Retirement Road Trip 2001: Day 6, Wednesday 8/31

372 miles, camped at Chris' Camp, Spearfish, SD

I'm camped at a private campground, not a State Park tonight.  I'll explain later.  Anyway, I left Vermillion Lake about 7:30 in the morning to a heavy, heavy fog.

It soon cleared.  The weather was projected to be in the mid 90's in western South Dakota this afternoon.  Yikes!!  I have no AC in the camper.  That fact was part of my decision making process for selecting a campsite.  I drove I-90 the entire day.  The road was very well maintained and there was little traffic.  It was actually an enjoyable drive.  Corn and soybean fields were the main view out the window as I left.  When I crossed the Missouri River, the view seemed to change.  There was still corn and soybeans, but also fields of hay, sunflowers and sorghum stated to show up.  The further west I traveled, the drier the land became.  Finally the corn and soybeans disappeared and were replaced by wheat and grazing cattle.  By the time I reached the Badlands, Rapid City and Sturgis, cattle grazing was the main activity along with some hay production in the stream valleys.

I stopped at two tourist traps; The Corn Palace and Wall Drugs.  The first was actually interesting.  The second was a real trap.  The Corn Palace got its start in 1892 to celebrate the ability of the soils in Eastern South Dakota to produce corn.  It is a building that hosts concerts and sporting events.  The exterior and some of the interior are redecorated each year using, you guessed it, ears of corn.

I got there early and as I was leaving about 8:30, a bus from Onondaga Coach Company was unloading.  Sure enough, it was a group of senior citizens (they were much, much older than me) from the Syracuse area who were on a midwest tour.  Small world.

The second stop was at the famous (if you believe the billboards) Wall Drugs.  As I said earlier, it was total tourist trap.  There was a bit of local craft for sale, but most of the stuff was just stuff.  Stuff you can find anywhere.  Yet people, like me, flock to this place.  A true testament to self promotion.

Interestingly, Kathy and I were traveling across this same route about ten years ago.  We went to the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, etc.  Kathy wanted to stop at Wall Drugs.  I complained that we had better things to do.  For once, I was right.  :-)

Since I had visited both the Badlands National Park and Mount Rushmore in the past, I did not take them in again. I guess the primary reason was the heat.  Had it been cooler, I would have taken an hour to drive through the Badlands again.  However, the temperature was hovering around 95.  I wanted shade, and believe me, there is not much of that around here.  In fact, at one rest area I stopped at, there was not a single tree on the property.  All of the state parks that I checked out on the web did not have shade either.  However, this campground that I'm set up at now advertised shade.  That, along with the pool, clinched it for me. Oh, they also have free WiFi.   :-)

So here I am, sitting at a picnic table, working on this blog in 80 degree weather, sipping a beer, after having been swimming.  Life is good.

As for Thursday, I head toward Livingston Montana.  The good news is that the weather is supposed to be much cooler.

Thats all for now.........

Retirement Road Trip 2011: Day 5, Tuesday 8/30

467 miles, camped at Vermillion Lake Recreation Area, just west of Sioux Falls, SD

I left Steve and Jane's house about 8:30. The sky was overcast and the weathermen were calling for rain. And sure enough, there was a huge glob of green and yellow on the radar. For you non Weather Channel types, greens and yellows mean moderate rainfall. True to predictions, it rained for most of the day.  :-(

I didn't decide until the last minute about what route I was going to follow. I have to travel both north and west to get to Livingston, MT. There are not really any roads going in a direct diagonal direction to get there. I ended up doing both directions today. North on RT 61 from Eldridge. Then west on RT 30. Then north on I-35 to Minnesota and then west on I-90. I had not planned on going as far as I did. However, it was raining and it made no sense to stop and set up camp in the rain. Besides, since I was driving due west on I-90 I thought I might actually drive through the rain, and sure enough, I did. So that's how I ended up here.

Scenery wise, the drive today was a repeat of yesterday. From what I can see from my windshield, the world is made up of corn fields, soybean files, and wind mills. From a farmer's point of view, the crops and cropland are just awesome. The land is flat and fertile.  Oh, by the way, John Deere rules out here. Case, New Holland, and Caterpillar combine to make up the minority. I can begin to understand how our country has so many cultural and political points of view. The economies here are so different than the local economies of more urban areas. Agriculture is THE driving economic engine here. I think I have said this before, but more people need to travel across this continent to really understand the differences. You just can not really appreciate the scope of agricultural by flying over the US at 35,000 feet while watching a movie and eating peanuts. OK, OK.   I guess that is enough of my soap box preaching. My students used to groan when I got on these rants, but they still had to listen.  You can just delete.  :-)

I ended up finding a really nice and peaceful campground. In fact, Zoey and I went for a two mile walk on some of the trails. Now, I'm sitting here at the picnic table using my iPad and wireless keyboard (also sipping a beer or two) as I write this. While it is still early in the trip, I am really enjoying it. Of course, conveniences like email and Facebook make it easy to keep in touch with friends and family.  I don't know how the original settlers, like those on the Oregon Trail did it.

I guess I have talked enough tonight. Besides it is starting to get dark. I'm not sure of my route for Wednesday yet, but I'll figure that out in the morning.

More tomorrow.........


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Retirement Road Trip 2011: Day 4, Monday 8/29

370 miles, camped in Steve and Jane Randall's driveway, Eldridge, Iowa

I left Summit Lake State Park about 8:00 AM.  My two bicycle friends stopped to say goodbye, as they were leaving also.  The drive across Indiana and Illinois was uneventful.  If an alien were to land on Earth where I drove today, they would determine that the earth is made up of corn and soybean fields that are tended to by John Deere equipment.  Oh, and windmills too.  There were a number of windmill farms on the flat lands of Illinois.  I also met several tractor trailers on the interstate hauling windmill blades.

I arrived at the Randall home about 3:00.  Steve and Jane were both in my class in high school and they have been close friends ever since.  They live and work in a region referred to as "The Quad Cities."  Two of the four cities are located in Iowa and the other two are located in Illinois.  A beltway surrounds the four cities.  The Mississippi River separates the two states.  Steve is employed by John Deere and actually goes to work each day in another state, Illinois.  John Deere is a HUGE economic influence in the area.  In fact, their world corporate headquarters is located here.

We went out for dinner, and Steve treated since I was retired and on a fixed income.  :-)  However, Steve is retiring at the end of 2011.  So we spent some discussion time on retirement plans.  We are both nervous about what we will do to fill out time.  He bought a motorcycle last year, so he has a toy to play with.  Gee, maybe I need one too.

I leave Tuesday for Montana.  The only timeline I have is to meet friends in Livingston Montana on Friday.  I still have not decided on a route yet, so stay tuned to find out where I end up Tuesday night.

Take care.......

Retirement Road Trip 2011: Day 3, Sunday 8/28

364 miles, camped at Summit Lake State Park, New Castle, IN

I left Matt, Jaime, Chasen and Kaylin about 9:00 AM.  It was tough to do.  All of a sudden, I no longer will have the comfort of family surrounding me.  Soon, the mountains of West Virginia gave way to the rolling hills of Eastern Ohio which gave way to the wide corn and soybean fields of Western Ohio and Indiana.  It was a beautiful day.  Unlike my friends at home who were suffering the effects of Hurricane Irene, I had a sun filled sky and temps in the low 80's.

One of my goals on this trip was to stay off the Interstate Highways as much as possible.  I figured I would enjoy the slower pace of driving and maybe see more.  Well, I tried it as I left Matt's.  Note to self:  many of the two lane roads in West Virginia, while extremely beautiful,  are narrow, hilly, windy, and have no places to pass or be passed, especially when you have a jacked-up pickup truck breathing down your tail.  In other words, driving them did not reduce the stress.  :-)  So I headed for the nearest Interstate to cross Ohio.  I'll try to two lanes another time in more open country.

I arrived at Summit Lake State Park about 4:00.  The park attendant indicated that there were only 5 or 6 open sites.  However, when I drove to my site, the park was nearly empty!!  This park, as are many in NY, is controlled by the Reserve America Reservation system.  So what appears to be happening is that campers are reserving sits online to hold sites for the upcoming Labor Day Weekend.  However they are not showing up until Thursday or Friday.  Thus the park it technically (and financially) full, but appears empty.  You would think there is a better way.  Perhaps you could reserve a site and indicate that you are not going to occupy it until Thursday.  Then if a drive in camper, such as myself, shows up and wants a site for one night I could occupy it and have the fee deducted from the original reservation.  Kinda of like subletting apartments.  But hey, who am I?  I'm sure there must be smart people running the system.

However, an unexpected bonus did occur.  The park attendant assigned me site 61.  As I pulled in, there were two bicyclists unloading their equipment on the same site.  Oh no.  As it turned out, they willingly agreed to take another nearby site that was available.  Anyway, we struck up a conversation.  They were traveling light and had no food.  They were planning to bike six miles away for pizza.  They offered to buy my dinner if I would drive them to get the pizza.  We ended up eating pizza, having a beer, and sitting around the campfire together.  They were interesting men who several times a year take a long distance camping trip.  They had biked 80 miles today.  One of the guys was an engineer who used to work in the RV industry until he was laid off two years ago when the recession clobbered the RV business.  Now he has a couple of part time jobs and does a lot of biking.  He is happier that ever.  He said he had forgotten how to enjoy himself when he was in the fast lane.  It was a real interesting discussion.

Monday I head for Eldridge, Iowa. Eldridge is located just outside Davenport.  Former high school classmates and friends Steve and Elizabeth Randall live there.  I'll spend the evening with them and camp in their driveway.

Stay tuned..........

Retirement Road Trip 2011: Day 2, Saturday 8/27

0 miles, still camped at Matt and Jaime's.

Here I am with my West Virginia grandchildren, Chasen and Kaylin.

We spent most of the morning glued to the TV watching coverage of Hurricane Irene. I kidded that my New York evacuation plan was to spend a couple days in West Virginia. The weather here was beautiful with a scattering of clouds and temperatures in the mid 80's.

This afternoon we decided to build a rabbit hutch for Chasen's bunny. After a trip to Lowes, we ended up building a hutch that cost $100. All this for a rabbit that was free. :-)

Sunday I leave the comfort of family and head west.  I plan to camp at a State Park in Indiana Sunday night and stay Monday night in Iowa.  The goal is Livingston, Montana before the Labor Day Weekend where I'm meeting Dave and Anne Wright.  They are long time friends who are always a great time.

See ya.............

Retirement Road Trip 2011, Day 1: August 26th.

Friday, 570 miles, camped in the side yard of Matt and Jaime's home in West Virginia.

I left Gouverneur about 8:00 in the morning.  I didn't take the scenic route.  I had a lot of miles to cover and I just wanted to get there.  I've driven this trip so many times, I can almost put the truck on auto pilot.  The Thruway to Erie, PA was very busy.  I-79 south was less so except around Pittsburgh.  I managed to hit there right during Friday rush hour.  :-(  Between pit stops and construction, it took me almost exactly ten hours door to door.

After some quality time meeting my new granddaughter Kaylin, playing trucks and tractors with grandson Chasen, grabbing take out wings for dinner, and catching up with Matt and Jaime, Zoey and I crashed in the camper.  That's all for today.

Retirement Road trip 2011: Prologue

The school year starts September 1st.   But instead of Potsdam, NY, I will be in or near Livingston, Montana.  For the first time in 21 years I will not be attending the Staff Development Days that precede the first day of classes with students.  Darn.    ;-)

So what am I going to do instead of teaching?    I don't really know yet.  I've been fine tuning my bucket list.  To begin, I'm taking a ten-week, 12,000 mile road trip this Fall.  That's why I'll be in Montana on the first day of school.  My faithful blonde and petite companion is traveling with me again.  However, she is nearing five and is much more mature than the previous trip.  Zoey is a beautiful Golden Retriever who loves to travel.

I have a truck camper that I absolutely enjoy.  It is compact and easy to maintain.  And unlike my larger fifth wheel camper, finding a place to park or camp is never a problem.  It is the perfect size for Zoey and me.

My plan is to leave Gouverneur on Friday August 26 with my first stop in West Virginia.  My son Matt and his wife Jaime just gave birth to their second child.  I can't wait to see her and hold her on the 26th.  After a short visit, I'm heading west.  I eventually plan to catch up with son Cory in Oregon and my sister Karen in California.  I have other friends and relatives around the country I hope to connect with also.  The estimated time of arrival back in Gouverneur is about November 1st. Follow along and I'll keep you posted on how the trip goes.

It's when I am back home in November that the real "retirement thing" will kick in.  How am I going to fill the time?  Well, time will tell.