goin to change later for ease of use. It is supposed to get down to 27 deg. here tonight. Sure am glad I have a good working furnace. We just came in from sitting by the campfire. Theo took a hot tub earlier. I know its not really camping when you can log onto the internet after taking a hottub. The KOA here is really nice. I sure am glad it is the off season. This place would be a zoo in the summer.
I did see another new AS today entering the Badlands as we were leaving. There is also a new MH in the park here. Strange to see an Airstream that isn't shiny.

We did get to Wall Drug and yes there is a huge amount of knick knacks there. I'll post some pics of that soon. What a tourist trap, yikes ! Keystone here is also a huge tourist trap.

When we came into Rushmore today, we saw a mountain goat, quite a few deer, and a whole bunch of wild turkeys. Tomorrow we will be going up to the visitor center at the base of the faces then over to see the new Crazy Horse monument.

Thats it for now !

[C Johnson]

Well we are back. 5041 miles later ! I'll be posting some pics soon. The Caravel worked great. No major problems, just minor annoyances. What a great maiden voyage. We truely have some great places to visit and some great sights to see in this country. It is an experience that I will treasure always.

[C Johnson]

I just uploaded about half of the pics we took on our 5000 mile roadtrip.

You can see them here - Chris and Theos' Trip Pics

More coming soon.

Enjoy ! Chris

[SilverToy]

Hi all -

Chris, the trip sounds fabulous! Took in a lot of the same sights you and Theo saw and can recommend the whole area around Ruchmore. Was there in Mid-July and it was busy but not too bad.

I can HIGHLY recommend the Custer KOA. We stayed there for 2 nights, actually 3. They were SO nice and bent WAY over backwards for a Dad traveling alone with 3 kids. VERY nice couple that took the park over and made lots of improvements including ( but not limited to) having "Thirteen Flavors" Ice Cream parlor, all you can eat for $2 or something, Breakfast/Pancake buffet every morning - again something like $3. Great camp store and lots of local advice. Lots of Shady spots. Back away from the road into/out of Custer. GREAT employees!!! - couple of kids that were there on days off too, just because they liked working there and being with the campers. Not pushy, just very helpful and awfully nice to be around and talk with.

Can't recommend them highly enough. In fact, the kids have already claimed that KOA for this coming years trip as they liked it the best of any of the places after our "mamouth" 4600+/- mile innaugural trip in '05.

Looking forward to the photos Chris!

Ciao all.

Axel

[C Johnson]

I did see that KOA. We stayed at the one in Hill City. It sounds like the one in Custer is a lil better. More trees. Although there are a few choice spots at the Hill City KOA.

Chris

[C Johnson]

Hi all, I just posted the rest of my pics from my roadtrip. The Yellowstone Pics turned out pretty good. Check them out here ----> Yellowstone Pics

Chris

[jordandvm]

Aaaaaaah, I can smell the sulfur hot springs......brings back memories from our trip last summer! Fun pics!
Did Theo catch any fish?

[C Johnson]

Originally Posted by jordandvm

Aaaaaaah, I can smell the sulfur hot springs......brings back memories from our trip last summer! Fun pics!
Did Theo catch any fish?

Yes he did, on the Gibbon River. They were small but fun to catch. His comment was at least he didn't get skunked !

Chris

[C Johnson]

Hi all, I just put up the rest of the pics we took on our trip. I know it took a while but, here they are.

Yellowstone Pictures

Enjoy !, Chris

[3Ms75Argosy]

Chris - those pics are awesome! Makes me yearn for some warm, beautiful scenery!

By the way, we loved meeting you and Theo at BB. You guys are fun! Hope Theo's back has recovered from my kids!
Marc