Elkhart, IN to Myrtle Beach, SC

We spent Friday at the dealership where they replaced the shower pan and checked out the electric system. They replaced the Solenoid and said we were good to go. Since it was late in the day and they had free overnight parking, we decided to stay there for the extra night and leave the next morning. As we were setting up we discovered that our slides would not go out. Dan went back and told the serviceman who came over to check it out. After over an hour of troubleshooting and not finding a problem they told us to stay over the weekend and they would work on it on Monday. Not liking that answer, Dan convinced them to put on the old Solenoid. And thankfully that solved the problem of the slides. We were grateful that we had not driven down the road that evening and encountered the problem at a campground.

Our time in Ohio went by quickly. Visiting with friends and family took up the majority of the time. On a friend's suggestion we visited Warther Museum in Dover, OH where we learned about the life of the Warther family and saw magnificent carvings. Mooney Warther began by carving multiple sets of pliers from a block of wood.

 The museum displayed several rooms of his  64 steam locomotives carved from ebony, ivory and walnut with movable parts. 

This is a replica of Abraham Lincoln's funeral train in 1865. On a close up view you can see him in the coffin.

This is an ivory carving of the meeting of the two sides of the Great Northern Railroad.

In one display case we saw the little parts that he carved for part of a train.

The guided tour was outstanding as well as the depiction of the life of this remarkable man. He also collected over 5000 arrowheads which were arranged in his workshop. We viewed the Button House where his wife arranged her collection of 73,000 buttons in beautiful designs on the walls and ceiling. The house and gardens were also included in the tour. We're glad we took time to visit and would recommend it to anyone in the area.

Before we left Ohio we drove down to Columbus with son Dan and family  to see grandson Mitch who is a freshman at Ohio State. We got to see his dorm room and campus and had a delicious lunch at Quaker Steak & Lube.

From OH we drove through WV and MD to Front Royal, VA. near the beginning of Skyline Drive and the Shenandoah National Park. The next day we drove through part of the park and checked out possibilities for our next summer adventure. The following day we drove another section of Skyline Drive and took a hike. The scenery was beautiful with many places to pull over and admire it.

Just a few of the leaves were beginning to change color, but it was mostly still green.....lots and lots of green! The Fox Hollow Trail that we took just went down through the woods and back up again.

After our visit to Shenandoah we packed up and headed for Myrtle Beach, SC to visit with daughter Donna and family and take some walks on the beach.

One last hike then on the road again

On our last day off we took a walk through Gardiner, a charming little city less that a mile from the campground. We enjoyed pizza here earlier in the summer.

Our favorite restaurant was Cowboys where they served up good BBQ.

This is the mall, Montana style.

The Flying Pig District was famous for zip line and rafting tours.

On the other side of the Yellowstone River we walked a trail that was an old railroad bed. Here is a view of the campground from that side.

And this is our campsite. The volume of water in the river has dropped dramatically since we arrived in May.

During the summer we saw lots of elk. One evening a few came down to the campground to visit.

One day on our way home from work there were a group of them in the river.

And one bull elk on the hillside.

On most days we saw them before and after work around Mammoth Hot Springs. They even brought a stuffed elk into the store shortly before we left.

 

 

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

 

On Monday morning we finished our last minute packing chores and began our journey home. We drove 477 miles through Montana, a little bit of Wyoming, and into South Dakota. It was an enjoyable travel day with sunshine and beautiful scenery. Tuesday was a repeat of Monday, but we logged 473 miles. As we drove through SD we fondly remembered all the sights we saw when we visited Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Badlands, and other attractions several years ago. We made it to western Iowa. Our drive through Iowa on Wednesday was also picture perfect. I'm sure if we took the time to get off the highway there would be lots of interesting things to explore, but mostly all we saw were cornfields, farms, and silos. After another 416 miles we stopped in central Illinois. On Thursday we drove just 172 miles to Elkhart, IN to get work done on the RV. I will save the RV repair story for the next blog.

Hike to Ice Lake & Visit to Norris Geyser Basin

We started out on a 4.5 mile hike to Ice Lake and planned to loop around to see Little Gibbon Falls before we returned. This area of the park between Norris and Canyon was badly burnt out during the fire of 1988. The path consisted of mostly dead logs, but new trees have taken their place.

The lake, named by hotel concessionaires who got their ice there in the early 1900's, was quite peaceful and beautiful.

At one point after a little climb I checked an app on my phone and discovered that we were at an altitude of 7945 ft.

We were surprised that there were spots that still had tall trees standing.

When we reached a creek we were glad that we had the hiking sticks to keep us balanced as we crossed. I was a little nervous but I made it!

When we reached the point where the trail made a right to the falls, there was a rope across the trail and a sign that said it was closed due to bear activity. Our choice was to turn around and return the way we came or hike another 20 miles. We turned back! We ended up walking over 6 miles, but we met several interesting couples on the way back.

Although we walked through Norris Geyser Basin last year we thought it would be interesting to see if there were any changes from what we remembered. This time it was not quite as crowded and just as beautiful. Here are a few pictures we took. The colors were quite impressive.

As we were climbing the last hill, a dark cloud appeared, and it looked like a storm was brewing.

So we took the hint and left before we got soaked.

Today, Sept 3, we are cleaning up the RV in anticipation of our trip home. We are off tomorrow, work 4 nights, and leave Monday morning, Sept 9. Our first stop is Elkhart, IN where we will get our shower floor replaced. Then we will make stops in OH, PA, VA, SC, and GA. After the Good Sam RV Rally near Atlanta in mid October we will head home to FL.