April 1 - 15, 2001

Sunday, April 1, 2001                                                                            Hill City, SD

After busily preparing our backpacks last night, we were ready to go for a hike today.  We got dropped off at a trailhead for the Centennial Trail just before 10:00 AM.  It felt good to feel the burden of the backpack on my back again.  We had a quiet peaceful walk through the lower pine forests as we warmed up our joints and muscles.  Later we began making trail choices as we came upon several junctions of intersecting trails.  We learned quickly that trails that climbed above 5500 feet in elevation were not yet ready for foot travel.  We found ourselves slogging through wet and heavy snow over a foot deep on the north sides of the hills we hiked.  Clearly it was still a bit early for backpacking in the Black Hills.

We ended up steering toward the lower trails.  This led us to an area developed by the Forest Service for camping with trail horses. We chose to call it a day there after about six miles of hiking.  Not an ambitious distance, but in the snowy and muddy conditions of this day, still a workout.  The developed campground also afforded us our only opportunity to build a warming campfire.  Campfires are prohibited in all backcountry areas of the Black Hills National Forest.

Today’s weather covered the gamut.  The blustery wind blew clouds across the sunlight bringing rain, hail and even snow.   We were fairly well dressed and prepared for the conditions. 

We interrupted small gatherings of grazing whitetail deer several times along the trail today.  Later, several deer came down to our campsite to keep us company as dusk set in.

Enjoying our campsite.  Note the boats trying to dry by the fire.  They were still wet the next morning.  Note the boots drying by the fire and don't forget the wine bottle - such suffering.

Monday, April 2, 2001                                                               Chamberlain, SD

Our cold-weather sleeping bags got a good test last night.  My pack thermometer read 22 degrees this morning.  We both slept well, though, and rose ready for another day.  After a hot breakfast of gruel (oatmeal) and coffee, we packed up and took a short walk out to the highway.  The traffic was so thin (one car every 8 minutes) that our efforts at hitching a ride back to our RV went unrewarded.  Finally as the snow began blowing in, I walked down to a pay phone to ask our campground host to come pick us up.  No problems.

Back in our RV, we hit the road through Rapid City to Badlands National Park.  It has been a very gray travel day.  We stopped in the Park for a hot lunch of soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.  The sightings of antelope and mule deer were pastoral among the prairie grasslands.

Anyone who’s ever driven on I-90 through South Dakota knows of the persistent pleading on the road signs to visit Wall Drug.  Being in the area, we drove through just to complete the anticlimax.  We did not even get out of the RV.  Another example of the advertising being better than the product.  We ended our day at a quiet campground on the Missouri River across from Chamberlain, SD.  And then a satisfying dinner at the park lodge.

By Christine:  It has been a wonderful couple of days.  The hiking was challenging, as my boots soon soaked through in the snow.  More waterproofing is needed.  The Black Hills was a very pleasing area and the people were nice.  I hope to go back to the area.   This part of the Missouri River is really pretty; we are one of two campers in a campground just opened yesterday.  Now that April 1 is here there will be even more open campgrounds, but it may not matter as we head South.

  The Badlands.

Tuesday, April 3, 2001                                                   Minneapolis, MN

Another frustrating day of beating into a headwind as we continued east.  We stopped in Mitchell, SD to visit one of the Cabella’s stores.  They are very much like the Bass Pro Shops.  We even drove by the Corn Palace (don’t waste your time) before cruising into Sioux Falls (our new home) to pick up our mail in person.  Then it was on to Minneapolis to visit my sisters, Kathy and Mary Pat, and my niece, Sarah.  They squeezed us into their busy lives for a couple nights of relaxing visiting.

Wednesday, April 4, 2001                                                   Minneapolis, MN

We spent the morning gladly babysitting Sarah, and later ventured out for a little shopping with Kathy.  Then we returned home for one of those special evenings with family.  An excellent dinner prepared by Kathy and then adult conversation late into the evening.  We were so glad that we stayed the second night.

Thursday, April 5, 2001                                                   Francis Creek, WI

We bucked a strong headwind again all the way across Wisconsin to the home of Christine’s parents.   We ran a few errands in Green Bay and visited one of Christine’s cousins, Jane, and her new baby, Emily.  Then a home cooked meal of venison stew prepared by Christine’s mother, Carol.

We settled in for a couple days of visiting and projects.  The first project was to install a bike rack on the RV.  Christine’s father, John is a professional machinist.  When we visited here in January I had John take some measurements on the RV in order to customize a bike rack.  I ordered a pre-fabricated bike rack that he altered to fit our RV.  It turned out perfectly.  He fabricated a couple gate hinges that permit the entire rack to swing like a gate door out of the way of the rear ramp, without having to remove the bicycles.  I am very pleased with the way it turned out.  John and I were so eager to see the installation finished that we didn’t mind crawling around in the rain to get it done.

  The bike rack in the closed position.

Friday, April 6, 2001                                                                        Francis Creek, WI

Today was more about our projects.  Christine tackled a mountain of laundry and worked on some schoolwork while I began to remove winter items from the RV.  I prepared our skis and accessories for storage, along with selected items of winter clothing.  I also installed a countertop extension for Christine’s RV kitchen.  Then I did some debugging on Christine’s computer and performed a long-overdue backup.

We paid a visit to Christine’s Aunt Mae before heading into Manitowoc for a regional Lent favorite of fried perch for dinner.  Christine had talked up her memories of Friday fish fries.  By the time we got there I think my anticipation was equal to hers.  In comparison, my Lenten Friday memories are of frozen fish sticks heated in the oven on a cookie tin.  My mother’s strength at that time was in preparing meats, not fish.  Neither of us was disappointed by the fish fry, and enjoyed the drive home along the lake.

Saturday, April 6, 2001                                                   Francis Creek, WI

We had time for a few miscellaneous tasks this morning before driving southwest for a couple hours to Waupun.  There we celebrated the birthday of Christine’s grandmother.  There was a large crowd of Christine’s relations present from her father’s side of the family.  We all enjoyed a day of especially unseasonable weather.  The temperature was in the seventies and the wind was blowing with gale force.  I was glad we were not out in the RV this day.

We ate well and visited with the family for the entire afternoon.  Christine and I have both enjoyed the recent frequency with which we’ve seen her extended family.  It is also a real comfort to share special days with her aging grandparents.

Christine pooped out in the car on the ride home.  She’s picked up a cold recently, and did her best not to let it drag her down at the birthday party.  Back at home I hurried to tie up the loose ends of my projects and get the RV ready for travel.  We intended to get an early start tomorrow on our drive to visit my parents in northern Kentucky.

Sunday, April 8, 2001                                                            Bradford, KY

Up at 6:00 this morning, we were on the road south by just after 7:00.  The wind was out of the west as we headed south, and by the time we turned east in Indiana, the wind had shifted out of the south.  It seems like the backside of our RV repulses the wind … we just can’t seem to catch a nice steady tailwind.

We got to Indianapolis early afternoon and met up with our skiing friend, Nancy, for a late lunch.  It was a brief visit, but good to catch up.  Then back on the road.  We arrived at my parent’s house in time for dinner.

Monday, April 9, 2001                                                   Bradford, KY

Another day of temperatures in the 80’s.  We have clearly said “so long” to winter.  I used the good weather to tackle some projects.  After visiting my grandmother, I set to creating a work surface for the passenger seat in the RV cab.  Christine does a lot of computer work while riding as passenger, but the computer gets very hot next to the skin of bare legs.  I fashioned a wooden surface that secures in the passenger cup holder on the left, and the door armrest on the right.  Hopefully it will prove to be functional.

I also tackled a list of other miscellaneous tasks.  Christine caught up on some schoolwork and got some more rest for her cold.  We were joined this evening by two of my sisters, Martha and Theresa, and my niece Carmen. 

By Christine:  Just a note on how beautiful and colorful the setting is this time of year at Joe's parents.  Mom really has beautiful flowers planted everywhere.  Very Spring! 

Tuesday, April 10, 2001                                                 Bradford, KY

We decided to spend another night with my parents, allowing more time for projects and such.  We ended a productive day with dinner out and a movie.  We are ready to get back on the road tomorrow.

By Christine:  The visits with family are really special.  We are lucky in that we are both relaxed at each of our parent’s houses.  This past week has been especially enjoyable, but it is always good to be back in our "home", something I am looking forward to tomorrow... or could I just be looking forward to heading toward the Keys???  

The movie we saw tonight was Along Came A Spider.  It was a good suspenseful movie, although the dangers in the theater made our hearts pump even faster than the movie.  While we were watching the movie, the glass in the projector room window broke, and luckily fell backward, shattering in the projector room.  Accidents happen everywhere.

Wednesday, April 11, 2001                                                 Atlanta, GA

We enjoyed another day of high temperatures as we cruised south on a very busy I-75.  We had become so accustomed to driving on the uncrowded highways out west that we had to reset our defensive driving threshold for the levels of traffic.

We ended up parking in front of the house of an old friend of mine.  James was quick to make himself available for the evening, having only gotten our phone call this afternoon.  James took us out to a new microbrewery that had just been opened by some of his friends.  We all enjoyed the good food and beer at Five Seasons.

Thursday, April 12, 2001                                                             Tampa, FL

A pretty early start got us all the way to Tampa today on some hot interstate travel.  The temperature hit the low nineties with plenty of sunshine.  Today was the first real day of traveling with the A/C on.  We stopped for the night at a great little campground in Hillsborough River State Park. 

Friday, April 13, 2001                                                          Grassy Key, FL

We were able to sleep with the windows open, and barely use our sheet last night.  Our day began today with a stop at Camping World to pick up a few summer items, like an outdoor grill.  Then we continued south on I-75 until we picked up the Tamiami Trail outside of Naples.

We made a couple stops at The Everglades National Park as we worked our way toward Miami.  It was another sunny hot day, but we were beginning to adapt to the climate change.  Our northern blood had sufficiently thinned after three years in Charlotte.  Then we went and spent a cold winter skiing to re-thicken our blood.  Now here we are doing our best to get that blood thinned out again.  We think that margaritas make a great blood thinner.

We turned right at Miami and dropped down to the keys getting as far as grassy key before calling it a day.  We found a cramped campground (everything on the keys is squeezed together) with a site nearly in the water.  Christine busied herself with preparations for another one of her great meals.

After drinking in the first sea sunset of our trip, we popped the cork on a fine chardonnay and sat down to dinner outside in the afterlight of dusk.  Christine combined some colorful vegetables with couscous to accompany the fresh tilapia she grilled.  We topped it all off with an excellent desert of reminiscing.

Saturday, April 14, 2001                                                             Key West, FL

We covered the last brief leg to the end of the road while the morning sun was still low in the sky.  We found an expensive campground (gravel parking lot) in the heart of Key West right next to the wharf.  Christine focused on some schoolwork while I took on the laundry and another RV project.

We debated how to spend our afternoon while waiting to meet up with Lane, Christine’s friend in residence here.  Once the band started up at the wharf bar and restaurant, we agreed to start our afternoon with a couple margaritas.  Then we ventured out for a long walk around the island.

We hooked up with Lane at his cute rental cottage just a few blocks from us.  After a couple cold beers getting reacquainted in his garden patio, we walked over to an excellent little Italian restaurant for dinner.  Mangia Mangia served up a superb meal to all three of us.  We concluded the evening with more drinks at Schooner’s Wharf, the bar right next to our campground.  We met up with Dixie there, a friend of Lane’s and a previous acquaintance of ours.

Sunday, April 15, 2001                                                                      Key West, FL

Christine headed out early this morning in search of a good internet connection to complete her school assignments for the week.  She returned with some breakfast, having found an internet café in town that would be open in the afternoon.  We loaded up our backpacks for the beach and slung our folding chairs over our shoulders, and then bicycled on out to Fort Taylor Beach.  None of the beaches on Key West generate very much of their own sand.  The reef seven miles south of the keys keeps most of the sand from reaching shore.  This means that the beaches that do exist are either maintained by sand trucked in from elsewhere, or the beach is actually very rough bits of coral varying in size. 

Fort Taylor Beach was mostly rough coral, but it was still beautiful.  This beach was unusual in the sense that it had so many pine trees offering a safe spread of shade.  The temperatures were perfect for lazing on the beach and letting the steady sea breeze bring in the fresh smells of saltwater life.  Christine and I spent about three hours in beach bliss.  We mostly sat and read our books, but the people-watching at this beach was outstanding with such an international assortment of language and behavior.

This afternoon, Christine got her schoolwork done at the internet café then we walked down to Sunset Pier for dinner and drinks.  A couple tasty fish sandwiches did the job as we sat in the late afternoon sun.  We decided to take a walk through town and cool down before returning to the pier for the sunset.  At this time of year the sun sets right behind Sunset Key when viewed from the pier.  The channel between Sunset Key and Key West is the primary navigation channel for all large boats.  We enjoyed watching many of the schooners and tour boats pass by on their evening sunset cruises.  The Liberty Schooner raised all her sails right in the channel creating a lovely silhouette in front of the setting sun.

We watched a large high-speed motor-cat returning from the Dry Tortugas, so we decided to check into a day trip tour there.  We went ahead and reserved two seats for the trip on Tuesday.

1) Key West Sunset; 2) The Liberty Schooner; 3) The Sunset Pier, Key West.