Wyoming - here's what I've learned so far...

We camped in 2 different locations in Big Horn National Forest. Although the area in Wyoming is breathtaking, the campsites were primitive. So -
1. I will never again willingly stay in a campground where pit toilets are the only option. UGH. Yes, our tiny trailer has a loo the size of a phone booth that could be used IF the campsite had water. But, sadly, no H2O available either.
2. Given the choice of water or electricity, point me in Ben Franklin's direction. Peter's C-Pap won't work without it, and therefore I was subjected to his snoring every night.
3. Drive carefully with fully loaded gray and black water tanks when the nearest dump station is located 20 miles away on a rough dirt road. Enough said.
4. You know it's time for a change when a gas station flush toilet looks like paradise.
BIG HORN CANYON NATIONAL FOREST:

Anyway, here are photos of the National Forest...since Peter seems to have opted out of the blogging experience, I'll update when I can. 
Our campsite...

Where's the blog???

Hey y'all, Arlene here...
While we ALL wait impatiently for Peter to write reviews of our trip, I decided to post photos that will allow him to fill in the story later. So here goes...
This is Badlands National Park in South Dakota -

Park Entry

 

Various landscapes on the drive to the campground

  

 

 Peter and the kids, Frankie and Maggie

 

View from our campsite at various times of day

 

 

Local Flora and Fauna

Native American potter's wares

 

If at First you Don't Succeed...

Trying again tomorrow. Both of us really want to take advantage of our reservations at Badlands National Park in South Dakota, so we booked four nights in hotels in Atlanta, Memphis, Kansas City, and Sioux City, which leaves 295 miles to the national park. Here's a National Park Service photo of a vista-

Then...hello Wall Drug!!!

If you are unfamiliar with the name, The New York Times has described Wall Drug as "a sprawling tourist attraction of international renown that draws some two million annual visitors to a remote town. It's off Interstate 90, and has been in business since 1931, succeeding with a promotion for "Free Ice Water."

All in all, we feel much better prepared this go around. The last time we ran around like headless chickens as we tried to finish last minute chores and packing. But there's always something left behind or forgotten, of course. But as long as we have money, credit cards, the dogs, and our prescription medications (oh, the humanity) we're fine.

We'll post as the spirit moves us over the next five days. Then, lots of pictures from the Badlands and the Great Midwest.

Day One - The Start...and The Turnaround

We departed Orlando at 11.30am on Saturday, June 23, headed for north Florida and Suwanee River State Park. Yes, it's the river immortalized by Stephen Foster, as in "way down upon the Swanee River," also titled "Old Folks at Home."

The drive was about 200 miles, and since we hauled our mini-house along with us, it took about 5 hours. The campground is about 25 miles northwest of Tallahassee. Here's the park entrance sign...

We pulled up to an attractive but empty ranger station. Fortunately, we had already reserved and paid for the night.

The weather was cool for late June, and we looked forward to a hibachi dinner and campfire that night. Until we parked in our site and stepped out of the car - Mosquito Attack! Amid the swarms, Peter valiantly set up the tiny trailer and we prepared to eat microwave dinners inside. 😠

That night, Peter couldn't sleep. It turns out that while he set up the camper, he twisted his right knee. It swelled up and was extremely painful. Since we were on Day 1 and 5 hours from home, we decided to turn around to see our regular doctor rather than take our chances on the road. Of course, Peter couldn't drive, so there was Arlene, aka Lucy Ricardo, traveling down the Interstate, the trailer bobbing and weaving behind us like a cork on the water. Aargh.

The next day, we went to see our orthopedic surgeon (another indignity of old age) who x-rayed the knee, pronounced it inflamed by already-present arthritis, and prescribed a cortisone derivative to ease pain and swelling. Since we were in town, we stopped in to see Mom at the assisted living facility.

She was depressed and feeling very sorry for herself. So we decided to stay a while longer to see her settled. And here we are on June 30th, still in Orlando, still waiting to leave.

We desperately want to restart our trip and have decided to try again next Saturday. We'll stay in hotels for a few nights to catch up with our reservation at Badlands National Park in South Dakota. So that's it for now, but we'll leave you with a photo of the woods along the route to the campground at Suwanee.

Retired!!!

This is hard to believe, I know, but AT&T gave me my last day off WITH pay. They must be too busy incorporating Time-Warner into the Master Plan to realize their mistake 😎

Let me introduce our traveling companions. The first is senior dog, Frankie. He is a terrier mutt, probably mostly Norfolk Terrier. We adopted him in 2005, so he is about fifteen years old. He's slowed down quite a bit, of course, and those hind legs don't work as well as they used to, but he's up for new adventures.

Next is the Little Princess, Maggie. We adopted her from our veterinarian about six weeks ago. She was found wandering around Winter Park, FL (if you know the area, WP is a great place to be lost.) Dr. Cannon estimates her to be about five or six. She weighs six pounds and is feisty and friendly. She gets her older brother to chase her around, which is good cardio for both of them. She still has the annoying habit of piddling indoors, but we do our best. Since most of the next few weeks will be spent in the Great Outdoors, that should help.

And last, but not least, are the bus drivers, intrepid Peter and Ellie, pictured here on an evening out at a favorite restaurant. We can't wait for the story to start.

Next post will show exactly how tiny our tiny trailer is! Until then...

The weeks before...

A big hello to all our family and friends! 

After thirty-six years and three months of work for the company that's now AT&T Mobility, I will retire on June 18, 2018. 

We're about to embark on an adventure, just like Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night. (Just call us Peter and Ellie, the names of the lead characters!)

We'll depart for the west coast (no, not the Gulf Coast) in June to begin our first long odyssey. We'll visit with friends along the way, and return home in October.

We want to share our adventures with you - the highways and byways, campgrounds and local attractions, and those chill-out nights that we spend in climate controlled hotel rooms in Chicago, Bozeman, MT, Orange County, CA, Alamogordo, NM, and Baton Rouge, LA..

Below is a map of our planned route round trip - add in a stop on the Florida Panhandle before our return to Orlando. 

Look for my first post from the road around June 25th. After that? Who knows?