Rain continued through part of the night, and we awoke to overcast skies.  Kay really likes the RV park  where we’re camped, Camp America in Salem, SD.  It is an old park, with lots of big trees, nice gravel pull-thru sites, and clean bathrooms and showers.  Because we had a short day today, we prepared a large breakfast, and didn’t depart until after 9 AM.  We continued driving east, through mist and rain, crossing into Minnesota, finally turning south about 40 miles east of Albert Lea, and after just a few miles, entered Iowa.  We arrived at Lichtsinn Motors in Forest City, IA, our camping spot for the night, leveled as best we could, and plugged into their electrical outlet.  Lichtsinn Motors is a Winnebago-Itasca dealer, located only about a mile from the Winnebago factory.  After setting up, we drove around town, amazed that the small town was the location of Waldorf College, formerly a Norwegian Lutheran Christian college.  It is now a small, 4-year liberal arts college.  There are many old stately houses near court square in Forest City, reminding us of Nebraska City, NE.  The Winnebago plant is huge, much bigger than those we saw last year in Elkhart County, IN.  We returned to the RV, watched some TV, ate okay Chinese food for dinner, and went to bed early, wondering what tomorrow will bring.

Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort and Cabins was very, very nice EXCEPT their WIFI did not work; we’d rather have done without everything else, except maybe electricity, and that is a real liability for an otherwise 5 star park.
Departing about 8 AM, we traveled south and east, passing through Rapid City, SD.  Kay and her sister, Nan, began texting about their respective scenic wonders—Kay in the Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota, and Nan having just left Arches National Park and driving towards Bryce Canyon National Park.  This back-and-forth texting went on all day, but I believe Nan and George have us beat in the scenery department.  Southern Utah is incredibly beautiful.  We hope they are having the time of their life.
Despite a few sprinkles that turned into a full blown rain, we opted to depart our Point A to Point B route and drive through Badlands National Park.  I must be the luckiest guy on earth because each time I visit these places they get more beautiful than before.  Because of the rain, and mud, we didn’t walk off of the boardwalks, but the colors seemed even more vivid than we remembered.  We stopped at the newly renovated visitor center and it was very nice—last time we were by, the visitor center was in a trailer.

As we crossed the Missouri River at Chamberlain, we noted how high it was, and how high it had been.  The US Army Corps of Engineers has and will continue to take a beating on their management of the flood, just as they did at home in 2008.  Perhaps someone should look into it, because this is just a recent thing; maybe the reservoir control plans have been adjusted too much!
Further eastward, we stopped at Cabela’s in Mitchell, SD, and bought some stocking stuffers for Christmas and a T-shirt on sale for half price.  Our stop for the night is Camp America at Salem, SD.  Tomorrow, we enter Iowa for an overnight stay in Forest City, IA, home of Winnebago!!!

Anxious to depart for home after 44 days in pretty tight quarters, we were up early and departed RedRock RV Park at 7 AM.  We crossed the continental divide at Targhee Pass, leaving Idaho for the last time, and entering Montana.  We drove north through West Yellowstone towards Bozeman, seeing friend Mike in oncoming traffic just north of West Yellowstone in a construction zone; we’re sure he was headed to Hebgen Lake to fish for Gulpers.  At Bozeman, we found ourselves on Interstate 90, and began a long drive west to near Garryowen, MT, turning onto US Highway 212 east.  We arrived at our RV park, Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort and Cabins, for the night having traveled 535 miles in parts of 4 states—Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota.

After setting up, we headed immediately for the hot tub, after which we enjoyed real television for the first time since mid-July.  Thank goodness for the little things.

We awoke early this morning, another sign that it’s time to be headin’ home.  After coffee, checking email, and posting the blog entry for yesterday, we drove towards West Yellowstone for breakfast.  Ron, Kay’s son, called to wish me a Happy Birthday, and just about the same time, I spotted a HUGE bull moose near the road.  The moose’s eyes met mine and he wheeled and lumbered away.  Kay, bless her heart, did catch a glimpse, but only briefly.  I stopped the car, she got out to photograph it, but by then the moose had left the country.  What was surprising was that he was mixed in among a small bunch of domestic cows and calves—however, he was at least 3 times taller than them.  It is amazing that on our last full day we finally complete our big animal sightings by seeing the moose!

We ate breakfast at Runnin’ Bear Pancake House, a local favorite and ours as well.  Neither of us could finish our big breakfasts.  Afterwards, we drove into Yellowstone National Park and I purchased my own America the Beautiful Interagency Park Pass for $10, a 62nd birthday present to myself.  Since Kay is quite a bit older than I, I told her that her usefulness to me had now lost a notch. She laughed but didn’t think it was too funny!

Back at the RV park, we finished packing all of our outside stuff, and Kay cleaned the inside of the RV.  All our bags are packed and we’re ready to go.

The afternoon was filled with our last Happy Hour on the deck, our best if the food is any indication.  RVers, with their limited galley (kitchen), always seem to prepare scrumptious food.  After eating and visiting, a lively game of Left Center Right ensued.  Kay managed to escape with just a small loss, protecting what little gas money we have left.

Early tomorrow morning we depart from a great RV park, my most enchanting visit to Yellowstone National Park, and many new friends.  We pray for safe travel.

This is our next to last day here in beautiful southeastern Idaho.  We packed most of our outside things today—if an outside storage compartment door opens, things will fly everywhere as we have it packed so tightly.

There was so much snow this past winter that we thought it would last through the year, but it has finally melted.  Though there has not been a frost yet, in fact this has been the hottest week of our stay at Red Rock RV Park, the meadows and forests are beginning to take on the colors of fall.

The mountains in the background and the meadow in the foreground in these two photos show how much difference a month+ makes.  The one on the left was taken on July 22 and the one on the right was taken August 26.

At lunch, we walked down to Meadow Vue Ranch to see some of the Montana Cutting Horse Association show.  Cutting horses are bred and trained to cut cattle out of a herd and keep them out.  On ranches, this was done to separate sick cows, weaning calves, etc.  Though these horses and riders were not up to the caliber I used to watch at the American Cutting Horse Association in Fort Worth and cutting horse shows in Guthrie, OK, they were good nevertheless.

On our mile walk back to the RV park, we were able to photograph two peregrine falcons in a nearby tree.  There are four that seemed to inhabit the area, and we’re sure they feed on the ground squirrels, voles, and other critters in the meadows.  We can hear them call from inside the motorhome as they circle the fields and forests looking for prey.

Kay left early this morning, driving to an area where moose have allegedly been seen, several times, on Red Rock Road.  She parked and waited and watched, and in her words, “No stinkin’ moose”.  So, inventive as she is, she did the next best thing and drove into West Yellowstone where she knew there were moose, with their steely looks, and took photos.  Also, today was supposed to be Christmas in West Yellowstone, with sales and good bargains—pshaw.  First of all, tomorrow, August 26 is “Crazy Daze” in West Yellowstone, and no one seemed to know about this being their “Christmas”.  Second, there are to be no substantive sales—just junk they cannot otherwise get rid of.  Kay was able to buy some things for Ridge, the new grandson due for his coming out in middle October, including a stuffed moose, elk, and wolf—all for his room’s alphabet shelf.

It sputtered rain all morning, mixed with clouds and wind, impeding our other outdoor activities.  After the “not to be” sales in West Yellowstone, it was pretty much a do nothing day.  We did pack some things, including our fishing rods and reels, waders, vests, float tubes, and such, readying for our departure towards home in a day or two.  We sure can carry a lot of stuff in our little motorhome.

As an aside, we anticipated temperatures in late August to be much milder, with highs in the 60s and lows in the high 30s, but this last week has been the hottest since our arrival here.  The weather forecast does show a significant decrease in temperatures beginning next week—after we’ve departed.

After a lazy morning, I was visiting with RVers down the “street”, looked up, and saw a small herd of cattle being driven down Red Rock Road towards the Meadow Vue Ranch headquarters.  The ranch headquarters is just about a mile from us, and is among our favorite places to walk.  It is a working cattle ranch that also hosts kids from 8 to 18 in the summer for ranch camp where they hone their equestrian skills and even their rodeo skills.  On Wednesday and Sunday evenings, the ranch puts on a rodeo featuring the kids and serves a great BBQ dinner for $25 per person; when we called for reservations a couple of weeks ago, they had already closed for the season.  Anyway, I digress.  There were several cowboys and at least one herding dog moving the cattle.  Kay checked their website and discovered that they are hosting a cutting horse show beginning tomorrow through Saturday.  We knew something was up because when we were walking yesterday, we noticed 3 large temporary structures being erected to stable at least a hundred horses.  Apparently this is an annual event, and riders and cutting horses gather en mass.  It is open to the public at no charge, and vendors are present with food, etc.—absolutely amazing considering it is in the middle of nowhere.  Regrettably, I don’t have pictures of the cattle drive as the camera I took photos with uses a different kind of card than can be read by either of our computers, and I forgot the card reader!  We’ll go to the “cutting” tomorrow and post pictures.

Kay had been wanting to fish the Gallatin River inside Yellowstone National Park, so after lunch and naps, we loaded our fly fishing gear and made the hour drive to about Mile 24 on Highway 191, pulled into a turnout, donned our waders, and headed for the river.  It was a great spot, and we found a couple of small pools, but about the same time as we entered the water, storm clouds began rolling in, accompanied by thunder and wind.  What few insects we saw disappeared with the wind, and we had to fish blind.  For Western rivers and streams, it is important to “match the hatch”, and apparently we didn’t.  After about an hour and a half, we called it quits, and headed back to the RV park.

P.S.  It has been warm here the last couple of days, with highs in the mid-80s.  This is unseasonably warm for here, particularly in late August.  At least the humidity is low.

It seemed like just a few days ago that we arrived here at Red Rock RV Park with meadows full of blooming wildflowers and snow on the mountain peaks.  Just in the last few days, almost all the flowers have disappeared, the meadows have turned the amber color so prevalent in autumn, and the last vestiges of snow are quickly melting—to be gone probably before we are!  Ranchers are disbursing their cattle and horses, and locals are working overtime readying themselves for the approaching winter expected to come in about 6 weeks.
My allergies are giving me fits, and some days I have almost no energy.  But, it’s difficult to stay inside when the environment is so enticing, and the weather so agreeable.  During one of my times outside, I heard an elk bugle twice.  In yesterday’s entry, I forgot to mention that I saw a young bull elk on the way out to fish Hebgen Lake; perhaps it was him.
We let the morning get completely away from us, then drove a few miles to a grocery market in Island Park, providing us an opportunity to make some phone calls.  It was there we heard the news of the east coast earthquake near Nan and George’s house, so we called every number we had to check on their well-being.  Their return calls and emails indicated they were okay, with no property damage—praise God!
Some fellow RVers had told us of a playhouse in West Yellowstone, the Playmill Theater.  We purchased tickets, online, to one of their 3 productions, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and arrived to wait in line for the 8:30 PM show.  Were we ever surprised at the quality of dancing, singing, and acting—it was awesome!  We both really enjoyed the production, and highly recommend the theater in West Yellowstone if you’re ever in the area during the summer season.
It was almost 11:30 PM when we arrive back at the RV Park, but we slipped in without making too much noise, closing the door on August 23, 2011.

Really early this morning, about 7 AM our time, I left for Hebgen Lake to fish the gulpers with longtime friend, Mike.  He and I used to fish the Norfork and White Rivers quite often, and I was really looking forward to fishing with him.

We met at the turnoff from the main highway, and visited for about 30 minutes, catching up on families and friends.  After donning waders and getting our “boats” ready, we worked our way across the Madison Arm to hunt for rising fish.  Mike saw a fish working, and stealthily rowed towards it, waiting for a gulping pattern to develop.  He made the cast and immediately hooked-up with a chunky 20+ inch rainbow.  After several more minutes, he again spotted rising fish, worked his way toward them, and made a precision cast, and wham, another beautiful rainbow.  As the day wore on, he repeated this several times, and it reminded me so much of duck hunting back in the river bottoms and sloughs of Arkansas.

The rest of the day was rather anti-climatic, but out here, the weather great and just sitting outside reading or watching people is a wonderful pastime.

Today, we were off to church at what seemed like first light (actually it was 9:15 AM), our last visit to West Yellowstone Community Protestant Church before we begin traveling back home.  The message today was an extension of last Sunday, Do the Right Thing—because God Loves You.  It was very brief, and we took communion afterward.  We have really enjoyed attending this small church.  The pastor is actually their youth minister, substituting until they find a fulltime pastor, but he’s been in this capacity for about a year now because money is tight in this seasonal resort town.  He definitely has a heart for God.

This afternoon was Bunko time at Red Rock RV Park, and to warm up the mostly ladies group played Left Center Right.  Kay won $5 for the afternoon’s effort, leaving us a little gas money on which to return home.

We’re down to about 6 days left here—after today—and though we’re anxious to return home, we will miss new friends, great weather, and the myriad of outdoor experiences that are available.