BUT WE’RE NOT GOING TO STURGIS We departed Nebraska City, NE, about 8:15 a.m., stopped for fuel and breakfast, and continued north. For the first hour, we had a heavy atmosphere, and our gas mileage dropped to a low of around 8 mpg. After the sun cleared the heaviness away, we averaged above 10 mpg. We began picking up more Harleys and RVs towing or containing Harleys the further north and west we traveled. The semis and big RVs pushed us around quite a bit on the highway. It seemed the faster we drove, the more we got pushed around. One truck, pulling a 5th wheel toy hauler passed us going so fast (90 to 100 mph) that it pulled our rear window up on the truck topper; not a pleasant experience. Unknown to us, this part of the week we are traveling is immediately prior to the huge Harley motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. They are expecting almost 300,000 bikers to be in the ‘area’ for this rally.

COMMERCIAL RV PARKS ARE NOT ALWAYS GREAT We stayed at American Lodge RV Park and Campground in Murdo, SD. It was not a particularly good campground, rating about a 5 on a scale of 10. Unknowing to us, they had raised their rates from $21/night to $31/night in honor of all the Harleys traveling through the area; it was not worth $31/night. The campground was right off the interstate and also right by it. The traffic noise was a nuisance, there were no shade trees, aand their pool was closed. Kay threatened to contact Good Sam Club and report them for false advertising and complain about their recommending it. Donald took a Tylenol PM and slept much better.

OUR FIRST LONG RV TRIP The time has finally arrived for our first long journey in an RV. Our current RV is a 2006 Jayco Feather Light 29N, and we pull it with a 5.4 L, 2005 F150 truck. We departed the house in Norfork, AR, about 7:30 a.m., stopped for gas and fast food breakfast, then on to the Todd’s to pick up the RV. We departed the Todd’s at 9:10 a.m. headed for Buffalo, WY, via Springfield, Kansas City, and St. Joseph, MO, the first day. We used Good Sam Club routing for the trip and they routed us through the heart of Kansas City. It was definitely a white knuckle drive for me. Kay, the navigator, and Donald, the driver, had a robust conversation about the route. Kay began doublechecking the Good Sam Club route because we don’t like going through large cities with our 51 feet of length. We began picking up a few motor cycles above Kansas City heading for the Harley rally at Sturgis, SD.

LEARNING HOW TO OVERNIGHT We made it to Nebraska City, NE, just off the interstate about 5 p.m. and overnighted at Victorian Acres, a Good Sam Park. We opted to stay here for our first night on the road. The RVers next to us (they operated an antique business and had traveled 80,000 miles via truck and travel trailer over the last two years) suggested that we not unhook, and just level the trailer/truck combo at our site; what a great idea! It will sure save us time

We are new to RVing, having camped occasionally at area lakes, with an annual one week trip to Quetico Wilderness in Canada. Our summers in northern Arkansas can be quite hot and humid, so this year we are escaping to Wyoming and Montana for a few weeks. This is our longest RV trip, and we look forward to visiting with our friends, the Todds, in Buffalo, Wyoming, and then journeying to Glacier National Park, Montana. Visiting Glacier National Park is one of our "bucket list" items. Join us as we develop our RVing skills and visit our nation’s crown jewel national park.