Tuesday Aug 28 thru Friday Aug 29 - Sacramento CA to Bisbee AZ

 

All driving for two days. We just punched Bisbee into Google Maps and went wherever she told us to go. We stayed Thursday night at The Skylark, a great retro motel with a cheap off season rate and a restaurant (Lost Property Restaurant) in Palm Springs Ca, exactly half way between Sacramento and Bisbee. Google re-routed us a couple times and took us on some nice back roads to avoid Los Angeles congestion we assume. Rt 138 and Rt 14 and some local roads.

We crossed the Arizona line and filled up with gas which is a dollar cheaper in AZ.

Got back to Bisbee around 4:30, emptied the van contents into the driveway so we can sort and clean everything, then got the water running again.The water company had turned off the water because of something racking up a big bill. Turns out a faucet was stuck on in the upstairs bedroom sink, which is the faucet I had had trouble with before. Our friend Dave had turned our water main off a few days ago and I had the water company turn theirs back on. Looks like I need to find a new cartridge..

Nothing in the fridge so we went downtown for a celebratory drink and dinner at the Table Restaurant. Our friends Dave and Deb and their granddaughter Stella were there so we joined them for dinner. Back to the house and to bed. It’s good to be home.

Our entire trip took 8 weeks and we drove 10680.

Monday Aug 24 thru Wednesday Aug 27 - Sacramento with the grandkids

Well we certainly slept well these last 4 nights..

The kids have changed so much since we saw then a couple months ago. Both walking and running so everybody is in a new phase. They, and their parents, are happy and we are blessed with a house full of laughter and curiosity and exhaustion at the end of the day.

Monday Jake and Nath ran errands while we took the kids to the park, fed them lunch and then down for the mid-day nap

Tuesday Deb and I took the kids to a Library story hour  at the Arcade Library, lunch & nap.

Wednesday we walked to the historic district and saw the Sacramento History Museum. We signed up for the walking tour with a lovely woman reenactor and learned about the wild history of Sacramento downtown. Then lunch at Fanny Ann's Saloon and the long walk back home while the kids napped in the buggy. Tomorrow we start our two day trip back home.

Sunday August 24, 2025 Carson City, NV to Sacramento, CA

Deb here. We slept great (as usual) at the Super 8 and packed up fairly early. The hotel breakfast was yogurt and granola bars, so we were on the road by 7:30 in search of a decent cup of coffee and tea. 

We set off on Rt. 50 for Sacramento, which is only about 2.5 hours from Carson City. For some reason we thought we’d traveled this road before but quickly realized it was the first time. The route was spectacular, a mountain road overlooking Lake Tahoe and then dropping down next to the shore until the south end of the lake. We stopped at an overlook at one point for the great views.

Once away from the lake the road kept twisting and turning. When we were near Placerville we diverted off the main highway and onto Main St. What a charming little historic town, and one that would be fun to stop in at a later point.

In Shingle Springs we made a stop at Wisegal Coffee for chai lattes and a bagel/scone. Fun coffee shop in an old train station, with train rides running on Sundays. 

From that point it was only 35 minutes to Jake and Nath’s house and we arrived by 11:30 a.m. It is so wonderful to be with our grandbabies (or should I say grand toddlers?) again and so amazing to see how much they’ve changed in two months. We spent the afternoon visiting and getting reacquainted with Alex and Jessie. Dinner and bedtime routine and we headed out to the van at 8:30, pretty tired ourselves!

Saturday August 23, 2025 American Falls ID to Carson City NV

We are noticing the last few days that the humidity is dropping. No dew on the van or ground and things are a bit dusty. Nice hot showers this morning (nice clean facilities) so good job Idaho State Parks.

Today we will try to get most of the way toward Sacramento. First stop, Idaho Falls. Deb found Norm’s Diner which did not disappoint. The place was full of the locals. This is what community is about! Took us a while to park since it was so busy but I shoehorned the van into a spot.

Next we drove a dozen or so miles to see the real Twin Falls on the Snake River. It’s $5 to get into Shoshone Falls Park and you drive right down to the falls. The guy taking the money said the water was pretty low this time of year but if it was, the falls still looked pretty awesome. Two miles up or down stream is where Evel Knievel tried unsuccessfully to jump the Snake River on a motorcycle. 

Now it’s down to business, putting in some miles across the desert landscape mixing radio with podcasts with Deb’s playlist with Milo’s playlist with silence. 

It got really windy part way in and the semis started weaving around a bit so you had to pay attention.

We drove through busy Reno highway traffic and then down to the smaller city of Carson City, Nevada’s state capital. Deb found a Super 8 and we tried to get some dinner at Reds Old 395 Grill but they were packed with a 40 minute wait. We walked down the street in front of the legislature building and found the Fox Restaurant and Brewery. A 50th high school reunion but they had plenty of room. Nice dinner and a little walk and then back to the hotel.

578 miles today.

Friday August 22, 2025 Bar Nunn WY to Massacre Rocks State Park, American Falls, ID

This morning we set Google Maps to Sacramento to see where it wants us to go. We could make it in two long days but half way would be in the middle of nowhere so we chose a three day route which leaves us in a reasonable place to camp or hotel.

We had a breakfast of cold cereal since the milk needs to get used up, and made coffee and tea and headed out. This KOA is the second one we have stayed at and for an extra $20 a night you get a long list of amenities.

The plan was to land in Pocatello, ID and  we got a little beyond that tonight.

The first stop was at Independence Rock which was the halfway point for those folks traveling on the Oregon Trail. The state of Wyoming has done a nice job of protecting it and had a nice visitor center. About half a million people came through here in the mid-1800’s and this was a stop where you could scratch your initials or messages in the rock. We saw a few markings but they had a lot of it fenced off to protect it.

We crossed the Continental Divide at South Pass and stopped to read about the gold mining towns of South Pass City and Atlantic City.

Next stop was the town of Kemmerer, Wy which is where JC Penney had his first store. The first store is gone, the second store is empty but his third store across the street is still open for business. His home is also open to the public.

And like a lot of these random stops we learned that there is still an active coal mine in Kemmerer which is the main employer, and the young lady at JC Penny’s home said they were going to lose all the mining jobs when the mine closes next year. She also mentioned they were building a nuclear power plant soon, which I did not share with her that I found that hard to believe. I researched it later and sure enough, Bill Gates’ company TerraPower chose Kemmerer to build its first mini-nuke. Wow!! When you stop in a small town, ask some questions. There is always a story or two if you ask. From there we went to Fossil Fuel Coffee Co. for a tasty flat white (me) and iced chai (Deb).

So where do we stay tonight is the game we play every afternoon. Deb found a nice county park in Pocatello but the temperatures were in the 90’s. There were also a couple of KOA campgrounds 30 mines east of Pocatello in Hot Springs but they were kind of expensive, and since it was 90+ degrees outside the hot springs didn’t look too appealing.There are also hotels in Pocatello which might feel nice.

First stop were the two KOA campgrounds and they were pretty busy and filled with tubing people floating down the river.

Next stop was the county campsite which we thought was going to be busy with rodeo people but there was no rodeo, no people and no shade.

We found a Marina campground on a reservoir in American Falls but they were full, and we checked out a free “campground” (also in American Falls) but it was a parking lot next to a very dry reservoir.

So we decide to get Mexican food at Tres Hermanos and look things over. Deb found Massacre Rocks State Park and made a reservation online. It’s pretty nice and right on the Snake River. Once the sun dropped, the temps dropped so this should be a pretty comfy night.

504 miles today

Thursday, August 21, 2025 Mitchell, SD to Bar Nunn (Casper KOA), Wyoming

Deb here for a change. We slept great at the Lake Mitchell campground. We packed up early and were on the road by 7 a.m. since we knew we wanted to put on a lot of miles today.

First stop was the Corn Palace. We’d arrived in Mitchell during Corn Palace Days, so the street was blocked off in front of the palace and there were all kinds of amusement rides and booths set up, waiting for action later in the day. It was a perfect time to walk around, with nobody else up and about yet.

Our next stop was the Dignity statue outside of Chamberlain, about an hour away. What a beautiful and impressive stainless steel sculpture of a Native American woman, set on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River. From there we hopped back on I-90 for a few miles before exiting at Chamberlain. We found a great diner right on Main Street (Main Street Cafe and Market) and had a hearty breakfast.

Back on the highway and I found that there was the “world’s largest” prairie dog statue right on our way. I have quite a soft spot for prairie dogs, so of course we had to stop! Not only was there a statue, but a prairie dog colony. And to make things even better, I could buy a bag of peanuts for $1 to feed the prairie dogs. By this time the temperature had reached 100 degrees but I couldn’t resist feeding them. Really a fun stop.

We got back on the highway once again to keep pushing west. On the edge of Rapid City we stopped at a huge WalMart to resupply and then kept on driving. Along the way we crossed into Mountain Standard Time, so we picked up an extra hour.

By 6:30 pm we reached our goal, a KOA a few miles outside of Casper. Laundry was first priority, then showers, and finally dinner in the van and route planning for tomorrow. All good!

Wednesday Aug 20, 2025 Milton WI to Mitchell SD

Today was a “work day”, getting some miles in. We emptied everything and filled everything at the KOA dump station and then muffins at Mickey D’s. It’s I-90 all day today. The landscape is still green with some rock formations here and there. At Wisconcin Dells we took the 2 laner through town since it has been flaunting itself as the water park capital of the world and we didn’t count or measure anything, but it certainly probably is. Amazing number of water slides and pools and hotels and casinos. Every kid’s dream.

After the Dells, which seem to be sandstone carved by water, the rock outcroppings disappear and it is rolling trees and fields filled with corn. The towns get further in between and smaller and the amenities get more sparse. 

We saw an old billboard advertising a SPAM museum in Austin, MN so naturally we had to go find it, thinking “free”, so probably in some guy’s basement. Turns out Austin is the home of Hormel and it is a nice town with a well groomed downtown and a very nice and free SPAM museum. The young lady there said Hormel is still in town and treats the town very generously. She gets paid to work there but in exchange for volunteer work she does she gets free tuition at the local community college. Wow, home town pround!

Back on the highway and Deb now discovers that up ahead in Blue Earth is a 55 foot tall Jolly Green Giant. Who would drive by that?!?!

Sure enough a very tidy, and big, Jolly Green Giant was a mile off the highway. Green Giant is the company that grows and distributes corn and peas and who knows what else. I watched their ads on TV when I was a kid. We ran into a young couple in their camper van who were going from California to Vermont. Nice kids.

Deb found a campsite run by the city of Mitchell so we set our sights on there. The temperature was in the 90’s by the time we arrived at a Subway for dinner and we played with the idea of a nice cool motel room but Deb said the prices were astronomical. Turns out the town is flooded with people this week with Dakotafest, first week of school and Corn Palace days, whatever that is. So off to the campground where Tom met us in his golf cart and took us to a nice campsite overlooking Lake Mitchell. Deb took a walk down to the lake (no swimming) and then back to the camper.

It’s been a long day so right to bed with the fans running. 

Tuesday Aug 19, 2025 Cleveland OH to Milton WI - KOA Campground

We woke up in Greg and Molly’s driveway about 6:30 and Greg was already up and had coffee made. Grace had to go to band early so we moved the van onto the street and chatted a bit and said our goodbyes. They are a wonderful family with two kids home one more year before college so it will be an exciting, emotional year. And we will surely be stopping again.

We decided to stay on Rt 2 and Rt 6 this morning since it’s a slow two lane road that goes near Lake Erie. It started to rain cats and dogs so we did not see much lake. When we got to Toledo we got on Rt 80/90 (they are the same here) and started jockeying with the big boys, aka, trucks. 

We found Jordan’s Country Diner near Cedar Point and had breakfast mid morning, then off to cross the rest of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. What a miserable time we had on the interstate. First, these three states charge a toll every so many miles and for seemingly no reason. We just kept handing our credit card out the window when there was an attendant, and we had to stop, jump out of the van and put our card in the toll machine (because the van window is too high to reach the damn thing), then jump back in the van and drive off before the gate closed. Toll after toll all the way until we got to the Wisconsin border where Illinois got the last toll of the day. And the road is pretty rough, and we spent an hour or more in Chicago traffic crawling along between zero and 5 mph. Yuck!

The good news is that Deb reserved our very first KOA campground ($56) and it is great. We parked, made dinner, went for a swim, spent some time in the hot tub and then nice hot showers. Great end to a miserable driving day. We drove 475 miles today. Tomorrow, westward!

Sunday, August 17, 2025 Oswego, NY to Pultneyville, NY

Deb again. Yet more reunioning today! We took our time in the morning, since we didn’t need to be in Fair Haven for the campus school gathering at Sheila’s camp until 11. We made a trip to WalMart to get a few supplies, then stopped at Ontario Orchards to pick up 2 pies, arriving in Fair Haven at about 11:15. We had a fun time (once again) with dear campus school friends and spouses and enjoyed lunch, conversations and even boat rides in Fair Haven Bay.

By 2:30 we said our goodbyes, made a brief stop at nearby Colloca Vineyards, and then drove the 45 minutes to Ginny’s home in Pultneyville.

We hadn’t seen Ginny for almost 2 years, so lots of catching up to do. Not long after we arrived Tom, Kim and Victoria showed up as well. Ginny had fixed a great salad and corn on the cob dinner, which we all enjoyed, and then Tom, Kim and Victoria headed back to Oswego by 7 p.m. The three of us watched a couple of Ginny’s favorite British TV show, Would I Lie to You?, and then off to bed by 8:30. So much socializing and we were totally beat!

Monday Aug 18, 2025 Pultnetville NY to Cleavland OH

Ginny had coffee ready this morning. We slept in the house which she has made very cozy with all her home improvements. The latest was a new bathroom. We had some muffins and fruit salad and said our goodbyes. We followed Ginny to the sweet corn stand where she bought a dozen ears for us to deliver to Molly and Greg’s later today in Cleveland.

We got on the NY thruway, RT 90, which is a toll road where they use cameras to pick up your licence plate and bill you by mail. Then Rt 90 past Buffalo and down the remainder of the NY and PA Lake Erie shore. We got off at one point and found a nice lakeside park and had lunch of fruit salad and macaroni salad we got from Ginny.

Then Google took us thru Cleveland rush hour traffic along the lakeshore and right into Molly and Greg’s street. Easy peasy.

Molly was back from her job at the children's toy store (what a great job!) and Greg soon came home followed by Henry, their son. We had a nice chat and then went off to the restaurant (Market in Rocky River) for dinner.

We have not caught up with these guys for years, the casualty of living is distant places and being so busy.

Their daughter Grace came in after we were back  from her job at 808 Shaved Ice. Both kids will be seniors this year in high school, so many discussions about college and future plans.

You can’t park on the street at night here so we got their cars into the driveway/garage and then pulled the camper into the driveway for a good night’s sleep.

Saturday, August 16, 2025 Oswego, NY

Deb here once again. Big day planned today! We ate breakfast in the van, then drove into town and parked. I’d made a plan to meet with Mary Maxon Grainger for coffee/tea at 10, so we had a nice catch-up at Riverfront Coffee while John worked on his AI stuff at Riverfront Bagels right nearby. 

We drove back to the RV Park a bit before noon, just in time to meet at Rudy’s for another lunch. We had a bigger group this time around, with Ro, Jacque, Carol, Carol, Sheila and Maris along with a few of our spouses. Once again, so great to catch up! We gave them all a tour of our van, and after lunch Ro and I went in for a dip in the lake.

Not long after everyone left Rudy’s my brother Pete showed up and we crossed the street to go back over to a Rudy’s pavilion with him. We hadn’t seen each other for almost 2 years, so really good to have a bit of time together. And then to top it all off, my brother Tom, his wife Kim and granddaughter Victoria all showed up to join us a bit later. We hung out near the beach until a bit after 4.

Once they left it was time for showers and getting ready for the big event, the 50th class reunion dinner. What a fun night! About 160 people and those of us who were Campus School graduates all had a couple of tables together. Lots of pictures, conversations and laughter. The dinner and party broke up about 9 and we headed back to our campsite. A wonderful day!

Friday, August 15, 2025. Oswego, NY

Deb here again. It was so lovely to wake up and see Lake Ontario across the road! We took our time at the campsite and then drove into town to visit Fort Ontario. It had been years since I’d been there and John didn’t think he’d ever visited, so it was time to go. The Fort has done a nice job with some newer exhibits and we enjoyed trying to follow the rich and complicated history of it all.

We then went downtown and parked near Riverfront Coffee, a newish coffee shop. Oswego keeps cleaning itself up and the downtown area, especially by the river, just keeps improving. 

By this time it was time to head back to the RV Park so I could meet friends at Rudy’s for a 12:30 lunch. Jacque, Sheila, Maggie and Laurie were all there and it was great to catch up at a picnic table outside and some good Rudy’s food (fish sandwich, the best). John hung out with us for a bit and then took off to visit the Maritime Museum in town. Since he’d taken the van I’d packed a “bliss bag” (his words, not mine) and left it on one of our camp chairs at the site. I changed into my bathing suit and headed down the beach for a swim. Heavenly. Clear water and sunny skies. I sat on the beach for quite awhile with my Kindle and thought again how lucky I was to grow up right on this beautiful lake. 

Once John returned we walked over to Bev’s for ice cream and ordered Mexican sundaes in my mom’s honor, those were her favorite. 

There was an informal reunion gathering at GS Steamers in town, so we went there at 6:30. Lots of people there and good to catch up with old friends and meet some new faces. By 8:30 the two of us were all talked out. We’d made the mistake of not eating dinner beforehand, so we walked to the Press Box across the street and managed to sneak in an order before their kitchen closed at 9. Clam chowder, tuna sandwiches and back in the van to crash for the evening.

Thursday, August 14, 2025 Robert Treman State Park to Sunset RV Park, Oswego, NY

Deb here. The weather cooled off enough last night that we had a pleasantly cool night to sleep. We had coffee/tea and packed up, heading to The Milkstand in Ithaca for breakfast at 8:30. Larri and Larry had tipped us off the night before that The Milkstand is the Ithaca go-to place for a good breakfast and they were right. Tasty and quality breakfast food.

From there it was on up the west side of Cayuga Lake, with a stop at Taughannock Falls State Park. We walked the 1.5 miles out and back to see the gorgeous 215 feet waterfall. Then on up the west side of the lake to Seneca Falls, where we stopped at McDonald’s for their WiFi to upload the blog. 

By early afternoon we arrived in Oswego. Let the walk down memory lane begin! Several months ago I’d booked us 3 nights at Sunset RV Park, which is right across the road from Lake Ontario and two of my favorite food establishments, Rudy’s and Bev’s. The park owner had us scheduled for one of the tent sites with no shade, but instead he found us a nice shady spot. Perfect. I can see both Bev’s (ice cream stand) and the lake from our site. The park is really clean and there’s even a pool, which I tried out in the afternoon.

Later in the afternoon we drove into Oswego to check out the farmer’s market and music. Lots of people in town on this sunny evening. Good music, lots of vendors and we met up with my grade school/high school friend Laurie Pfund Byron at Old City Hall Tavern. A bit later another friend, Carol Lloyd Brady and her husband Dennis stopped in, and then we all walked down to the riverfront to listen to another band. Another classmate, Mike Adams, showed up and we had a great conversation. By the time we broke up it was almost 8 and we hadn’t eaten anything for dinner, so on Carol and Dennis’s recommendation we walked to Southern Fare for $2 pork tacos and $5 margaritas. A great first night back in my hometown! 

Wednesday August 13, 2025 Robert Treman State Park

Today is supposed to be a bit cooler than yesterday so we got up early and drove to the parking lot near the swimming hole which is also where you start hiking. We walked up the gorge trail and visited the old mill building where they used to grind wheat into flour back in the mid 1800’s. The gorge trail is about 2 miles up and the rim trail is about 2 miles back to the parking lot with lots of vertical climbing on the gorge trail and a little less so on the rim trail. It rained off and on so by the time we got back to the van we were thoroughly disgusting. On with the bathing suits, we walked to the swimming hole which was at 72 degrees, nice and cool. Since we had sweaty hiking stuff and wet swimming stuff we found a nice laundromat in Ithaca with the Lincoln Street Diner next door so we got some lunch while our laundry tumbled next door.

We stopped at Ithaca Falls up the street then back to the campground to take showers. On the way to the campground Deb talked me into stopping at Purity Ice Cream, a place she used to go to when in college. After showers it was off to Larri (Deb’s stepsister) and Larry’s home for dinner and a lovely night of catching up with all the Richmond clan.

Back to the campground and right to bed. We were exhausted…

Tuesday, August 12, 2025 Watkins Glen State Park to Robert Treman State Park, Ithaca, NY

Deb here. We had a lazy morning hanging around the campground since we didn’t have far to go today. We finally left around 10 am and stopped at the dump station on the way out of the park.

The drive to Ithaca was only about 45 miinutes long, but so green and pretty. I wanted to go back on the Cornell campus, so first stop was Collegetown Bagels, right off campus, for bagels and coffee/iced chai. I remembered going there (although I learned their former location was across the street) in college, and we learned that the business was started in 1976. Wow, those rosemary salt bagels toasted with cream cheese were really tasty.

From the bagel shop we walked onto the Cornell campus, and while much has changed, much has also stayed the way I remembered, at least from the outside. The day was another scorcher, with 90+ degrees, sunshine and lots of humidity, so after a bit of walking we were ready to call it quits.

Yesterday we’d decided that if today turned out to be as oppressively hot as yesterday (which it did) we’d consider a movie, so that’s where we went. The Naked Gun was playing at the local theater, and while the movie was really silly the air conditioned theater was wonderful. A good respite from this heat.

Once out of the theater at 4 we drove to Treman State Park, our destination for the night. I’d swam at Treman before and knew about the awesome swimming area, so that’s where we went first. The water temp was only 70 degrees and wow, was it ever delightful. The natural swimming area at the base of the falls is really gorgeous, and great to see so many people enjoying the water.

After swimming we checked into our campsite and decided to try getting dinner nearby in an air conditioned restaurant. Unfortunately, no air conditioning at the restaurant, so we returned to our campsite and had sandwiches, salad and apple for dinner. Hoping it cools off again for a good sleep tonight… this heat really wears a body down!

Monday August 11, 2025 Skaneateles to Watkins Glen

Nice to stay in a luxury hotel, nicer to be married for 40 years. Somehow we like this being on the road life and think less about getting back home. We are thinking that it makes more sense to drive all the way to California after Deb’s reunion instead of straight home to Bisbee. Got to see those grandkids as they are growing like weeds these first months.

It is going to be hot today and tomorrow and the combo of heat and humidity is a little tough.

We walked downtown and sat in front of the bakery and watched the people and traffic go by. The hotel had coffee and croissants so we did not need anything to eat, unfortunate since the bakery goods looked pretty inviting. We gathered our stuff and loaded the van and headed west to Geneva. Then down the west side of Seneca Lake which ends in Watkins Glen. We found our campground and campsite which is next to the gorge at Watkins Glen. Lots of empty sites but it is huge campground with 200+ campsites. And there are showers and flush toilets for $25 per night.

We drove down the hill and found the parking next to the south end of the gorge. We hiked from the south to the north entrance to the park down in the bottom of the gorge. Big bonus was it was nice and cool down there so the perfect place to be on a hot day. As the pictures show, it is beautiful with a nice clear sunny sky today and sun streaming down through the green leaves and lighting up the waterfalls in the gorge.

We came up the north end and then turned around and did the same hike backwards to stay out of the heat above. 

We came out of the gorge and Deb promised me a nice cold beer which we found at a bar called Roosterfish. Slow day in the bar so we had a nice chat with the young guy behind the bar. Then we walked down to the docks on the lake and had dinner at Lucky Hare. Then walked back through town where Deb found new flip flops (her old ones disappeared) and back to the campsite and immediately to the showers to knock all the sweat off.

Cranked the fans in the van and waited for the temperature in the van to get down below 80 and then bed.