Enjoying a gooey s'more.

Our first glimps of the Chicago skyline from the shores of Lake Michigan at Northwestern University,one of the many colleges Tom attended in his meandering way to a bachelor of arts degree.

A Hot Fudge Sunday at Homer's ice cream parlor, for 75 years the ice cream capitol of the Chicago North Shore suburbs.

Tom meets the present principal of his old high school, New Trier, in Winnetka IL. He presented Tom with a beautiful coffee-table book about the 100 year history of New Trier.

Tom, in front of his childhood home in Wilmette, IL. He found it virtually unchanged since the early 40's.

This is Tom's brother-in-law, Bill Barry and his friend, Barbara, playing a 1925 theater organ that he bought from a theater in Kenosha, WI. It took him 20 years to restore and assemble all pipes, bellows, cables, etc in the basement of his suburban home.

Laundry Duty

Ah, city laundromats! See Jessie joining the crowd of detached looking folks who will tell you that there are secret militias in Rochester, Minnesota that would like to bring down the government (actual conversation that Tom had with one fellow washer).

S-Mores..yum

Rochester, MN KOA

Badlands

Bad but beautiful.

A small community in SD called Vivian

We purchased 2 ears of corn, 5 zucchinis, and 2 beautiful tomatoes, all for just $2(A donation for the local church). This little town of only about 100 residents was hit by a devastating hail storm this past July. The stones were the size of a soccer ball!! They put holes in several of the roofs and landed inside of the homes. As we rode around town we saw several roofs being repaired. The people at the vegetable stand were very friendly and have labeled their little town "The hail capitol of the world". fortunately there were no serious injuries to people but a couple of cows and a deer were killed by the hail stones. It was a very localized storm and came without any warning.

Moving right along.. Spearfish SD, one of our favorite places so far.

Bike riding around the beautiful little city of Spearfish, SD.












Tom is on a main street here but there was also a great paved bicycle path along a park and Spearfish creek that we rode along.













Searching the "pantry" for the evening's dinner."



















Overlooking the Bozeman Trail.MT

Roaming through Wyoming ..and a little bit of South Dekota

Tom, showing off his new, rugged beard that he's growing while we're on the road. Pretty handsome, hey?




Free parking and catching up on grocery shopping. Good ol' Camp Walmart





Catching up on email at Starbucks










Jessie with the battle ground in the background.









National military burial ground at Little Big Horn battle site.(Custer's Last Stand)Many young men and their families.









Toilet replacement is not the "directly transferable" project that the manufacturer claims it is.









Hidey has just been informed that she can no longer "hide" in her favorite place deep within our (hairy) clothes closet.

Our horse and buggy

Don't look at that old man who walked into the picture. Instead check out the prestigious solar panels, (the little black line at the top), the newly painted wheel rims and what can't be seen, are the fancy new curtains that Jessie sewed up for us.

Montana to Wyoming to Montana to Wyoming to Montana and finally to Wyoming. We're dizzy!!

Tom here:

Jessie and I are sipping espresso drinks in Sheridan, WY after actually spending the biggest part of a day on a highway... instead of exploring little towns and national parks. Yesterday was a special treat: truck and toilet day. We had a "check engine" light and a "change oil" light on the instrument panel... and a footpedal toilet with a broken cable to one of the pedals. $336 (an oxygen sensor)and the news that the last oil change guy had failed to reset the oil change sensor, the truck was ready to go. The toilet repair,which I attempted to do didn't work out due to parts unavailability, but I learned a heck of a lot about dismantling a well used toilet (Jessie helped by continualy saying {ewwww!)

We'd include here a blow by blow description of the battle at Little Big Horn and Custer's brave last stand if anyone asks for it.

This is one of the bubbly, boiling, hot volcanic springs at Yellowstone.

At the Buckaroo outdoor restaurant in West Yellowstone, MT. Tom ordered Montana Road Kill and I had a Hangman's special. Yummy.

BBQing on a luke warm fire.

The old Eagle Scout is challenged by charcoal fires

This was the easy part; the long passage out.

We don't know how this place buys liability insurance because some of the passages were low, steep, dark, slimey with crevices we had to squeeze through and stalagmites massaging our heads. In fact in one place we had to sit and slide down a slimey shoot. But it was all fun and very beautiful.

Lewis & Clark Caverns and Yellowstone

We're making slow but sure progress. We've just stopped at a KOA Campsite near Bozeman, MT after spending a few nights at Yellowstone.

Lewis & Clark Caverns and Yellowstone

Yellowstone

There was a torrential downpoor just before Old Faithful spouted but the rain stopped just in time and it was fantastic. Check out Facebook for a quick video


This was such a stately dog in a fantastic antique car. Couldn't resist taking his/her picture.

Not a gated community

Fortunately we aren't staying in a gated community where clothes lines are not permitted so we could hang out our wash to dry. The Montana winds were so strong they were all dry within an hour.

Continuing our Journey

We saw a very funny vaudeville play in this opera theater in a wonderful little town in Montana called Philipsburg.


Tom purchases candy at a famous candy store in Philipsburg, Mt.


Stopping at an ice cream stand in Drummond, Mt.

Our first night in Montana just off the express way. Roaring trucks, rattling, screeching trains, pelting rain accompanied by thunder and lightening lasting throughout the night caused us to label this camp site "The Campsite From Hell"

Montana to Wyoming..Whoooeee!

Jessie shares the driving through windy, perilous mountain roads! Yikes!!

28..29..30

Tom is faithful to his exercises. No complaints from the neighbors so far.


We're in Yellowstone with many adventures behind us and we know, more to come. Have gone through sunny skies, thunderstorms, torrential rain, hail and heavy winds, but we're still on our feet with 8 wheels on the ground. Close quarters for 24/7 has been a challenge but so far we've weathered that storm as well.

First Leg...118 miles in one day!!!

St Joe's River

Our first campsite near St Maries in the Pan Handle Nat'l Forrest, Idaho

Hidey, adjusting nicely to RV travel

Tom, cartooning in our camper

Jessie at the main street Antique/coffee shop in St Maries writing in this blog

Let the Adventure Begin

At daybreak tomorrow morning we will be driving out of our alley in our 24 ft RV to begin our new 9 month adventure. Come on along as we travel our wonderful country, meeting old and new friends, exploring known and unknown places, facing unpredictable events, and just having a great time. Matthew 28:20 says, "And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age." We expect God has some wonderful adventures in store for us.