Duck Tape, Stop Leak and Monster Glue

John was up top and took pictures of the vents we lost during the South Dakota hail storm. It makes for some nice light and sometimes chilly wind when you take a shower and we have not been able to locate the size we need so it is added to the adventure of camping. More adventure includes the funny color liquid leaking from the radiator, looks just like the anti freeze we put in a few states back. No worries, nothing a little stop leak couldn't take care of. Speaking of leaks.....the overflow on the water tank didn't do it's job and the water tank cracked (fortunately at the top) and sent water gushing through the motorhome. Why couldn't it have reached that awful stain I have in front of the stove? Duck tape and monster glue solved that little inconvenience. More adventures, that is what gives our trip it's personality! We are having a grand time and are thankful for this opportunity and our safety. We will be meeting the kids next Saturday and unless we spend the rest of our trip in McDonalds we won't have WiFi access.

We did post 3 blogs today so go back and catch up, thanks for following along. Good Night and God Bless you all.

Old people jump off a Tahoe Pier

Sugar Pine Point is home to the Hellman Mansion of the early 1900's. It was sold to the State in 1965 and is an amazing piece of property right on the lake open to the public. We toured the home, played tennis and jump from the pier into the icey waters. The bike trails run almost around the entire 70 mile lake. We have riden quite a bit, our bottoms will tell you. Tomorrow we are back on the bikes to the beach. Our trip is nearing an end, we are joining our kids in Mammoth next Saturday and spending a week with them. We will be busy getting a reality check!

River Rafting/Resting

It was pretty calm on the Truckee River but we had fun paddling along and taking an occasional dip. The most exciting thing was the rescue of 2 girls in inner tubes that don't fair so well on the last little falls. The water is shallow but very swift and your bottom needs to be up when going over them in your boat. These poor girls were trying to put more air in their tubes but the water was carrying them away and other boats were going right for them. It was a little struggle but we did manage to get them and lots of water in our boat. It was a little scarey but everyone was ok. Back at camp John tries to get this log on the fire but he needed a little help. There are many people visiting Tahoe and camping spots are hard to come by. We are having fun, miss everyone and look forward to seeing the family in Mammoth next Saturday!

States of Construction

We left Thayne Wy on Tuesday and traveled through Idaho, Nevada to Lake Tahoe on Friday. It was fun driving through Idaho and seeing all the potato fields, green pastures and silos. Count on smooth travel if you have plans to go to Idaho or Nevada because absolutely every freeway is undergoing major road work, we were lucky and did not get delayed for very long. Reno was on fire...it was 100 and felt like 125! The reward was going up to Lake Tahoe, you forget how blue the sky is and green the trees and the lake is tourquoise and clear!
We could tell when we were in Nevada because we went from rolling green hillsides to flat brown sagebrush. We did find this one tree at a rodeside rest so we hung around and cooked up a nice breakfast. Thanks for following along.

One Lake, One Canoe equals No Camera

We are in Grand Tetons National Park, if your following along there have been three posts today so go back and catch up. There is John sitting beside his, theirs, our campfire. We had a little trouble getting our fire going and the good people next to us came over and "consulted" bringing their hatchet, making kindling and embarrassing my poor husband!
The Grand Tetons are majestic to say the least, so large and just right there and the view from Jackson Lake first thing in the morning with the reflection of the mountains in the water is a site I wish I could share with you. Unfortunately we were unable to take any pictures on our canoe trip. When we were loading up the canoe the ranger was helping and I thought I should help too, John of course was already in the boat. I was going to push off and jump in...it didn't quite happen like that and somehow the boat started tipping and the next thing I knew John was swimming around in the lake saying all kinds of new words. Honestly, I tried not to laugh but it could not be helped and as the Fitzmaurice tradition holds we have lost now 3 cameras on canoe trips! So no pics. But not to fear we did have dueling camera's and mine is dry, I just was smart enough not to bring it on the canoe outing.

We went around 9 am and Jackson Lake is huge....we did not see another boat until 10 am and then we only saw 2 the whole time. It was a fun row around a rather large Island that usually is not there, only because of the large snow pack it and all the rivers, lakes and streams are overflowing. Usually this piece of land is connected to some other land and it is not an Island at all. After Jackson Lake we did some more rafting down the Snake River, but no camera for that adventure either. We are in Thayne Wyoming, we just returned from some neighbors we met at Church this morning. Wyoming is very layed back and people are extrememly friendly. 13 more days until we meet our kids in Mammoth and see our Julia Rose! God Bless You All!

Look who came to breakfast

Hi Friends

We spent July 4th in Cody Wyoming
and then left for Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks so we did not have internet to blog. This first picture was of the group that stopped to look at a bear,
we never saw the bear so could not take a picture. None of the people here saw the bear either but a big crowd was gathered pointing at what they thought was a bear. LOL

We saw all the sights and the geysers, even Old Faithful, who
wasn't so faithful unless you wanted to hang around for a
couple of hours.

We got up early and drove so that we would miss the traffic, have a
better chance of seeing wildlife and take those early morning
hikes John likes so much. We stopped at a picnic area for
breakfast and a Big Bison wandered through and right up to
the motorhome, they are rather large animals, I kept my
seatbelt on!




John dropped me off so that I could ride my bike on this trail and he would pick me up in this Geyser parking lot, just like the map showed. When I got to the parking lot I found that motorhomes were not allowed there and that I had only gone a few miles and not the 6 that showed on the map. Of course the cell phones didn't work and it was getting late, I braved the main rode and found the motorhome, yeah! the good news is on the ride I saw a Bison very close
up, too close and an eagle in a tree, then another
eagle came up to the tree and they both flew off
together. I say it was an eagle, John says no....
what do you think?

Detour "The Grand Canyon"

Here we are, the Yellowstone Grand Canyon! It is a comfort knowing that there is plenty of open space and water if you want to live where it snows 6 months out of the year. What it is July and we are all bundled up, maybe that is because we are from California. We are doing lots of hiking, biking and site seeing, there are so many animals. Up at 5:30 and it doesn't get dark until about 10 so we don't go to bed until 11....this retirement life is pretty grueling. We miss everyone, especially Julia Rose! Church is at 10 at a combination Lutheran/Presbyterian in Thayne WY.

Time in the Big City

Cody Wyoming is home to Buffalo Bill, the Rodeo and Big Parades! John met up with Ms Rodeo Wyoming and America, he said they beg to have their picture taken with him. At the parade they threw candy to all the children and guess who was busy collecting. It is a fun town and lots of authentic cowboys and cowgirls. The parade had 130 entries, very unique floats on farm equipment and I missed the shot of the minature ponies babies. Yellowstone here we come.

Winner Hart Ranch Shuffleboard Tournament

Our campground is part of the working Hart Ranch. We have enjoyed swimming, riding our bikes, playing mini golf, tennis and shuffleboard. John is not happy with my 5 straight wins in shuffleboard but he got his win in mini golf. So we head out tomorrow for Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. We won't have hookups or wifi unless we find an internet cafe you won't hear from us for awhile.


Yesterday they had a country western group perform and everyone was 2 stepping, they roasted marshmellows and had a cute train for the kids. Grandpa is going to make one for his Julia Rose! Well it is off to Bingo!

we made it half the way...CA here we come!

Here we are, Mt. Rushmore, our furthest destination! That's us, John and Shannon
below George, Thomas, Teddy and Abe, we blend right in don't we. Our journey is only half over....be home the first of August to sleep in our own bed!










The sculptor Borglum died prior to finishing, his son finished the faces but the lower half remains incomplete as you can see on the model below. The Park Service decided that because of funds, WWII and from an artistic viewpoint to leave them as we see them today.














Of course we had to stop by and see the progress on Crazy Horse. The face is done and they
hope to have the horse done in seven years!

















Some very tight tunnels around Mt Rushmore.
John is measuring....just in case. We made it....
barely!