Kona, HI or Another Day in Paradise!

Before Katrina's "accident", her mom (my sister, Kathy) and Grandma (my Mom) had already made plans to come to Oahu and then travel to Kona aka The Big Island for a few days. I was going to fly home (which was then Salem, OR) on the same day that they arrived. Since I had never been to Hawaii and it had been awhile since I had seen my mom and sister, I decided to join them and delay my return for an additional week. They arrived without all the problems that I did (remember that closed highway that I sat on for 4 hours?). A few days later all six of us flew to Kona. What an experience that was! Two small children, one senior, one handicapped person and two women with bad backs! We made it with all of us intact! Katrina had to be "hand" screened with her new titanium elbow but that was the worst of it! :-)

We arrived in Kona and played tourist for a few hours before we could check into the hotel. We stayed at the Hilton in Waikoloa. Let me tell you, this place is spectacular! There is a tram and a boat that runs from one end of it to the other! It was huge! In addition, there are something like 7 swimming pools and even an area where you could swim with the dolphins. If swimming with dolphins wasn't your thing, you could just watch as they worked with them! The kids loved swimming in the pools and didn't care if they swam with dolphins! They found a kid-sized pool that also had a kid-sized slide! Once they found out that their great-aunt (that would be me) would catch them at the end of the slide and help them back to the side (neither one know how to swim) they must have gone on it a zillion times! I felt like a drowned rat way before I convinced them that we had to leave! :-) Later that evening, Katrina and I had issues with the tram since it wasn't running as it should (we heard that one of the trams had been shut down for some reason...it took us over an hour to get where we wanted to be and then back to where we had to get off for our room)!

The next day we headed to the volcano and stopped at Akaka Falls first. It was raining when we got there but we walked to the falls anyway. When we were done, we were all wet and cold but we did get to see the falls! It was neat to see the volcano but after getting lunch, stopping at the falls and driving to the other side of the island to get to the volcano it was getting late. It was also raining, but that quit shortly before we got to the visitors center (which is where I got the great pictures of the rainbow)! We were taking a one-way loop road around the volcano when the "low fuel" light came on in the rental car so we decided we'd better take a short-cut and end that part of our trip! Since it was late and everyone was getting hungry, it worked out o.k. Poor Harmony didn't make it to dinner since she fell asleep while we were driving. Even though we carried her into the restaurant, she never even knew we ate! :-) Oh, to be a three year old!

On the way back to the hotel, we were almost t-boned by a driver who ran a VERY red light! It made for a very heart-stopping few moments! Katrina suffered the most since she didn't have her splint on and the sudden stop threw us all forward. Didn't seem to have any lasting effects on any of us, so we all counted our blessings twice that day!

We had a whirlwind trip and only stayed on the Big Island for three days, but the day we left, we didn't fly back until late so we had the last day to play tourist as well! Spent the morning and early afternoon back in the pools with the kids, Katrina and Kathy had massages and enjoyed the spa and then we headed out! We spent some time shopping in Kona, back to the airport and a short flight back to Oahu! Once back we unpacked and repacked our bags as we (me, my mom and sister) were flying back to the mainland the next day!

The time in Hawaii flew by and I was met in Portland, OR by Don who was anxious for me to get back! He had already been enjoying the Monaco rally that was being held in Salem, OR for a few days! He was well taken care of while I was gone by our friends, Glenda and Ray Roe who drove with him from Idaho Falls to Salem and then by Jerri and Lloyd Wood who met them in Salem! Once they all arrived at the rally grounds they had some additional help from Vicki and Steve Terra who had driven from Southern California to attend the rally!

I was able to enjoy the last day of the rally in Salem, had enough time to see the vendors there (and spend a few $$), see the coaches on display that Don wanted to show me and enjoy the dinner they had that night along with the entertainment that evening (The Platters). The day went by pretty quickly and I froze since the temps were about 20 degrees colder than in Hawaii, it was also rainy, but I managed! We said our good-byes to the Terra's and the next day the Roe's, Wood's and Leith's drove to Harrisburg, OR where we all were having some work done to our coaches!

Just another day...in Paradise!

Some of you may not know that I left Don...temporarily! My niece, Katrina, who lives in Hawaii was injured in an accident last Friday. Her husband is currently serving in the US Army in Kuwait and she has two young children at home, Justice who is 6 and Harmony, 3. They told her that she had broken her elbow, but they didn't do surgery until Monday afternoon. That was after the orthopedic surgeon finally looked at the x-rays on Sunday night! The emergency room doctor thought that they would probably do the surgery that night, but the orthopedic doctor said to splint her up, schedule her for surgery on Tuesday (Monday was a holiday) and send her home! Guess he changed his mind after he finally looked at the x-rays in person! They ended up replacing her elbow with a titanium prosthetic since her bones were shattered! Anyway, she won't be able to lift ANYTHING for six months and starts rehab on Monday! Her mom (my sister, Kathy) was already scheduled for a visit mid-September so I came until she gets here! We arrive/depart on the same day!

After only a few days...I know why God gives us children when we are younger! :-) It's been fun spending time with Justice and Harmony, but they are constantly on the go! On Wednesday it's piano lessons, Thursday is soccer practice, Friday is gymnastics, Saturday is soccer, Sunday is church AND gymnastics, Monday is the start of rehab (and something else...but I don't remember), Tuesday is a DAY-OFF and on Wednesday it starts all over! I forgot to mention the 4 month old puppy...Spirit, a Labradoodle! He may only be 4 months, but he is BIG and going to get bigger! The one good thing...he appears to be potty-trained, but he, like most puppies his age, likes to chew things! Anything and everything that he can get! He is also big enough to "graze" the kitchen counters! Don't leave something there that you might want to eat later! Otherwise it will soon be gone! Disappeared...in an instant!

Almost forgot to mention my arrival! Katrina had a good friend of hers, Jean, pick me up at the airport. Now I have to mention Jean and her husband, Charlie! Jean and Charlie have gone above and beyond for Katrina and Jerry (Katrina's husband). Ever since Jerry has been deployed, Charlie has made sure that he comes over and mowes Katrina's grass. They ended up picking her up at the emergency room, took her to the doctor for her pre-op, watched the kids and brought her home after her surgery and suffered through 4 HOURS of traffic on the way home from the airport! Just a little before I landed in Honolulu, a military transport hit a pedestrian bridge over the highway with a crane that they were transporting. Guess they didn't get it all the way down! Anyhow, they decided that the bridge wasn't safe and CLOSED the highway for the entire day through at least Wednesday!!! Jean and I sat in the traffic for FOUR HOURS! We felt that we really knew each other well during that ride! They diverted traffic off just before the accident, but all in all...it took us 3 hours to go less that 3 miles! There was a BIG headline about it on all the local papers the next day! At least I was a little bit of historical news for Hawaii!

Well, now that I've told you about my arrival and the last few days...I can't show any pictures other than the ones just like those here I haven't done any of the "touristy" stuff that most people do when they come to Hawaii! Guess I'll have to wait to do that when I come back, sometime in the future! :-)

Good-bye Big Horn...Hello Yellowstone!

On Thursday before we left the Big Horn Mountains, we were invited back to Tie Flume Campground for appetizers and chili. Carol and Dick had a table full of snacks AND peach cobbler! Tom had made a huge pot of chili and rice. Glenda brought ice cream to go with our peach cobbler. I brought my very favorite dip and crackers! Trust me when I say that NONE of us went hungry! We had sausage from a local store, cheese, chips, salsa, dip…tons of stuff and it seems like we hardly made a dent in it!

We were late arriving at Tie Flumes…along the way there was a bull moose in the willow just before we got to Tie Flume! Took a few pictures of him and we were on our way! After leaving Tie Flume, there he was again! Stopped to take a few more pictures since he was closer to the road! Then we took a short detour and found a cow and calf across from the “fishing area”! It was too cool and I was glad that I got to see another moose or two before we left!

Friday morning we packed up and leisurely headed toward Cody, WY! It wasn’t far, so it didn’t take too long! We ended up in the Wal-Mart parking lot! When we pulled in, I think there were about 20 campers, trailers, fifth-wheels and motorhomes! By later that night, there must have been close to 40! The Cody Wal-Mart caters to the RV’rs…they even had signs posted on the nearest places that you could go to dump! I also saw the local bus come through the RV’s on a regular basis!! While we were in Cody, Glenda and I did a “little” moose shopping! I SAW lots of new moose things that I had never seen before and a lot that I have seen before! Surprising to me, Cody had a wonderful scrapbook store with lots of new and current items! A lot of the small towns we’ve been in have had stores that were a few years behind on their inventory, but not Cody, WY! We all went to the Buffalo Bill Heritage Center and took a ride on the Cody Trolley. We decided NOT to go to the “famous” Cody Rodeo, saving that for another trip. The museum was huge and would take several days to go through to see everything in it!

After we got the motorhomes cleaned up, car/truck washed, groceries restocked, etc. it was time to continue west! We traveled through Yellowstone right on out the west side! We were too large to stay in any of the campgrounds in the park itself, so we choose one on the west side since it was closest to the park itself. We got settled in our new “home” with no problems! We were initially only going to stay here for a day or so and then head north to Big Sky, Montana where we were going to stay at Moose Creek Flats. On Thursday when we were going to Tie Flumes we all piled into Glenda & Ray’s truck and it wouldn’t start. Once we got to Cody they bought a new battery. Drove it several times and all appeared to be o.k. Here in West Yellowstone…the truck won’t start again. To tow it the guys will have to disconnect the drive shaft., so instead of hassling with it in Big Sky, we will stay here for a few extra days (over the Labor Day holiday) and then head towards Idaho Falls, ID where we have a better chance of finding a dealer to fix it if it turns out to be something more than the battery!

So we headed into Yellowstone to see some of the sights in the Park. It was stunning to saw the least, but in areas where they have had so much fire, it was so sad to see! Of course, one of our stops was to see Old Faithful and it didn’t let us down! Saw lots of bison and elk…but sadly, no moose! We saw lots of geysers, falls and even the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone! Lots of driving for one day so we headed back home to continue our adventure through Yellowstone today! We began our day back at the Grand Canyons, on the other side that is! Even though we were looking at the same side, it was amazing how different it was! Headed north towards Mammoth Falls and the awesome terraces that are there! I took pictures, but the pictures just don’t do the scenery there justice!

Today was really windy though and you could tell it just about everywhere we went! In fact, it was so windy that as we came around a mountain in the Mammoth Falls area you could see the rocks in the road. It really made you realize what wind erosion could really do. As we were traveling we looked up just in time to see a rock falling from the mountain. Guess where it hit? Not the windshield, but the hood of the car! Made a sound like you couldn’t believe, luckily it wasn’t one of the bigger rocks, but even so, it did leave quite a dent! Nothing we could have done about it, unless we were a second slower or a second faster! My thought is that I was glad it wasn’t any bigger than it was since it could have done a lot more damage! Once again, we saw lots of bison, some Rocky Mountain goats, lots of elk but NO moose! We looked in all the areas that moose frequent in the park, even the “Moose Bog” but I guess they figured we had seen more than enough moose in the Big Horns!

Pryor Mountain - The Road From Hell!

One of our last "adventures" in the Big Horn Mountains (and what an adventure it was) was taking a trip to the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Canyon. There were 9 of us...Glenda & Ray Roe, our "new" friend, Tom, his friends (and some more "new" friends of ours), Carol & Dick, and friends of theirs, MaryEllen & Larry, of course, Don and I were there as well! We also had Spencer, Tasha and Tess along as well!

We should of had a clue when we stopped at the visitor's center and the first thing the girl asked was "do you have four-wheel drive"? Of course, she assured us that it wasn't needed, you just needed "high-clearance" in a few areas! Or maybe we should of had a clue when she told us it would take us all day! Or how about when she called one way the adventurous route and the other the MORE adventurous route! What? But no, we didn't question it, just headed out and up! The first few miles weren't too bad...but let's just say that it took us about 6 hours and we only traveled about 50 miles! We stopped once for a potty break, once for lunch and before both of those...we stopped to fix Tom's flat tire! Oh yeah, I guess we stopped for a Kodak moment for the few times we saw the wild horses! In all, I
think we saw about 20 horses...one of them was just a colt! Too cute! They didn't look too bad (I thought they might look kind of shaggy) for being wild horses!

We all thought that we should have probably turned around a long time "ago", but we didn't! It was a darn good thing that we did see the horses. This is one adventure that we will probably laugh about later down the road!

An Early Morning Wake Up Call!

First, I want to thank Glenda for the wonderful pictures! These were all taken with her camera!

Don and I were still sleeping when we hear a knocking on the side of the motorhome. I'm thinking who can that be, and I ignore it. Then again, there it is again...knock, knock, knock. I turned to Don and said "someone's knocking on the side of the motorhome". Duh! We finally opened the shade and then the window and there was Ray standing outside. He told us to quietly look out the window on the other side. I got up, looked and all I saw was our awning (on the window). We both went to the front and looked out and there was a female moose. I looked a little farther and there was another moose. Then I grabbed my camera and realized it wasn't just two female moose, but a Mamma and baby moose! That was too cool! You can look at the picture and see that they're basically in our campsite!

I wanted my film camera which is in the car for when Glenda and I go "moose hunting" so I grabbed my robe and joined Glenda outside who was also in her robe! We made quite a pair! Neither one of us had our hair brushed, obviously no make-up either...we looked charming I'm sure! We both had fun taking pictures though!

We were trying to get them to turn their heads but I think we ended up scaring them instead as it wasn't long before Mamma snorted, got up and headed across the road. The calf was right behind her! They crossed the road and headed down the mountain on the other side! We probably had been taking pictures and watching them for about a half an hour! What an amazing morning and so exciting as well!

Ray was worried that we would be upset at being woken up; when they saw the calf, Glenda told him that I would probably be mad at him for not waking us up. I told both Glenda & Ray that this was definitely worth getting up for!

So a couple of days ago we had a bull moose walk through, today we had two moose enjoying the grass and lazing around and yesterday we had a buck (deer) entertaining us for the evening! This is a wonderful place to be...especially if you love moose like I do!

**Guess what? Brother Bear II comes out on Aug. 29th! Gotta love the moose (Rutt & Tuke) in that movie! You can bet that we'll own it soon! :-)

Sibley Lake - Take (2)

I originally titled this "Take (2)" because it's our second time at Sibley Lake Campground. Little did I know that I would go to "post" this and it would disappear! Thank goodness I didn't call it Take 3 or Take 4, huh! Anyhow, from Rapid City, SD we headed back to the Big Horn Mountains and returned to Sibley Lake. It's so much cooler here, it's amazing and it's not that far...only about 5 hours by motorhome! We rejoined our friends, Glenda & Ray here at Sibley because this campground has electric hook-ups at some of the sites. There is water near-by so it's very easy to be here! After "dry" camping at Tie Flume for so long, it's almost a luxury to have electric! Even though this is only the middle of August, fall is well on it's way. The weather is changing...it's nice in the afternoon, once the sun goes down it can get pretty cool and overnight the temps get downright cold! We've had ice on the tables and roofs several mornings! The hummingbirds have all gone to warmer locales, the animals that we see are beginning to get heavier coats and the foliage is beginning to change colors!

Last night the four of us went to Bear Mountain Lodge for dinner. On the way home, we stopped at the "fishing area" (Glenda and I have all of our moose sighting areas names) to see if we could spot a moose. On the left hand side we saw about 10-20 elk. Ray pulled up and we were going to turn around to better see the elk when we spotted several HUNDRED elk! It was an awesome sight! My pictures look like little more than spots, but through the binoculars and even with our own eyes it was spectacular! A ranger stopped to look and ended up talking to us for quite some time. He told us that the elk don't like the cows that are grazing on the other side and that's why there were so many in one area. I don't remember if I've mentioned the cows or not, but they are literally grazing all over the area. It's not unusual to have to stop because they are on or crossing the road! By the way, while we were talking to the ranger, he spotted a moose so we did get to see a moose at the fishing area after all!

Today didn't start out too well. We stopped by Tie Flume Campground to see our friend, Tom, the camp host there. We really liked Tom when we were staying there. Unfortunately, just a few hours before we arrived, a 10-year old boy, riding an ATV went around a corner too fast, flipped the ATV and it ended up killing him. Although this is the major road into the campground, it was some time before anyone came upon the accident and he was already gone. Since there is no phone service on the mountain, the people came to Tom to see if he had a radio to contact the nearest ranger. It was an unfortunate accident that didn't have to happen. Apparently, Tom had told this boy several times to slow down while riding through the campground. We ended up visiting with Tom for a short while. When we left we were once again looking in certain areas for moose when we came upon a fawn in the middle of the road that had been hit. Don saw that it was still alive and we were talking about what we wished we could do for it. At about the same time, we spotted a moose and pulled over to get a closer look. By the time we all got out of the truck, the fawn was gone! The car that was involved with the fawn came up to us. Apparently the fawn hit the car, so hopefully he was just stunned and not hurt too badly. Of course, the people in the car were a little shook up. Luckily their car didn't really have any damage. We watched the moose for a little while and then headed back home.

We were enjoying some appetizers and looking at maps, planning our strategy once we leave here next Friday when we heard some yelling. Tess started barking and guess what walked right through our campsite? A bull moose! I ran to get my camera but by the time I had gotten back, he was gone! Glenda and I got in the car and headed toward the lake. We didn't see him so we headed back. We stopped at a parking area and saw the willow moving. About the same time, Glenda saw someone with a camera on the other side of the creek that runs from the lake. We saw several flashes so we turned around and drove back to the parking area. We parked, walked across the bridge and there he was! It was awesome! I tried taking some pictures, but my camera is being repaired once again, so I was using Don's. I didn't have a lot of luck, but I also had my film camera so hopefully once I get those developed I'll have some great pictures! Even though I have seen quite a few moose, I still get as excited as I did the first time! I have really been spoiled by these close encounters! It's just awesome! I almost forgot to mention the deer that have been in our "yard" almost every evening! Tonight there were 4 of them, just munching the grass that's here! Of course, they were driving Tess wild! We see so many deer that we tend to take them for granted but it's still neat to see them as well!

My Slide (A slide show)

Sturgis Rally 2006 (SD)

Even though Don and I aren't really "into" motorcycles, we really couldn't be this close to the Sturgis Rally without going to see it for ourselves! So now "we've been there and have the t-shirt to prove it"!

I have to say that since we've been in Rapid City, there have been more and more motorcycles on the streets, highways and everywhere you look! There have been "bikers" in stores and everywhere you go! It seems like 95% of people you see have a "Sturgis Rally 2006" t-shirt on! Doesn't mean they've been to the rally...the local Wal-Mart has a huge display rack of lots of Sturgis memorabilia and about 6 racks of t-shirts of all colors, sizes and designs! There are also t-shirts for sale in many parking lots!

Some Sturgis facts...

This is the 66th anniversary of the most famous motorcycle gathering in America!

Sturgis and the surrounding communities prepare all year for an influx of at least 400,000 cyclists! The first rally was in 1938. The first rally consisted of 19 riders who raced on a half-mile dirt track for beer money! The fiftieth rally was the first of the "mega" rallies; when an estimated 350,000 cyclists arrived for the event!

It was kind of funny to see houses close to the street where all the bikers park for the daily picture...they "rent" out their yards for tenters. Many houses also used their yards for parking lots! It's a pretty amazing site to see all the bikers riding down the street. It's not unusual to see 20-30 bikes in one group! And campgrounds have sprouted up all over! Anyone with land puts up a "Budweiser" sign and viola! you have a campground! Not sure what they get for a daily rate, but regular campgrounds double and triple their rates!

Old MacDonald's Petting Zoo

We were able to spend the afternoon with Stacy, Korey, Shae and Justisse at Old MacDonald's Petting Zoo in Rapid City. It was a pretty safe bet that there wouldn't be too many bikers and motorcyclists there! Guess what? Didn't see one while we were inside!

Lots of goat, sheep, horses, pigs, donkeys, chickens, roosters, turkeys and even a few cows! We were able to go inside the pens of many of the animals. Justisse didn't like when the goats crowded in to get the food out of your hands! Many of them were quite agressive! I don't think any of them had missed many meals!

They had this little train that went around the park. Justisse didn't want to ride on it, but she finally did and ended up liking it! You should have seem the look of panic on her face when it first took off! It wasn't going fast and Shae was sitting in front of her! They also had a pig race but I'm not sure what pig won! Those suckers ran really fast! I can't remember what they got as a treat...but they must have really liked it! Some of the billy goats had a stairway and a bridge to cross! Not sure how they kept from falling off OR passed one another, but they managed!

I'm not sure what the kids liked the best...the nursery or the incubator where they had baby chicks the kids could hold! I know Justisse was pretty unhappy when we went outside the incubator to where the duck and chicken had eggs! The duck tried to bite her when she put her hand inside to pet it! She didn't realize it was a Momma Duck protecting her eggs!

Mom, This One's For You! :-)

My mom told me that she had been checking my blog every day and I hadn't posted anything new, so...Mom, this blog's for you!

First off, I'd like to introduce "Tom". Tom was our camp host at Tie Flume. Tom was one of the nicest guys! He had been asked to be the camp host at our campground while he was camping at another camp. Not only was Tom one of the most pleasant guys, but our campground was well maintained and very clean! Tom is a retired Marine who also has received a purple heart. We invited him to join us many afternoons for our "happy hours" and also a time or two for dinner! Tom regaled us with many stories of "camp host". Tom seemed to be very easy going but you can bet if "a situation" developed, Tom could take care of it! When someone pulled out of their campsite, Tom was right on top of things, cleaning out the fire rings, barbecues and making sure the site was ready for the next camper! Tom was thinking of going to the Maritimes next year but he's rethinking that after Don gave him several of his magazines that had articles on Alaska! BTW Tom puts us to shame with his energy and stamina...he's 70 years old!

We left Tie Flumes, our friends, Glenda & Ray Roe and the Big Horn Mountains but we'll be back! We headed towards Rapid City, SD to see our grandson, Shae before he heads back to Dover, DE where he lives with his dad. Normally we would have stayed out of this area since this is the beginning of the "Sturgis Bike Week" which is being held from Aug. 7-13. We are camped at Ellsworth AFB Fam Camp. Weren't sure we would be able to get in here due to the rally, but we came in on Monday and it was a good thing we did! The Fam Camp has many motorhomes, trailers and tents that also have motorcycles with them! I happened to look on the internet at a campground near Sturgis just to see what they charged...I almost died when I saw that they were charging $100/night unless you stayed for a minimum of 3 nights, then it was a mere $85/night! Mind you, this is for an RV space...you bring your own bed and potty with you!

Don and I took Shae to the movies yesterday to see "Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest". Shae loved it, I think his comment was "it was awesome", but Don and I thought it was just a little "over the top"! It was fun taking Shae though and knowing he enjoyed it! Don and I then got to see Justisse, our two year old granddaughter when we took Shae home. We spent a little time visiting and I was able to take this cute picture of Justisse showing us how she makes her "mad face"! Justisse looks so much like Stacy did when she was little, it's amazing! She has the best vocabulary for a two year old! She was so glad to see Shae when he came home! She calls him "Buddy Shae"! It's too cute!

So far while we've been here we've been able to see our friends, Dottie & Lew Anderson twice for dinner. The first time was on Wednesday at Shipwreck Lee's, a local "dive" that has some of the best hamburgers! Tonight we went to the American Legion Hall for their "All you can eat - Fish Fry". Guess who had "Taco John's" on the way home! It was me! In the past I've always found something else to eat at a restaurant that serves primarily "fish". The ALH usually has pizza that they serve in the bar for an appetizer but they were "out" tonight! No salad because they only serve salad on their Wednesday Night steak night! That's o.k. I like Taco John's and I enjoyed what I had as we were driving home!

Tomorrow we are supposed to go with Stacy to take the kids somewhere. I think we might go to Old McDonald's...a petting zoo. Korey is busy working with all the bikers here for "Sturgis" so he probably won't be joining us! Check back tomorrow! I should have lots more pictures of the kids! Grandkids and moose are some of my most favorite picture subjects!