Gillette Wyoming and the DOAI Rally

We have just spent a week in Gillette, Wyoming at the Discovery Owner Association Inc. (DOAI) rally site at the CAMPLEX at Gillette and it has been a good time for everyone here.  There were 60 Discovery RV’s or Coaches in attendance and they came from all over the country and even one from Canada.  Here is a picture taken from the roof of our RV showing a few of the other RV’s and some of the complex buildings in the background. 

The Texas contingent was the largest group but we had five coaches from our Mason Dixon Chapter, and two of those folks as well as us are also members of a second DOAI chapter, the Blue Ridge Discoverys.  We even had coaches from California, New York, Oregon and Washington as well as Florida and other states.  CAMPLEX can handle up to almost 2,000 RV’s with full service, meaning water, electric and sewer connections.  I know of no other site in the USA that can handle that many!  They have built several large buildings that contain many rooms and even a large theater for productions.  The CAMPLEX also has a large race track and facilities for fairs etc.  It is also one of the cleanest sites we have ever seen.

Many folks took advantage of bus trips, one day going to a very large Bison Ranch and on a second day going to visit Devils Tower National Monument and the South Dakota town of Deadwood.  We had been to Devils Tower and Deadwood before so did not take the tour but we did drive to Deadwood one afternoon and visited a number of the small casinos the town is noted for.  Very nearby Deadwood is also the town of Sturgis, known for its very large motorcycle gatherings.  Gillette free tours of one of the largest open pit surface coal mines in the country and many took advantage of the tours and were amazed at the size of the machinery, and the average of 84 100 car trainloads of ultra-low sulfur coal that is sent out from the local mines every day!

The Discovery Rally also held classes on maintenance of our RVs, held a Tea for the ladies, had a golf outing, which Dick participated in, had coffee, juice, fruit and donuts every morning and had two very nice dinners for the group as well as having entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights.  The group raised donations for a local charity and collected canned goods for the local food bank.  We raised $1,114 dollars from a quilt raffle for a beautiful quilt made by some of the ladies who are DOAI members.  We donated 761 pounds of food to the food bank.  There were also several vendors who were here and sold RV related merchandise and services.  We did have our coach washed and pressure washed as you can see in the photo.  It was really dirty having been driven in the rain on several days.

The rally ended last night, Saturday August 30th, and many of the coaches left for trips to other areas of the country before going back to their homes.  We stayed at the CAMPLEX and Dick worked on the financial and banking matters that he is responsible for as Treasurer for the national DOAI organization.  We had a very heavy Thunderstorm this afternoon and then we went out to dinner with our friends, Sonny and Helen Blackwell and Marilyn and Tom Hundley who are fellow Mason Dixon’s.  As we arrived back from dinner we snapped this photo of the sunset over our coach.

 Since it is Labor Day weekend we will stay here on Monday also and then leave on Tuesday after doing some bank deposits and hopefully picking up a package at the Gillette Post Office that should be there by now awaiting our pick up under General Delivery.

Tuesday after the other tasks are done we will leave Gillette headed north to Montana and toward Glacier National Park that borders Canada toward the western end of Montana.  The trip to the east entrance to Glacier NP in St. Marys, MT is about 615 miles from Gillette, going through the cities of Billings and Great Falls.  It will take us two days to reach St. Marys.

Here is a link to a Google Map that will show our trip from here through Glacier, on to Spokane, WA then to Portland, OR before going on south to see Pat’s brother Bob and his family in Modesto, CA and finally to Hemet, CA for our next rally.  https://goo.gl/maps/grouK  

On to Gillette with stops at Badlands NP and Wall Drug

Saturday Aug 23 we continued our trip toward Gillette on I-90 going all the way across the rest of South Dakota with a stop along the way to visit Badlands National Park by taking the drive through the park on the loop off from I-90.  The Badlands are a geologic wonder and we have been there three times and this time was somewhat different as it had just finished raining and the rain brings out the colors of the various layers of rock and was spectacular.

 

 

The highway loop through Badlands National Park when starting at the eastern end as we did exits the park toward the northwestern corner of the park and then leads back to I-90 and the town of Wall, SD.  Now anyone who has traveled this part of the country knows, Wall is the home of the world famous Wall Drug Store.  Wall drug is a unique store that has taken on an aura of grandeur.  It was purchased in 1931 as a small town drug store in a town of 326 people.  After struggling for years, in 1936 the proprietor in trying to draw business in started offering free ice water to travelers by placing Burma Shave style signs along the major highways.  It was a big hit with travelers and he started adding departments and it has now become “America’s Favorite Roadside Attraction” as a 76,000 square foot wonderland of free attractions! 

It is a complex of “mini stores”, a large restaurant, still serving Free ice Water and 5 Cent Cup of Coffee that draws around 20,000 people a day!  We stopped and had lunch, and yes free ice water and Dick bought a couple of pocket knives while Pat found a new beautiful wooden cribbage board in the form of a box with western scene and buffalo on it.  

 If you are ever nearby you should stop and experience it!

      

From Wall we drove on west on I-90 through part of the Black Hills which surprised us as being quite green for this time of year due to the unusually high rainfall this year.  We then entered into Wyoming and drove on to Gillette and the Discovery Owner Association Inc. (DOAI) rally site at the CAMPLEX at Gillette http://www.cam-plex.com/ .  The CAMPLEX is a fabulous multi event facility where they hold events ranging from famous entertainers, Western style rodeos, large business conferences, and it can accommodate over a thousand large RV’s with full hook ups of water electric and sewer.  Our DOAI Rally will be held in one of their larger facilities.  More on that later.

Off toward Gillette at last

Thursday we departed the Chicago Northwest KOA in the rain and decided to take route US 20 across Illinois to Iowa instead of I-90 as in Illinois I-90 is a toll road and has a lot of construction going on.  We ran in and out of rainstorms all morning as we traveled the pretty Illinois countryside with its rolling hills and farmland.  In Galena, IL we again located a Culver’s restaurant and ice cream place and stopped intending to have banana splits for lunch.  Fortunately good sense caught up with us before we ordered and we had burgers, then we had ice cream!  Pat had a hot fudge and Carmen “Turtle” and Dick had a Raspberry, Pecan, Hot caramel and Butterfinger concoction like a Blizzard!  Again YUMMY!

The rain finally stopped and the heat picked up quickly to into the 90’s before we found our stopping point in the Minnesota Myre-Big Island State Park near Albert Lea, Minnesota.

Friday the 22nd we again got a leisurely start and immediately got onto I-90 west the entrance to it was only about one mile from the park entrance road.  The day started out about 75 degrees and got warmer as the sun soaked in.  We finally put the RV generator on and turned on the cabin air conditioning units and they kept us at a comfortable level for the rest of the day.  To use the generator that runs on diesel fuel is easy and it only consumes less than a gallon of diesel an hour.  We stopped for lunch at a roadside rest area right on I-90 and just ate a light lunch of crackers and cheese and salami. We thought that we would stop and spend the night in a campground near the Golden Buffalo Casino that was located a few miles off I-90 in Lower Brule, SD based on a brochure Dick had picked up at the roadside rest area as we entered South Dakota from Minnesota. WELL that turned out to be a bad idea!  We drove about 15 miles on back roads to get to the casino that by visual appearances did not live up to the brochure.  We tried to locate the alleged RV Park they had told us was available but we ended up following the road until it turned to unpaved road.  We finally turned around in a mowed field and retreated all the way back to I-90 and backtracked 10 miles to Oacoma, SD where we located a KOA Campground.  Of course the spot they gave us was out of Wi-Fi range and Dick was way less than happy!  Oh well there is always tomorrow!!!

Time with Dick’s Sister and family

Tuesday the 19^th we got up and going and off to Maryanne’s arriving there about 10AM.  It was great to see her and her dog Bonnie, a border collie.  We had not seen her since visiting with her at her condo on Sanibel Island in February.  We just chatted for a couple of hours and then drove to see Martha Lambert, Maryanne’s daughter-in-law and Martha’s ten month old grandson Robert Lambert, the son of Daniel and Darcy Lambert.  Robert is Martha’s and her husband Lance’s only grandchild, and Maryanne’s only Great Grandchild and they all enjoy him very much. 

Of course Great Great Uncle Dick and Great Great Aunt Pat loved seeing him for the first time and playing with him too!  .  Robert is named for Maryanne’s husband Bob who passed away two years ago.

Over lunch somehow the subject of Martha’s expecting arrival of a new bari Saxiphone came up and when Pat asked her what she was doing with her old one Martha said she was planning on selling it.  To make a long story short, we bought it for our granddaughter Ellie who has wanted to have one of her own.  It is in a very nice case about the size of a bag of golf clubs and we now have it to carry with us in the back of our van for the next three months until we return to PA and can give it to Ellie!!

Tuesday evening we had a very nice dinner back at Maryanne’s with her son Lance and his wife Martha, and with her daughter Robin and her husband Jack and their daughter Catherine.  We did spend the night at Maryanne’s.

 

Wednesday we spent the day and evening with Maryanne, visited the new first home of Daniel and Darcy and baby Robert, Dan was working but Darcy and Robert were home.

Later we took Maryanne out to dinner and visited Robin and Jack’s new home before saying good bye to Maryanne and driving the hour back to the campground about 11 PM. 

It was really great seeing Maryanne and her family!

A Change in Plans

Sunday August 17th we got up and out about 9 AM and took a drive over to and up the Old Mission Highway on the Old Mission Peninsula in the middle of Grand Traverse Bay, a large bay on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan.  We drove through the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Park.  This is an amazing area of very large sand dunes and forests that is a popular spot for tourists and young families.  Again this is something that we both recommend people take time to see.  Those able to climb on these large dunes will particularly enjoy the area.

When we left Sunday morning we had plans to spend the entire day and evening with the Whites and then to leave Monday to drive south through Michigan and around the southern end of Lake Michigan to Dick’s older sister Maryanne’s home in the western suburbs of  Chicago, a long days drive.  Barb and Jack’s son-in-law had made a suggestion during dinner on Saturday that we consider taking a ferry boat across Lake Michigan instead of the drive around the lake.  So, while visiting the dunes Dick asked Jack and Barb about the ferry ride.   The ferry goes from Ludington, MI to Manitowoc, WI.  Jack suggested we consider taking it and Pat got the phone number for the ferry using her I-phone.  Dick called and found that it makes two trips a day with the next one leaving Ludington at 8:30 Monday.  The cost for two senior passengers is $62 each, the car for $66 and the RV for $5.95 per foot length (our being 36 feet or $214.20 plus a security fee of $13.50 for a total of $392.70.  Taking the ferry would shorten the drive to Maryanne’s from 9 hours to only 3 ½ hours plus the ferry ride of 4 hours and save a lot of fuel that would be needed to drive the RV around Lake Michigan.    So, even though we had our plans to stay at the White’s tonight and play some more cards for a chance for the guys to win, we did not want to get up and drive the 100 miles to Ludington to be there by 7:30 AM!  Then the ticket office clerk told us we could park overnight for free in the lot adjacent to the ship pier and get into line for the ferry at 7:30 so we changed our plans with the Whites.  We drove back to their farm and about 5:15 we bid them a fond farewell until we see them in Frostproof, FL this winter and started driving to Ludington.

We were thinking about dinner when we passed an Indian Casino and stopped and had a nice buffet dinner, and played the slots for an hour or so.  We then drove on to Ludington, arriving about 9:30 and found the pier area and parked the RV for the night along the edge of the ferry boat parking lot.

The Ferry Ride over Lake Michigan

At 6:30 Monday morning we awoke to the sound of trucks and cars arriving for the ferry trip on the SS Badger.  The Badger was built in 1953 and used originally to transport rail cars across the lake, was taken out of service in the 1990’s and then refurbished as a car and truck ferry.  It only operates in the summer months. We quickly got ready, gobbled some toast and juice and got in line for the ferry.  We had been told we could leave the van attached to the RV but checked and found out we needed to detach.  The ferry provides drivers to drive all vehicles on board and we watched as they backed the RV

down the pier and onto the ferry. The Badger crew was all very friendly and they offer several activities for folks while making the approximately 4 hour crossing over Lake Michigan.  We played Badger Bingo, free, in one of the lounge areas with lots of others and Pat even won a game her choice of the little prizes they had. She chose a yellow SS Badger carrying bag.  The crew also did free face painting for kids and performed a few songs.  Upon arrival in Wisconsin the RV was one of the first vehicles off but the van took a while.  We hooked the van up and were off on our drive to Chicago Northwest KOA campground in Union, IL.  It was late enough and we were tired enough that we did not go on to drive the additional hour it takes to drive from the campground to where Dick’s sister lives in Carol Stream, IL.  

Visit with Jack & Barb White in Michigan

Sorry for the delay in adding to our new blog but it is time to catch up. 

We left Fleetwood on Wednesday August 13^th about mid-day.  Dick really prefers not to drive the Interstates if there are other reasonably good routes where you can really see what America is all about in her small towns and rural landscapes, and definitely does not like toll highways.  However whenever we head west toward Chicago it is nearly impossible to not use the Interstate toll road system to cross PA, OH, IN and IL unless you want to stop for lights and triple your travel time.  So to avoid the PA Turnpike, we headed through the hills and mountains north of Fleetwood working our way up to Danville, PA where we did get onto I-80 and took it west (not yet a toll road in PA).  We stopped for the night at RV Village Campground and Resort in Mercer, PA.  Getting off I-80 we started off following our GPS to get to the CG (Campground) and got ourselves onto an unpaved section of a very small road.  It took us to an intersection that we really thought we would scrape the whole bottom of our coach to get over the huge hump, but by taking it VERY SLOWLY, and at a strange angle, we were fortunate to get through.  As we registered at the CG the clerk could not believe we made it the way we had come.  It was a short 250 mile day.  Needless to say when we left the next morning we took the correct routes back to I-80.   Mercer is located very near to Grove City, PA and since Connie had gone to Grove City College for her freshman year we took a drive over there for dinner and to visit the huge outlet mall that has been built there.  It is still about 485 miles and 9 hours to get to where we are headed for a weekend visit with our friends Jack and Barb White in Williamsburg, Michigan.

Thursday became a full day of travel continuing on I-80 across Ohio to near Toledo where we turned north into Michigan.  We did not want to arrive at the White’s today so we stopped at Pine Ridge Campground, a nice campground just north of Flint, MI after a 325 mile 5 ½ hour day on the road.  We got to the campground around 6:10 PM having had a lot of traffic around Ann Arbor and Flint.  Got set up by 6:35 and checked to see what time the movie The 100 foot Journey was playing.  Yipe it starts at 6:4 5!  We immediately jumped into the van and got there just as the previews were ending.  It’s a really good movie and we both strongly recommend seeing it.  After the show and not having had dinner we decided to stop at a Culver’s restaurant and ice cream place and ended up having banana splits for our dinner!  Mmmmmm Mmmmmmm Good!

Friday the 15^th we only had to drive about 165 miles to get to the Whites farm so we took a very leisurely start and then when we were only about 20 minutes from their place Dick “conveniently” missed at turn and “just had to go ahead to find a place to turn around” that just happened to be a casino parking lot!  He parked the RV and he went in and spent about 45 minutes playing the slots while Pat rested (read that as stewed) in the RV!  We got to the White’s about 4:15.  It was great to see them and we took them out to dinner.  Jack and Barb have a Cherry and Apple farm, actually they own several farms, and they had just finished harvesting their sweet cherry and sour cherry crops a few days ago.  We played cards (Hand and Foot) well into the evening, with Pat and Barb beating the guys!  

Saturday we awoke to rain and so we all decided to dive to a farmers market where their daughter Joanne and her family had a booth, called The Farmer’s Daughter (see photo), set up to sell cherries and peaches in Boyne City, MI about an hour away.  We arrived as they were getting ready to close. Dick also found a booth still open that was making crepes on a large outdoor pan (see photo) and had a huge delicious caramel crepe. 

We returned to the farm and since the rain had stopped, Jack took the four of us all around to their various farms and drove into the orchards.  We got to pick a few nice sweet cherries that had missed getting harvested, (see photos) and even got to pick a few Yellow cherries that are used to make maraschino cherries. 

The cherries are harvested by using a shaker that grasps the trunk of the tree and shakes the whole tree.  (See the photo of Jack by the shaker that grasps and covers under half the tree and then again by the one that goes on the other side of the tree and fits into the first one to catch the cherries as the fall on the other side of the tree.)  The cherries, which have been treated with a spray that causes them to fall from the cherry stem, fall onto the mat that is placed under the tree and fed into a belt feeder that carries them up and drops them into a tub of cold water.  The tubs are then taken to a cooling pad where they are further cooled by cold water before being taken to the processing plant.  Michigan cherries are a very big business and account for a large percentage of the cherries produced in the USA.  We then shared dinner with Barb, Jack and their family before we again played cards.  The ladies once again beat the guys! 

Getting started

We, Pat and Dick, are taking another trip out to the western US starting August 13, 2014 to attend two different RV Rallies.  The first Rally will be in Gillette, Wyoming running from August 26th to September 1st and is the Discovery Owners Association Inc. (DOAI) National Rally.  Dick is the National Treasurer for DOAI.  He is also the President of the Mason Dixon Chapter of DOAI.   We very much enjoy our many friends that we have met through the club and they are all like part of an "extended family" that we enjoy whenever we get together.  Membership in DOAI is only for folks that own Discovery Motorhomes by Fleetwood.  Ours is a 1999 Model 36T and we start this trip with about 103K miles on our RV and towing our 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan.

The second rally is the Special Military Active Retired Travelers (SMART)  RV Clubs National Rally (in SMART we call rallies "Musters") being held in Hemet, California, north of San Diego from September 21st thru 26th.  SMART is a nation wide organization with chapters in many areas.  We are members of the SMART Keystoners Chapter of SMART and Dick is the Northeast Regional Director (NERD - great acronym!) for SMART.  This makes him a member of the Board Of Directors for SMART, a position he has held since appointed at the 2013 SMART National muster held in Sedalia, Missouri.

In route to the DOAI rally we will visit Barb and Jack White, some friends in Williamsburg, Michigan who are cherry and apple farmers that we know from our winters in Florida.   They have spent the past several winters in the same resort and RV park that we have our RV lot and spend our winters.  We will also stop by Dick's sister Maryanne's home in Carol Stream, IL located just northwest of Chicago.

In the three weeks between the two rallies we intend to visit Glacier National Park and then go to the Portland, Oregon area where we hope to see several friends and one of Pat's cousins before proceeding to Modesto, CA to visit Pat's brother and his family before we reach Hemet.

After the SMART rally we will spend a few days with Pat's cousin Jan who lives in Hemet. We will also visit San Diego to look at several hotels there so Dick can make a choice from them for the USS Firedrake Reunion that he is planning there in the fall of 2015.  Then we will start winding our way East to our lot in Frostproof, FL where we will drop off our RV and then return home to PA.  Of course along the way from California to Florida we will make several stops to rest and to visit with friends.

We hope you enjoy following us as we travel and look forward to sharing our trip with you!
You can view our earlier blog of Alaska and others by going to our blog of our 2010 Alaska trip and finding other links there.  http://travelintracys.blogspot.com

Dick & Pat