Road Trip #10 – KY, IL, NE, SD, MT, WY, KS, MO, TN, NC

Posted 2 years ago by Kram

Headed West/Northwest out of JOCO for Roadtrip #10. Have a passenger on this road trip, none other than Notloc. First stop was for one night at Fort Boonesborough State Park in Richmond KY. It was pouring rain upon arrival and the fort is closed on Mondays. So we hunkered down and broke out Yahtzee. We got up early and hit the road headed for St Louis for a visit to Gateway Arch National Park. We are staying for two nights at Cahokia RV Parque, which is only about 6 miles from the Arch. The campground runs shuttle service to the Arch and is located in a very convenient location. I never knew one of the food claims by St Louis was for toasted ravioli. The learning opportunities in this country are endless. 

Early risers headed to the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site. We watched the movie and completed the tour of the White Haven farm.

We then got on the road for a long day of driving. Stopped for the night in Omaha NE, and then up with the rooster call and headed to the Badlands in South Dakota. We stayed for three nights at the Badlands KOA, which is perfectly located, with easy access to the National Park, Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, and Wall SD.

Our first day in the Badlands was spent driving the scenic loop road. The Badlands is another one of those places where the best thing to do is go see it. Pictures do not do it justice. It is quite a site.

Our second day was spent visiting the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. We stopped at the visitor center and then visited Delta-09 site.

We then stopped at Wall Drug for an ice cream break…………….

………………and then headed back to the Badlands and drove the Sage Creek Rim Road to see the Bison herds.

We only moved three hours down the road from the Badlands/White River KOA to the Custer SD KOA. This puts us in close proximity to Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park, Wind Cave National Park, and Jewel Cave National Monument. After arriving in Custer, and setting up camp, we headed to the Crazy Horse Memorial to check it out. It is only about 8 miles from the campground. Since it was evening, it was not very crowded. They started carving the memorial in 1948, and have a long way to go. Interesting place with a great museum. I hope they finish it someday, but they don’t seem to be in any hurry.

The weather is beautiful here in the Black Hills. We had over night rain sprinkles for about an hour and the over night temperature is in the mid fifties. The second day was spent at Mt. Rushmore and we had another brief shower that kept the temperature nice and cool. Mt. Rushmore is one of those bucket list items and it is very impressive. A well organized park, easy in and easy out. I sort of thought it was going to be a tourist trap, but not so. A very nice stop and only takes a couple of hours for a nice visit. Another amazing project completed by our forefathers in 1941. 

We then spent the afternoon visiting Custer State Park and driving the Needles Highway. The sites, roads, and tunnels in Custer State Park are stunning. Quite an adventure. I have to imagine that South Dakota’s Custer State Park ranks as one of the top state parks in the country. 

Notloc is keeping me on schedule. Our third day was spent at Wind Cave National Park. It is only 23 miles from the campground. Our cave tour was scheduled for 10 in the morning. Kram and Nerak have toured Mammoth Cave and Carlsbad Caverns in our travels. We like touring caves and are amazed at what mother nature creates. The National Park Service does an amazing job running the caves. Wind Cave was Notloc’s first cave experience and I could tell he was at first apprehensive,  and then quickly followed by amazement.

Up early !! Busy little bees we are. Departed our KOA in Custer and headed for Hardin MT. We have a few stops enroute. First, we have a quick early morning stop 10 miles down the road from Custer at Jewel Cave National Monument. We did the quick tour in the target room of the cave, Notloc completed the Junior Ranger Program, and we were off headed to Montana. Our next stop was about a 100 miles further down the road to Devils Tower, MT. We hiked the Tower Trail, which circles the base of the tower, and of course, Notloc completed the Junior Ranger Program and picked up another badge to add to his growing collection. Devils Tower was packed, people everywhere. Even though we had to unhook in a remote lot, it was well worth the visit. It is quite a site. I learned what an “igneous intrusion” is.

We pulled in late at night in Hardin MT and didn’t unhook. We were a little bit behind schedule and had planned to see The Little Big Horn the previous day. We decided to back track the 20 miles in the morning and take the Cougar with us. It worked out well. The Ranger delivered a phenomenal, and very entertaining, explanation of what occurred at the Little Big Horn, and of course Notloc completed the Junior Ranger Program, with the help of an excellent museum in the visitor center. Anyone driving in the area of Hardin MT should make a stop at the Little Big Horn.

We left the Hardin area at about 11 AM and headed for West Yellowstone MT. It was a long day. We stayed in Buffalo Crossing RV Park, right in the downtown area of West Yellowstone. Everything in West Yellowstone MT is walkable from the campground. A very convenient campground, and surprisingly quiet. This RV park makes for a great Yellowstone base camp. It is less than a 1/2 mile from the West entrance of Yellowstone National Park.

We woke very, very, very, very early, and drove 3 hours to Jackson Hole for our float trip down the Snake River. Not sure why I scheduled it for 8 AM when it was 3 hours from where we are staying, and Nerak has asked me that question over, and over, and over, again. But my goal was to spend a day in Jackson, have lunch, and then drive up through the Grand Tetons on the way back up to Yellowstone. Nerak and Notloc have not admitted it, but deep down they feel my planning was excellent.

We are spending 5 nights in West Yellowstone MT. The first day was spent driving the southern loop and hitting all of the Geyser Basin stops in the morning, spending the afternoon at Old Faithful (stuck around for two eruptions), and then spent late afternoon checking out the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. After 11 hours in the park, and being totally worn out, we made it back to West Yellowstone right before dark.

Our second day was spent doing the northern loop up through Norris, Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower Roosevelt, Canyon Village, and back through Madison to West Yellowstone. Notloc completed the Junior Ranger Program and received his Yellowstone patch. If wildlife sightings are used to determine if a trip is successful, then we must be doing okay. So far on this trip we have spotted several Bald Eagles , an Osprey on the Snake River diving down and catching a fish twice his size, and struggling to get airborne, numerous Bison, a herd of Elk numbering in the hundreds, a Coyote, a Pronghorn, several Mule Deer, a Moose, four Turkeys, and three Black Bear. We failed to see a Moose on our trip to Acadia earlier this year, so it was nice to see a Moose in Yellowstone.

For our third day, we decided to spend it exploring all of the other geysers in the Upper Geyser Basin. We also captured one more Old Faithful eruption. We had originally planned to explore the Lamar Valley, but it is still closed due to the flooding earlier in the year.

Well sadly, it is time to leave Yellowstone and start heading back east. Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park were fantastic. It is something to see nature at work. I hope the supervolcano of Yellowstone NP never erupts and just continues to vent and and remain a “restless giant”. Hopefully, there will be a future trip in my lifetime to revisit Yellowstone. I would like to see the Lamar Valley, and I would like to do some fishing in a Yellowstone stream. The park is amazing for its 150th anniversary.

For our return trip back east, we will be making one last trip through Yellowstone and Grand Teton. This time we are pulling the Cougar. There are only a few spots where road repairs will be tight and concerning. So we awoke early and headed for the West Entrance, and then turned south through Yellowstone and entered Grand Teton National Park. We made a quick stop at the Colter Bay Visitor Center so Notloc could pick up his Grand Teton Junior Ranger badge. We then headed east out of Grand Teton. Our destination for the night is the Casper Wyoming KOA. The next day we made stops at Fort Laramie National Historic Site in Wyoming, and then Scotts Bluff National Monument in Nebraska. We pulled in late to the Ogallala NE KOA. The next day was another long driving day and we spent the night in Topeka KS. We wanted to break up the drive home with a few stops along the way. From Topeka we headed to Springfield MO. We visited the Wilson’s Creek Battlefield, which in my opinion, houses one of the best civil war weaponry displays in the country. Another long drive from Springfield to Natchez Trace State Park in TN. We stayed there for two nights. We drove south from Natchez Trace and spent the day at Shiloh National Military Park. Our last stop for one night was Asheville NC before we headed home.

Wow! Roadtrip #10 was an adventure. A little planning really paid off for what we were able to accomplish. In 23 days we were able to visit Gateway Arch National Park, Ulysses S. Grant Historic Site, Omaha NE, Badlands National Park, Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, Wall SD, Mt. Rushmore National Monument, Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park, Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Hardin MT, Devils Tower National Monument, Little Bighorn Battlefield, West Yellowstone MT, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Float Trip down the Snake River, Casper WY, Fort Laramie National Historic Site, Scotts Bluff National Monument, Ogallala NE, Topeka KS, Springfield MO, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, Natchez Trace State Park TN, Shiloh National Military Park, and Asheville NC.

We never experienced crazy crowds, gridlock traffic, or super crappy weather. The Cougar did have a blowout on I-80 in Kearney NE, which was a bummer, but Kram knows how to change a tire. Shout out to Commercial Tire Center in Topeka KS for selling me a spare for the Cougar, and mounting it on the rim, and they weren’t even open. 

One of the coolest things about being a grandparent, is you get to see the grand kids grow up. It is very rewarding to see a grandson thoroughly enjoy a 6,630 mile road trip and never once complain about anything. Not all kids would be up to it. Notloc was a pure pleasure to have along as a traveling companion. He soaked up the details of the ever changing landscape and the information provided by the many historical sites, like a sponge. I doubt there are many 10 year olds out there that are as well versed in geography and history as Notloc. And I have to mention that he is now a skilled Yahtzee player, Wordle player, and a master at National Park Monopoly. I hope Notloc remembers this trip forever, I know Kram and Nerak will. 

Notloc’s Jr Ranger Badges and Patches

 

6 thoughts on “Road Trip #10 – KY, IL, NE, SD, MT, WY, KS, MO, TN, NC”

  3. Terri Cowell says:

    This trip was incredible and having Notloc with you was such a bonus. Can’t wait to get together so you can tell us more.

  4. Ken Jones says:

    WOW! What a trip. I did recognize some places that I saw in 1976. Thank goodness they are still there. Maybe one day, I will see them again. I’m happy for all of you.

    Nek

    • Kram says:

      Hello Nek,
      It is hard to capture the beauty of the West, and particularly, our National Parks, with pictures. The wide open space and expansive terrain, being able to see for miles, is something you absorb. I hope you get back out there.
      Kram

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