Hi All: Had a great day today. Weather was superb. We got under way with Amy holding the city map to show us the way to the Olympic sit for 1988. Got there with no problems, however, when we got there we find the area is closed for some reason. We did get to walk around a little. Above Amy is standing at the base of the ski lift to the big ski Jump for the Olympics.....

Above is the entrance of the Olympic park. It was nice, and there was a lot of work going on in the area. Amy found that they were setting up ice skating ponds through out the area. Do not want to be here for them to freeze over.

We then decided to go to the Fort Calgary that is set up in the original area it was first set up in 1846 I think when the Canadian Mounted Police came in there and closed a trading post that was selling whiskey to the Indians. It was the start of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Very interesting place.

Don't think I would fit in those uniforms any more. Cannot understand what has happened???

Above it the Calgary tower. The thing goes up and down on the post. 'Think there is a restaurant in there somewhere. Amy would NOT get in it....

We had a good time going thru downtown Calgary to the Fort. Amy did a super job of guiding the way and telling me where to go. She Loves to tell me where to go....... We did also pass a MALL, so guess what. We had to stop and check it out. Pretty small one compared to what we have seen but did have a Walmart, and a Safeway grocery store, Plus a "Starbucks" coffee shop. Speaking of coffee. Our coffee pot died on us. It was a Black and Decker under the shelf type and we bought it only 3 years ago. It just shut down. Clock won't work or anything. Tried to get inside it, but they have special screws to keep guys like me out of the insides. So now, we have to find a new coffee pot. Walmart and a Sears store at the Mall did not have any. I bet there will be one at the Mall in Edmonton, Alberta. It's the biggest Mall in North America.. WE do have a coffee maker that makes one cup at a time, so we will be able to keep the caffeine withdrawals away.

See ya all later.

Harry. The guy asked if I had any alcohol and I told him two bottles. Not a lie, Just didn't say how many OVER two I had.. hee hee.

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh.

Hi All: We finally made it to the gate of Canada!! It was fairly painless. They asked me if I had any alcohol, and I said we had two bottles. Not a lie. Had to pull over and go inside to get my permit for my shotgun. It was still $25.00. All went well and we were on our way Northwest to Calgary..

We stopped at the information center a while up the road and found this nice place. The gal inside gave us lots of info for our visit to Alberta, and we did a tour of the facility. Amy made me do the photo above. Made the guy have three legs.

She also made me hide in the woods with the deer. Was compelled to smile, so Brenda said. I am smiling... hee hee.

Bob, Is that you inside there?? I was sure it was you and Dorene??? hee hee.

We got to the Calgary West Campground with lots of driving thru town. Not real bad though. It is on a hill near where the 1988 Olympics were held. Can still see a lot of the stuff left from that event. Plan to go visit it tomorrow. Will be here three nights. Didn't do much the rest of today except watch a lot of RV's move in to the campground. There are 350 sites here and I think they are pretty full by now. It's 1915 now, and the sun is straight up. A long way from bring dark.

Satellite dish still works here, and the router does NOT work. But the Verizon Thingy works just great as does the Cell Phone.

Better close for now. Will have more photo's I hope from our looking around tomorrow.

Semper Fi.

Don, Amy & Pharaoh

This is a photo of the pine trees that have been attacked by the "Pine Bark beetle. Sure is doing a lot of damage to the beautiful trees..

The photo above is just a shot going down the road. Pretty country.....

Hi All: We made it to Shelby,MT in good shape. No problems, and we did not have our early morning thunderstorm this time. There was not a cloud in the sky when we got underway. The trip had some beautiful country again, and we drove down this road in the rocks above down to the Missouri River and followed it for some time. Campground is the Louis and Clark Campground and is OK. Not fancy at all, but has all we need. Amy is now in the laundry doing the laundry. She says the costs are a little higher than normal, but They have ya here. I'm sure it will get worse as we cross the border. Found out the cost for the permit to have my shotgun has gone up 100% since we were here before. Was $25, now $50. Still hope we don't get shook down at the border. Have to much Booze.... Planned to get gas at an exit and when we got there the exit was closed, and there are no more stations this side of Canada. We drove down to the little town of Shelby and found a place I can get in with the Motor Home to get gas when we leave.

Also, Amy had trouble getting reservations at a campground in Edmonton. She had to call 4 different campgrounds till she found one that was not full?? Holiday I guess? We needed a place for 2, 3, & 4 July. Didn't think Canada celebrated that holiday?? Any way we got one that is about 10 minutes from the "Largest Mall in the World". Amy is so happy. me too!! ;-(.....

This is our latest site for the next two days. Have no problem with the Satellite locking up. We have a Strong phone signal, and the router is working again with my Verizon Thingy.. Life is good. Only thing I'm missing is the restaurant right on the premises. We did go to town and found an Albertson's food market, so we are solvent with food again too.. Life is good.

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh

Hi All: We are now in Helena, Montana at a nice campground. Got here about 1400. The weather was super all the way. But, we had a heck of a thunderstorm during the night before we left. It hit again at about 0200, and the wind rocked the motor home. Had to close up the slides as I was concerned that the wind may rip the awnings off the slide outs. Woke up with a little rain, then it was gone, and the sky turned nice and blue. Stayed that way all the way here. The Fluffy clouds are still up there, but have found that they sometimes all get together and turn dark, and spill lots of rain on us during the night. Above photo is of Pharaoh in his normal position "Sleeping" He is traveling just fine. A good company for us both.

This Photo is of the Yellowstone River. We cross it several times along the way. It was really brown when we first crossed it, but it seemed to clear up as we moved along....

A beautiful shot of the Mountains we were finally getting close to. We finally got IN to them and had to use lower gears on the Motor Home to get over some of the passes. Weather turned cooler as we moved North West also. It was 58 when we left this morning, and now we are in Helena and it is about 68 out now. Real comfortable and nice....Will have to dig out one of the electric heaters for tonight I think...We are just under 4000 feet altitude here. A little different than Floral City where I see it is now 101.9 there... WOW.

Here is a photo of our Pilot for this trip. I spend a lot of time here. Sure glad I have a nice comfortable seat.

And here is the navigator. She loves to tell me where to go, and does it a lot?????

We leave in the morning for Shelby, MT where we will be for two nights I think. Amy wants to do laundry, and I want to make sure the rig is all set for the mountains we will be going thru from now on. Rig is doing super so far. Everything is working just great.. Keep your fingers crossed..

More tomorrow.

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh

Hi All: We got underway this morning about 0800. Cannot change to Mountain Standard time. Especially when Pharaoh says it's "Time to feed the Kitty". We had a heck of a thunder storm at about 0220. Sure sounded bad, and lots of rain. But when we got up the storm was gone and the weather was super. Had a good trip with no problems. Photo above Amy caught me at our campground at the Old West Campground at Reeds Point, Montana. Nice little campground. Only 17 sites, and there are still some empty ones at 1830. Tight spot though. You can see the tree outside the door thru the window...


The vehicle above is for Donnie. It's a 3 trailer UPS truck that stopped at the same rest area we stopped at. See a lot of the three trailer rigs here on this highway. Traffic is very light...

This photo Amy took of our site The tree is just far enough away from the door that we can get in and out. Satellite TV works here just fine, and the phone is weak. The Verizon Thingy works great for the Internet, however, the router would not work, so Amy and I had to take turns plugging the "Thingy" in to our computers. Internet is just fine.

Above photo is the first mountains we have seen with snow on them yet. Not sure which Mountain Range they are, but they are South of our hiway 90 near Billings, Montana. Had a big cloud of rain over them at first, but it moved on and we could see the mountains.. Very beautiful.

We leave again in the morning and have one more stop overnight on our way to Shelby, MT where we will have a two night stay over. Have to get things right for crossing the Canadian Border. Hope they don't pick us to check our rig, as I have more booze than they allow, and we are not going to peal and cook all our potatoes as they don't allow them in to Canada uncooked?? Not sure why?? Don't plan to sell them or plant them

Weather has been wonderful all day. Clear blue skies. Very little head wind also. Last gas station I noticed the regular gas was 85.5 octane. I need 87. So I had to go to the 88 octane for $2.93 a gallon. Regular was $2.79 a gallon. On our last trip Bob filled up with the lower octane gas and noticed a bad difference. He let me know about it before I bought any of it. Not sure why the octane is lower here unless it's due to the altitude and the engine not needing the higher octane. Will have to check that out.

We listened to a talking book my brother Jack sent us years ago on Cassette Tape. He had copied them for us. It was a good story, and have one more cassette to listen to tomorrow. Thanks Jack....

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh..

Hi All: We got underway this morning at about 0830 Central Time. The weather was super. About 60 degrees and the skies were clear and blue. The road way was super and had hardly any traffic at all. Few Trucks, and few cars. Just straight flat Interstate. It stayed that way for a long time in North Dakota until we go to the "Bad Lands" of that state. Above photo is me "Waiting On A Woman" at the Roosevelt National Park. It was along the interstate and showed a nice view of the so Called Bad Lands. Pretty rough country. The State was pretty flat along the way until we got to the "Bad Lands" Real tough, rough land... Really beautiful..

Here is a beautiful photo of the Bad Lands, and of my Sweety....It is strange that the land can be so flat and just grass lands, then all of a sudden it is like the background.... Super.

We will leave here agin in the morning for two more campgrounds before we get to Shelby, Montana where we will stay two nights getting things ready to cross the border in to Canada. Have to make sure we don't have anything that we are not supposed to have in case they pick us to check our Motor Home. Hear they can really tear everything up looking for whatever...Not allowed to take certian vegitables etc in the state. and only limited amounts of Booze..???

Amy hurt her back this morning closing up a table in the Motor Home. Only takes a certain twist and turn to do that as Donnie can tell you. As well as I can sure tell the world... Have to make sure she rests and gets better soon. I need her working.....

Having dinner in tonight. Did offer to take Amy out, but she said no. Having Spaghetti. One of my favorites....It is tough roughing it out here.

Semper Fi.

Don, Amy, & Pharaoh

Hi All: We are now in Jamestown, North Dakota. Got underway yesterday in good time and the weather was good. Not far down the road we got in the rain and it rained on us for half the trip. Finally cleared up and turned super. It's nice and clear this morning and the temp was 60 degrees out. Made 355 miles yesterday. Don't plan to go that far today, so we can take our time getting ready to leave. We are at the Frontier Fort Campground. It has a Bar and grill, so we went there for dinner last evening. Had a drink and their Chicken Special. Pretty good. No TV of any kind here. The building is in the way for the Satellite, and we are to far away from any city that has TV broadcast, so we watched 3 episodes of the "Pacific" last evening. They seem to be pretty good. Amy even liked them. Picture above I am trying to get a date, but Amy found me and stopped that. hee hee

Above, Amy is trying to get a job, but the job was taken so we had to move one. hee hee.

This is a little buffalo they have here at the Frontier Fort area. They have a little western town set up to walk around in. Pretty neat..

They also have a little place where Louis L'Amour used to write some of his books. Just a little room actually. Has a collection of all his books on the wall, and a little type writer sitting at a desk. They even have some of his books sitting out where folks could walk off with them. Trusting folks around here.

Well, better get going and get things ready to travel.

Later.

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh

Hi All: We got to the Mall today. It was a nice long drive down the road a ways. We took our walkie Talkies with us so we could keep track of each other and they worked pretty good. Here's a photo of you know who waiting to get going again shopping...


Here's a photo of the one of the stairways going up and down the 4 floors of this place. There is a roller coaster, and several other rides in the middle of this place, Including a water log run.. WOW..

Here's the shopper standing in front of a shop or some place like that. I think we walked 3.8 miles in there according to the pedometer's we wore. Was a nice day.

Weather is still great. Supposed to rain tonight though with tornados and all. Hope they miss us as they have been doing since we got in this area.

Leaving tomorrow morning for a 353 mile drive to the next campground. Amy has made reservations at the campgrounds we will be using till we are ready to cross the border in to Canada. We are hoping for good weather across the North route thru N. Dakota and Montana..

Won't be much to report for the next few days I HOPE.

Semper Fi.

Don, Amy & Pharaoh

Hi All:

We made it to St. Paul, MN with no problems today. Had a little rain, but no bad weather. Even had some part of the trip with 10 MPG on the Motor Home.

Staying at a campground in East St. Paul. Very nice.

Will be going to the Mall Of America tomorrow I guess...

Weather her has been OK. A little rain, but bad weather all around us according to the weather reports, but it all seems to be passing us without hurting anything here.

We've been to the Mall in 2001 with Jan And Lou, so I'm sure there is very little difference. I think we may take our walkie talkies's with us so we don't have to stay together in there. Amy says this is the same campground we stayed when we came thru here with Jay and Lou...

Amy did laundry here. She said the laundry was a very nice here, and this will set us up for our trip up in to Canada I guess...

We will leave here the 23rd (Day after tomorrow) and will be just doing overnight stays along North Dakota in to Montana, then to Shelby Montana for a couple days getting ready to go in to Canada from there....

Amy is cooking fried chicken and mashed potatoes, with a salad for dinner. It sure is tough to rough it out here.

Roughing it is because we cannot get satellite TV due to the trees etc. Do have regular antenna TV from St. Paul though. We do have a zillion movies we have stocked up with to get us thru Canada where there is no Satellite TV, and a lot of times NO TV at all. Roughing it is tough.

The photo is from inside the woman's bathroom at the "Home On The Rock" Amy took it, Not me. hee hee.

Well, it smell like dinner is getting close to eating time.

Semper Fi.

Don, Amy & Pharaoh

20 June Add on.

Well. didn't figure out how to set up the blog yet. I thought I had straightened it out, but it all went back together like before. Sorry.. Just read between the lines.

Don

Hi All: We had a great trip to the "House On A Rock" about 60 miles South of Wisconsin Dells. We got there about 1000 and started our tour thru this Wonderful place. You folks that suggested we go see it were right on. What is there is hard to explain in a blog, so suggest you Goggle it and it may tell you more than my limited writing ability can relate to you all. It all started out with one guy finding a nice pile of rocks to have a picinic on and then finallly bought the whole farm the "Rock" was on. He built a house up there among the rocks, and then it kept getting larger and larger and now we have what is beyond belief. Above are a few photo's that will probably not let you all know what is there. Have not figured out how to label the photo's. The one that looks like a bunch of red lights is just that. It's a merry go round with thousands of lights going round and round. The one of me is a "Man Waitin' On A Woman" Do that lots of time. Looks like some of the horses from the merry go round got away behind me. The one with Amy is some flowers we found that were pretty. So's Amy!!!, and the photo below is a shot of how the house was built around the rocks etc. Not sure how this will lay out when I publish the blog. Not sure I have figured out how to control those things yet....

We plan to leave here in the morning and get on our way to "The Mall Of America". Will be there for two nights. Weather has been perfect here the three days we have been here. Some storm systems have gone to our South and to Our North. Hope it keeps doing that....

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh

19 June Add on

Hi Again. I don't know why the blog posts with so much space between paragraphs, and some have no space. When I get done with the blog it does not look like it does when it is posted. Not sure what I have to do to clean that up. Also wanted to put something under each picture, but haven't figured that out yet...

Well, Back to the "Lord"..

Later.

Don.

Hi All: Here we are in Wisconsin Dells in Wisconsin... Got here from visiting Harry and Alicia in Illinios. I have heard a little about this area, but not much. Find it is a BIG tourist area, and there must not be any tourists anywhere alse but here now. The population of Wisconsin Dells is about 2800 people, but I know I saw several thousand out on the streets here. Bob Boardman mailed me and told us about a place called "House On The Rock" about a hour from here that we should not miss a chance to go see it. If Bob says to see it that's what we MUST do. We had to change the reservations here for one more day, then call the campground near the Mall of America and change the reservations to move forward one day. Got it all done.

We went on a boat trip on the "Upper Dell". It's on the Wisconsin River which has an upper and lower part. Above and below the dam...We finally found where you get tickets for the boat ride at the Wisconsin DUCK ride. A couple DUCK rides here...So we had to take a DUCK ride down to the dock where the boat leaves. The DUCK seemed to catch on fire as we were going down the street. Smoke was really coming thru the floor. I think I saw the driver release the emergency brake, then the smoke was not as bad. Heard her say it was her first trip on the DUCK. It may have been her last to when they find she burnt the Emergency Brake out????

The Boat trip took off at noon, and the sun was out and a nice breeze with clear skies. the boat had a top deck and a a inside deck. We got on the top which was open. A beautiful ride. the river is just super. Had a couple stops along the way and walked up a crack in the rocks up to a consesssion stand and rest room about one hour in the trip. The crack was quit a trip, and quite a job for someone to make the walkway all the way up in there. It followed a small stream that has been coming down thru there for years. It was almost cold in ther also.

Then our next stop was another wooden walkway up to a large rock sticking up next to the mountain with about 8 feet between them. It seems that someone had taken a picture of a guy jumping that distance and he caught him on camera. One of the first fast lens photo's ever done, so they had a dog jump the distance for us to catch the photo. Amy almost got it. You can see the dog just getting ready to jump. That's as good as it got. Walked back to the boat and came back to town. Trip took about 2 1/2 hours. Real nice day, and beautiful river and lake....

WE had thought we woule go out for dinner tonight, but we decided we had a full day already, so we are going to rough it and cook a T Bone and bake a tater and a salad here at home. It's sure is tough roughing it out here.

WE will be at the Home on the Rock tomorrow. They tell us that it is a full day thing. Will try to have some more photo's to send you all.

Jan... We didn't come thru SC on that route. We went up I-95. How far did we miss you by...

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh.

Hi All: Well, we got to Marengo, ILL about 1330 I think. Trip was uneventful. We did go the long way around to keep from driving thru Chicago, and trying to keep off of all the Toll Roads up here.

When we got here I found that we did not have Harry's phone number. I have it in my land line phone at home, and Guess what?? It is still at home. When we got here and I got some things set up and I got on line, I sent Harry an email asking for his phone#.. Wonders of Wonders, he calls me on our cell phone and told me he sent the number online, but was afraid I may not check the mail. Any way, we got set up and went and had a nice visit with Harry and Alecia. We have set up a dinner out tomorrow with them at a Steak place we went with them the last time we were here.. Looking forward to it. Told him the dinner is on us, and he says NO. So it may be interesting when the check comes. I think I may be able to beat Harry???? hee hee.. Good luck Harry. hee hee.

I needed a new head for my electric razor so we found a Walmart with Alecia's directions, but , They did not have any new heads for my type or razor, SO, I have a new Fathers day present. A new razor... My old one would not cut my tough whiskers?? And Amy complains a lot. hee hee.

Since Amy took no new photo's today except a couple State signs I am enclosing one of when we left New Castle. They had just set up some cones on the hiway coming out of the campground to keep traffic in one lane. Well, they left no room for us to come out of the campground. I hit one of the cones and tried to not run over it, but if you look close it is under the frame of the tow dolly. When I pulled in to get gas someone came over and told me I had a construction cone under the car. Could not get it loose, so I continued down the road. I watched to see if I could see it come loose but never saw it.. When we stopped at a rest area I noticed it was gone. Hope it didn't hit anyone....

Well, we are here, and eating in tonight. I get to have a "Toddy" tonight also. Will try to get some photo's for the next blog.

Semper Fi

Don & Amy & Pharaoh

Hi All: We got underway from New Castle about 0730 and got in to Yogi Bears Campground in Plymouth, Indiana at about 3:30 (1530). Woke up to rain this morning and left the campground in the rain. Rained most of the morning , but let up around Noon and we had off and on rain along the route. We decided to take a different route thru Ohio and Indiana than the Turnpike that would have required us to float a loan to pay the toll. We took US Rout 30 and it was a real good route. No problems at all, and a better route than some Interstates that we have taken. A few more traffic lights in Indiana than I would have liked, but a good route. Only problem is a gas station for RV's like ours that we can get in to and OUT of. We did find a Pilot station just before our camp ground and we got to fill up and are now all set for tomorrow..

We are in a Thunder Storm Watch here now also. The campground is a nice one. Lots of sites, and a lot of them are full. We just need a spot to stop for the night though. Will not be using any of the things to do here at this campground. Will be up and out in the morning, heading for Marengo, Illinois to Visit Harry and Alicia for a couple days...

Have local TV here off the Antenna, Satellite TV, and the Internet. We have it all. AND Amy is making "Prime Rib" with Salad, and Mashed Potatoes for dinner.. Also Can have a little "lord" before dinner here. All is good...

Above are a coupe photos's... Pharaoh is in his usual position. "Sleeping", We walked around and found these dumb things to stick our faces in and Amy just had to use them. Also my Sweety next to Yogi Bear....

Semper Fi

Don Amy & Pharaoh

Hi All: We had a good time and Jo and Ken's beautiful home last night. They had a Shelar get together with cake and "Home Made" Ice Cream. It was a super time. Thanks so much Ken and Jo. got to visit with Uncle Jerry who will be 102 years old this November I think. He still bakes cakes and mows the lawn. A great man...

Lot of Amy's relatives showed up. To many to list here. I knew most of them, but some I didn't. I think they scheduled it as Amy could not make the Shelar Reunion in August, so she got to see a lot of them last evening. It was a great time. Thanks to them all for coming out..

The pretty lady above is Aunt Beryl who has cooked so many dinners for us while we have been here. She could claim us on her Income Tax as a Tax deduction. The dinners were all great, and she even put some of her cherry's in a pie for me, and this evening had some more of her cherries on a cake with ice cream. I sure didn't lose any weight while here. hee hee. Love you Aunt Beryl.

The other picture of the beautiful couple is Ken and Jo Harlan who had us all in their beautiful Home for the Shelar get together. Their home is beautiful in itself, and has a super view of a beautiful valley from top of the hill there. Will miss them all.

We will be leaving in the morning for a campground in Plymouth, Indiana. We'll be there for one night, then on to Marengo, Illinois for a short visit with Harry and Alecia Tippins. Harry and I used to play music together in a band in 29 Palms California in the early 60's We didn't make much money, but had a good time. We were both in the USMC at that time. Have not seen him in years. Looking forward to the visit. We will be there for two nights, then on the road again toward the North and visit the "Mall Of America", then on across the top of the states to Montana and then up in to Canada and the Alaska Highway...

More later.

Hi Georgia & Family...

Semper Fi

Don, Amy & Pharaoh.

Hi all: We are still in New Castle. The rain has stopped the last couple days, and it has been great the last two days. Even a little warm.

Not much to report. I got my hair cut yesterday and we went to Aunt Beryl's for dinner. Amy did some washing of sheets etc, and I did some book reading.

Today was about the same. We cooked breakfast here at the motor home, and Amy had her hair done, then we went to Walmart for some stuff Amy had to have. We went to a place called "Four Bush for "Frozen Custard". They make the best Ice Cream I've ever had. Had a Black Raspberry flavored cone. Was super. Amy spent the rest of the day with Aunt Beryl, and I read some more. Went to her place for dinner again.

The photo's above are of Amy's childhood home in Princeton. Also a photo of Amy with her Uncle Bob who was in WWII. Not doing to well now I fear.. The other gentlemen is Amy's Uncle Jerry who will turn 102 this November. We will be going to His place and his son Ken's place for a Shelar type get together for cake and ice cream tomorrow. He's sure in good shape for his age. Amy was there and he gave her some cake he had just baked to bring home. It was real good..

Getting close to leaving. We will be leaving Tuesday to continue our trip. Will stop in Plymouth, Indiana one night, then the next day we have reservations at the KOA near Harry Tippins place in Marengo, ILL for two nights. Hope to be able to visit Harry some while we are there. He and I used to play music together in a band in California in the early 60's. Had a great time. He is a super guitar player....

Well, That's about all for this time.

Semper Fi.

Don, Amy & Pharaoh