Shout-Out to the Western Geeks

Hi Folks,

I hope this finds you all well, and your 'puters are running smoothly.

The wife and I just returned from a 5000 mile drive out west. That is some mighty fine country you've got out there. We only made it as far as Denver, but savoured every minute west of western Minnesota.

After the missus got scared of (non-existent) bedbugs in the hotel in Gettysburg, PA, we camped. First spot was a beautiful regional park on a mountain east of Morgantown WV. There is some nice rock painting there. The Air Force Museum outside Dayton Ohio is highly recommended as is the Darke County Fair in Ohio. It is right between Russia and Versailles. The Wisconsin Dells are blown out (too much tourist stuff nowadays). Camped on the Missouri River in the Crow Creek Reservation, and was stunned by the poverty. Mt. Rushmore = Excellent ( the Crazy Horse monument is coming along well. The face, rendered in the round vs. the bas relief rendering of Mt Rushmore, is very impressive but the overall sculpture has not yet jelled). Coyotes over ran our campsite in the Black Hills on Sunday night when the place cleared out. Our city dog has not recovered from her face of with a coyote. She still barks insanely at other dogs when she is in the car??? Hot Springs SD is just warm enough and the waterslide is fun. Wyoming was the most beautiful land of the trip but we had to hustle through to the brother-in-law's in Denver. (He and his wife turned a 850 sq. ft. apartment in NYC into three houses in Denver. Excellent parlay.) Denver has changed a lot since my last visit 10 years ago. It has the most fancy new cars of anywhere I have ever seen. Hot Sulfer Springs, on Hwy 40, east northeast of Denver is recommened too. Water temps range from 95 to 110. We bought some nice clothes in Abalene, Kansas. The lady helping us was very offended at the better half trying on men's jeans. "Civilization" started again in Indiana with the green trees, but we received excellent hospitality in Harmony, Indiana, when the state campground was full. Spent a last layover day back where we starte in WV, and the loathing set in on interstate 95 in New Jersey, where I felt like I was climbing back into the machine.

Great trip. Miss the west.
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Nice pix, Doug. Those roads are great. You can drive all day toward a mountain or a hill and it will not be look any bigger at the end of the day than it did at the first part You can also tell when it's going to rain -- you can see the storm for a hundred miles before it gets to you. Welcome back.
Bill