Cumberland Gap, etc

We visited the Andrew Johnson home in Greeneville, NC. He was the president who took over when Abe was murdered. He also was impeached but found innocent by 1 vote. Anyway, I wasn't too excited about visiting his historical site. After viewing the film I discovered he was the almost done in by really dirty politics and just for defending the constitution. Anyway, the ranger was really good at explaining it. The ranger was happy to hear we were headed to the Cumberland Gap. He asked to say hi to the ranger there. So, after giving us directions out of town, we drove to the Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. It is located on the corner of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. We camped there in the Virginia part of the park. Hard to believe the national park system has such beautiful camping at such a cheap price, Because the colors are peaking in the Smokies and Cumberland Mountains, we were treated with a beautiful site. The ranger at Cumberland was also pretty gung ho. When I asked him if he was Butch Davis, he couldn't do enough for us. He even drove Beth and I up to the top of the mountain and gave us a personal tour. So then we drove across Kentucky today and into Indiana. We have found that most campgrounds have closed as of Nov. 1st. We found one that was open just south of Indianapolis. We should be home in 2 or 3 days. We are stopping to see our friends, Merv & Kay Schlesinger in Mendota, Ill tomorrow night. By the way, gas was $1.949 per gallon in Tennessee. Bill

Trip Home (Early part) Nov. 3, 2008

After we left Disney World, we headed north. We stopped at a national monument named Fort Matanza. It is just south of St. Augustine, FL. We tried to see the spanish fort in St. Augustine but their parking was for cars only. We couldn't find a place for the motorhome. So, after driving very narrow streets in St. Augustine, we headed north again. We had to drive past Jacksonville, FL because the Florida gator fans and Georgia bulldog fans were coming together in their annual bash of football at the Jaguar Stadium. We drove into South Carolina and stopped at the Congeree National Park. Its 11,000 acres comprise the tallest deciduous tree forest in the world. Many were over 130 feet in the air. We walked a two mile boardwalk through the swamp. We stayed at a state park just up the road and near Columbia ,SC. The park is named Sequicentenial State Park. There were very few campers. We stayed an extra day so we could watch some NFL football. The Packer game was on because the Pack was playing the Tennessee Titans. On Monday, Nov. 3rd. We drove through a part of southwestern North Carolina into Tennessee. The colors are great. We stopped at Carl Sandburg's home in Flat Rock, NC. Then we drove through the Smoky Mountains Nat. Park. We saw snow along the side of the road leftover from last week. The Blue Ridge Parkway is still closed because of ice. Again the tree colors are really outstanding especially at the lower elevations. We are camping in Gatlinburg, TN tonight at a campground we stayed in 10 years ago, Our next stop is the Cumberland Gap. The cheapest gas I saw was $2.079 in Columbia, SC, today (11/3). Gas is higher in Tennessee.

Disney World Week

We have been without computer WiFi for the week while at Disney. This place is really organized. We checked in at Fort Wilderness on Sunday, Oct. 26th. We were given lots of maps and what looks like a credit card. The person who tried to explain all the fun we are about to have in 15 seconds, had an accent we aren't about to understand. Anyway, we were assigned campsite #1625 (There are over 1000 campsites). We are perhaps one of the very few who didn't bring exotic halloween decorations for the outside of our camper. Anyway, the bathrooms and showers are the cleanest we have seen in a campground. Also with their bus system & boat system, if you don't mind waiting, one can go throughout all the parks of Disney. On Monday, Oct 27th, we went to Animal Land and met Todd, Mary, Sam & Will. This is Will's first visit to Disney World. Then we went to Disney Hollywood Studios where we had dinner at 50's Prime Time cafe. There we discovered not only many teachers from Wisconsin were at Disney but also many from Illinois. I thought they were supposed to be at conferences. Anyway, the food was great and the waiters very entertaining. Tuesday we went to Epcot for the day. We had dinner with Mary and Todd at the Biergarten. Lots of beer, food and a polka band. Wednesday we spent part of the day spending our money at Disney downtown. Did I mention the weather? It was cold for Florida. Wed. morning was the coldest October temperature on record for Disney (43 degrees). Lots of sweatshirts were sold at Disney World that day and the next. We had dinner on Wed. night at the Polynesian Resort at Disney. It was great. On Thursday we finally got to Fantasy land in the Magic Kingdom. We were able to relive a bunch of stuff we did in 1975 when Mary and BJ were small children. Thursday night was spent with the Hagedorns at a fest called "Hoop De Do".We celebrated Mary's birthday that night also. I won't say how old she is. Again the food was great and the entertainment was very funny. Will was laughing so hard he hardly had time to eat. So, we left Fort Wilderness this morning and are heading north. We hope to see some national parks and see some great colors in South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, etc. We hope to send pictures oin the next blog. Bill

Since we were at Mammoth Cave on Wednesday we have driven across Tennessee and part of Georgia. Bill is getting good at navigating the motorhome through cities. Last night we camped near Rome,Georgia at a county park on the Coosa River. We had a beautiful view out our front window of the river. Very few campers were in the park. Everything was fine until the winds and rains started in the night. The problem was that it brought down the acorns from the oak tree we were parked under. Becca did not like the sounds of acorns bombarding our roof!! We drove in rain all morning. We toured Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. Luckily the rain kept Beth from having to walk all over and study every sign. Then we drove to Macon (right through downtown Atlanta) to visit Ocmulgee National Monument. Just as we got off the interstate we noticed stop lights out and signs down. By the time we got to the park trees and branches were down all over. We had missed the storm by a few minutes. Ocmulgee is about ancient civilizations with big mounds. Tonight we are in Perry, GA at a private campground and it is warmer and has stopped raining. Tomorrow we head south toward Florida. Hope to be at Disney World on Sunday.

Our Trip to Disney World

We spent the first night, at Starved Rock State Park near Ottawa, IL so we could have dinner with my college roomie, Chuck Small and his wife Diane (also known as the Fiefer). It was great seeing them. The second night, Oct 21st , we camped in a national forest campground (Hoosier Nat. Forest) in southern Indiana. The fall colors are just starting there. Today, Oct. 22, we stopped at Mommoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. We took a 2 hour tour underground. Sure was neat. Enclosed is the look of us in the cave.

Disney World

We are getting set for a 3 week trip to Disney World and back. We plan to spend a week in Disney with Todd, Mary, Sam & Will , from Oct 26th through Oct. 31st. We should be back around November 7th as we plan on viewing the fall colors in the south. Hope there is enough gas in the southeast. We will be leaving Oct. 20th.

New Pictures of the trip

I thought I would add some pictures of the final part of our trip. This is Lake MacDonald which is in Clacier National Park.

After not having WIFI capabilties, we had to wait til we arrived home. We arrived Saturday night, June 28th. Since we last blogged we camped near Glacier National Park for 2 days. We tried to get to the "Going to the Sun" road but it was closed because of snow. We drove up as far as Avalanche Lake and trail. We camped in a national forest site and were the only campers. The camp hosts were there. We then drove to Great Falls Montana to see the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center and also the Charle s M. Russell museum. He was quite a western artist. Then we drove onto Chinook, MT to see the last battle that Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe fought. Then we drove on to Fort Peck, MT, Army Corps of Engineers campground. Friday we decided to really push it and camped in a small town just west of Fargo, ND. Then on Saturday we drove the final leg home. We learned some things on this trip. They are: 1).If the windschield gets buggy, don't worry it will rain again soon and clean it off. 2) Becca can hang on for 12 3/4 hours without going potty if confronted with a hard surface deck on a ferry. 3) If you are careful in an RV you will only kick the dogfood dish ove, twice a day. 4) Canadians pay 29.5 cents tax per liter of gas. 5) Grizzly Bears are huge. In fact they look like haystacks when seen froma distance. 6) Taxi drivers all wear turbins, even in Prince Rupert, BC. 7) It isn't a mountain in BC unless it has a treeline. 8) It snows in MT, WA, and BC in June. 9) Finally, A Dahl porpoise is a member of the whale family. So if you have seen one, you've seen a whale. Thanks for following our trip. It has been the trip of a lifetime. Bill & Beth

We are camping near Glacier Nat. Park tonight. It is located in Northen Montana near the Canadian border. We drove from Fairmont Hot Springs this morning through the rockies. It is beautiful. Anyway, Sunday night Beth, Becca & I were sitting outside our camper when Becca started whining loudly. All of the sudden we saw a bear about 25 feet from us. Beth, Becca & I bolted to the camper door at the same time. Of course we didn't all fit. The bear meanwhile took off. I did get a picture. We found out later that the bear is an orphaned cub. I did learn a couple things at the springs. First of all I still need a hip replacement and also one looks like a prune after sitting in hot water for awhile. The pools were 104 t0 112 degrees and 90 degrees. Tomorrow we head for the "Going to the Sun Road" at Glacier. It is not completely open due to heavy snow.

Here are a couple of pictures of our trip through the Canadian Rockies.

Ok we are alive. We haven't had email capabilities for several days. This weekend we are Fairmont Hot Springs Resort in southern BC hoping to cure our ailments. Ha. We left Prince Rupert BC on Monday in the rain of course. We stayed one night in Smithers, BC after driving through the coastal mountains. They are beautiful even in the rain.We saw 4 bears along the highway. The next night as we continued east on Highway 16 to Prince George, BC. Of course it was rain along with some sun. We arrived in Jasper National Park after driving into the Canadian Rockies. Wow, what scenery and the sun came out. Lots of rushing rivers and lots of snow on the mountains. We stayed 2 nights in the national park campground in Jasper with elk running through it occasionally. Becca didn't seem too concerned. Believe it or not, the sun came out so we could really see these huge mountains. We took the tramway up to Whistlers Mountain. Then we attempted to hike up 1.5 KM up to the summit (another 1000 feet). However we only got about 3/4 of the way as the altitude affected us old people. We also stopped along to see waterfalls, and canyons. Again we hiked a bunch. We saw a bull elk only because Bill took a wrong turn. Yesterday, we left Jasper and drove through Jasper Nat. Pk, Banff Nat. Pk and Kootenay Nat. PK. We saw 4 bears, 1 moose, lots of deer, and 2 big bunches of big horned sheep. We stopped at the Columbia Ice field (which creates its own weather of wind and rain), waterfalls and others scenic areas along the way. We also mad a stop at Lake Louise. It looked just like the pictures.After this weekend we head toward Glaciar National Park in the good old USA. I am tried of paying $5.30 per gallon of gas.

This time I am sending along a video of Blondie, the young female. Also for your info gas is 1.409 per liter which means it is $5.36 per gal. It is a lot cheaper than in Victoria BC which was 1.489 per liter. Enjoy the video.

Enclosed is the picture of the fiord that the bears are located. There is a ranger cabin here that makes sure no one goes into the preserve. The ranger must like the lonely life.

Hi, Today we took a boat tour from Prince Rupert BC (2 hour high speed trip) to the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Preserve. It is in a beautiful fiord (picture included). We saw a mother grizzly (huge) with 2 cubs and also another young female who was by herself. We were told the male is 2 or 3 times larger. I wouldn't want to meet him in the woods. We also some porpoises. We took lots of pictures and hung around the area for a couple hours. Then we came back to Prince Rupert. One note about our campground is that an 8 point white tail buck hangs around here all the time, Tomorrow, we start to head back in an easterly direction to Jasper, Alberta.

Hi, Enclosed are 2 pictures of the inland passage in BC. As you can see on one of them it rains a lot here.

Yea, we made it to Prince Rupert! We got to the campground after 11:00 last night. We got up at 4:45 and boarded the ferry at 6:30 am. It was a long day but very beautiful going through the inside passage. It was our 43rd wedding anniversay and a great way to celebrate.The weather varied constantly from clouds to rain to sun. Still very cool. We will try to post pictures later. We met an avid Packer fan from Germany who says he watches any games he can get live on TV. They come on at one am. He is upset that Favre has retired. Says there are lots of Packer fans in Germany. Over half of the people on the ferry were from Germany. We did see some Orca whales. Lots of snow on the mountains yet. We heard we missed a big snowstom on Snoqualmie Pass in Washington by a day. First time they ever had to get the snowplows out in June.

Thursday we drove up the length of Vancover Island. We lucked out with the sun shining all day on the beautiful mountains and lakes and ocean. It was breathtaking! The southern part of the island is very populated with lots of traffic but it thined out further north. That night we stayed at a regional park campground that supports a salmon hatchery. We toured the hatchery. Right now they have Coho salmon. It was right along a river that emptied into the harbor. We walked on a trail through the woods to town. We were watchful for bears. We had seen two along the road the day before...one was really BIG! We ate lunch in town overlooking the harbor. The tide was out and many bald eagles were feeding and flying around. We have enjoyed the comments. Keep them coming.

Ok I forgot a really important event that occurred today, if you are a Packer fan. While visiting the Butchart Gardens, a gentleman who was wearing a Packer Cap, saw me wearing mine. Anyway, he said he is from Texas but his grandson is Mason Crosby, the Packer kicker. Mason's younger brother was with grandpa today. He said he has been in Green Bay a lot the past year and can't get enough of Lambeau. Good thing I wasn't wearing my Bear Cap. Bill

Today we first visited the Victoria Butterly Garden. It felt great because it was so warm in there. There were beautiful flowers, plants, birds and of course butterflies. It was setup in a tropical environment. One strange bird with a log bill decided to fall in love with one of Bill's shoes. Then we drove to see The Butchart Gardens of Victoria. There were thousands of varieties of flowers, most in bloom. Many people were there of all nationalities. The garden was about 50 to 60 acres in size. It has been there for 100 years. Of course it was threatening to rain. It is a Canadian National Historic site. Now we are camping near a town of Nanaimo, BC. Vancouver Island is very scenic with lots of mountains. Gas is close to $6.00 per gal. in BC. We may not have any blog updates til Saturday because of lack of WIFI in Port Hardy, BC

We are on Vancouver Island. Sure is wet and cold. We came over from Annacortes. WA on the Washington State Ferry. It took about 3 hours. I didn't know there are so many islands out here. We met some interesting people on the ferry. When we left Idaho on Saturday morning, we drove through lots of rain in southwest Washington but as we became closer to the Cascades, the area became semi-arid. We camped in a Washington State campground which is irrigated and lush. It was called Potholes State Park. It is on a large lake. Washington has the nicest state campgrounds we have ever camped in. Then on Sunday morning we drove through the Cascades to the Seattle area. The temperature dropped but everything became a lot greener. Annacortes, WA is 90 miles north of Seattle. This is where the ferry leaves to Vancouver Island. We camped in a town campground that is a rain forest. The sun was shining but it was so dark you almost needed a flashlight. I (Bill) have been wearing my Packer cap because if I wear my Bear cap I am afraid people will think I am from Chicago,. Tomorrow we go to Butchart Gardens near Victoria, BC. Then we head north to Port Hardy, BC where we pick up the BC Ferry and then go to Prince Rupert BC.

Just thought I would add a picture taken of the Hell's Canyon today.

We're alive! Yesterday we drove across Idaho on Hwy. 12. We lucked out and the weather cleared. It was a beautiful drive over Lolo Pass where Louis and Clark crossed. There was still snow up there. Then we drove along the Lochsa and Clearwater rivers. The water is really high with lots of scary rapids. We found the River Dance Lodge where we had lunch a couple of years ago. We ate there again and were not disappointed. Bill discovered a new beer...Waiumau Wheat. Last night we stayed at the campground owned by the jet boat company. Today we jetboated the snake river! It took all day with lunch included. The whole river is rapids and two of them were class fives. Of course we first went up them and back down through them on the way home. It was fun. The class five rapids looked like rapids Bill Bauer would have enjoyed. This is a beautiful part of the world. We are privileged to be able to experience this. The weather has been in the 60's or colder all day with rain changing to sun on and off all day. Yesterday we saw some elk and today we saw big horn sheep and mule deer.

We thought it was cool yesterday. Today is more like cold! We woke up to rain and it has rained all day except when it snowed. Yes, as we drove over the pass just east of Butte, MT, it was snowing very hard and the ground was white. Even in Butte it was snowing and 35 degrees. We managed to do some sightseeing anyway. First we visited the source of the Missouri River where the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin rivers all meet. Louis and Clark were here. It rained! Then later we visited Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site. I got a stamp in my National Park Passport. It rained but we keep slogging along in our raincoats. We met a family from Switzerland who were shocked at how cold it is here. Tonight we have abonded our plans to dry camp at a state park and are at a private place near Garrison, MT. We didn't put many miles on today. We have seen lots of cattle and all the rivers are overflowing. Hope it stops raining in the night and we have a sunny day to drive across Idaho tomorrow.

Tonight we have arrived in Columbus, MT. We drove over 400 miles today which is a long way for us. At least we have better scenery here. Mountains! We are just north of Yellowstone. We were getting tired of the plains. It has been a pretty ride. All the hills and coolies are green this time of year. The next couple of days we won't drive so far. We are looking forward to the drive on Hwy. 12 through Idaho. This morning we woke up to fog and light rain. Had to detour back to get on the interstate. Finally the sun came out but we drove through more showers as the day progressed. It is cool...in the 60's. For those who are interested, Beth found her passport. She is not saying where it was all along! Yea!!

Here we are in Hazen, North Dakota at city campground that actually has Wi/Fi. We left home yesterday and drove to Buffalo River State Park just east of Morehead, MN. It was about 80 degrees and beautiful. They were having thing at the park so we got a free lunch...Hot dogs etc. People were swimming in a man made swimming h0le. Very peaceful and Quiet camping. Tonight is a different story. We drove through light rain on and off all day. This afternoon we toured a Lewis and Clark visitor Center and Fort Mandan near Washburn, ND. It rained! It is still raining and about 51 degrees. No wind. For those of you who don't know, we have been following the Lewis and Clark trail for a few years now. We have visited sights from Illinois to the Pacific Ocean. We have seen lots of ducks and white pelicans and white egrets and a pheasant or two. We saw a mother duck leading at least ten of the smallest ducks we have ever seen across the interstate. Still alive as we buzzed past.

Our British Columbia Trip

On June 1st Beth & Bill will leave Wausau for points west. We will stop at historic spots on the way. Our first goal is "Hell's Canyon" on the Snake River, boarder of Oregon & Idaho. This is supoosed to be the deepest canyon in the United States. We will be there June 5th. So we will keep you posted.