Mr Mike's Hippie Love Blog

Day 41: July 16
We had about a week off waiting for Grateful Dead tour to start back up in St. Louis and we spent the time in Mankato. There was a lot going on with all the summer birthdays and this week went very fast. Today was Friday and it was our day to take Bestie (Sarah's Grandmother) out for lunch. We decided to go down to The Neighbors for some really nice italian food. We picked Bestie up a little before noon from her home at the assisted living center in South Bend - boy was she surprised to see us pull up in our big RV. The RV sure turned a lot of heads at the home as well. Bestie got into the rig no problem and off we went to eat. The lunch was awesome; I had a big plate of wild mushroom ravioli and ate it all. Sarah and Bestie also enjoyed their food - but I don't remember what they ordered. We stayed at the restaurant for a long time and visited - it was nice to catch up with Bestie. We had plans for the birthday dinner again on the 20th (which was Bestie's actual birthday) and also going out with my family on Saturday up in Hutchinson. Sarah and I were planning on camping at the Land of Memories campground through most of our stay in Mankato - it is only 13$ for an electric site out there. I don't really remember what we did this evening - I know we were at the campground and had a fire. Must have been pretty uneventful.
Day 42: July 17
Today was our chance to go out with my family to celebrate my birthday (which would be on the 31st) we were going out for brunch at a buffet joint in Hutchinson - about 2 hours away. We were falling behind schedule and I was driving a little faster than normal when we got pulled over by a State Trooper on HWY 15. I met him coming head on and I was going about 65/55 when he passed me; he flipped his lights on immediately and whipped a shittie. I did my best to slow down quick and get off the road - the officer had to knock on Sarah's window because we were too close to traffic. He ended up giving me a warning - I told him I had the cruise set at 62 when he asked how fast I thought I was going. He told me my spedometer is off and that I should slow down. What a relief - I don't want to screw up the RV insurance; lucky thing I have a good driving record I guess. So we continued on our way to our second buffet in as many days, but this time with the cruise set at 57 and didn't mind if we were late - which we were. It was nice to see everybody for my birthday - everybody but my brother Steve who was playing softball - he plays softball nearly every weekend during the summer and it is always hard to get us both together for our birthdays (Steve's is the 20th of july and mine the 31st). I haven't seen my brother since Easter and I miss him alot - we don't talk so much between visits. Anyway - my mom, aunt and grandma showed up plus my sister and her husband... the buffet was average like most - but everybody enjoys them and we visit. We also showed off our Kikkoman after lunch and everybody wished us happy travels as we left. We were headed back to Mankato to go out down to Choppers (our favorite local bar) - we parked the RV up at Sarah's parents and walked downtown after a few beers with the folks. We got down there at a decent time and hung out with our buddies - Jake and Jeremy and my friend Tim Penkhus. Sarah Macho showed up with her boyfriend Chris turned up after a while and we all turned it loose and had a blast. Sarah's brother was also downtown and a couple of the bar regulars that we like. The only person who didn't show up was my friend Bill from work - which especially sucks because he owes me 70$ from the office NBA pool. We stayed downtown until about 1 am when we walked Sarah's brother back to his house - we had a couple beers there and then I was hungry. So I walked back downtown to try and get some Erbert's & Gerbert's subs - funny thing - it is Saturday night about 20 minutes to bar close and Erbert's and Gerbert's has no bread! I say what the and they offer me the regular sub on normal bread?? for the same price??? I couldn't believe - somebody sure screwed up on this one. I walked back to Matt's and picked up Sarah - then we walked back to the RV at Barb & Marion's. Safe to say we got drinking done and were rather messed up when we went to bed. That's Mankato for you - brings out the drinker in ya.
Day 43: July 18
Today was our day to go grocery shopping and stay at the house while Sarah's parents were up at the Eric Clapton concert. It was nice to play house and settle back for a day - we were having a great time just watching TV for the afternoon. We ordered a Pizza Man pizza and turned the air conditioner on and really laid low. Sarah's good friend Katy was in town from the cities also and we were going to hang out with her tonight. We were a little hungover today though and not in the mood to do anything much - so Katy was just going to come over to the house and catch up. We had a case of beer for the night and were going to need it since Katy's brother Don was also coming and I guess his girlfriend as well. Sarah went shopping for the supplies before all that and I stayed at the house and played PS2. Katy and everybody came over after awhile and we hung out all night, drinking beer and such. Katy stayed the night and her and Sarah stayed up late cooking and all talking. I went to bed somewhat early in the RV and slept very well.
Day 44: July 19
We didn't know what time to expect Barb and Marion home today so we were finishing up with preparations for the meal tomm. They came home around 1 or so as we were all getting ready to go to the Wagon Wheel for lunch. This ended up being our 6th day in a row of eating out and it was starting to take it's toll. We sent Katy on her way around 3 or so and went down to Land of Memories to spend the day plugged in. Went up to our house and grabbed some stuff somewhere in here - hung out with Jake on the deck too.. Not much to write about for this day.
Day 45: July 20
Today was my brother's birthday and Bestie's!!! I called my bro but got his voice mail - his softball team has qualified for National's and are set to play down in Panama City FL Sept 10th - everybody wants us to be down there for that but it isn't going to work. We have Dano's wedding in Denver on the 5th of Sept. and it's just going to be too much driving. So that is too bad.. today we are chilling until dinner at Barb's around 5 pm - these dinners are always very big so we brought our appetite. There was wild rice burgers, sweet corn, potatos, salad and more - Sarah made a cream cheese dessert with a sauce from the berries we picked in California - we even made this in the RV's oven! Needless to say we ate way too much today and were at Barb & Marion's til nearly 10 pm. We took Bestie back to the home and Marion dropped us off at campground - where we had a campfire and got ready to leave for St. Louis tomm.
Day 46: July 21
We gave ourselves plenty of time to get down to St. Louis and jump back on Grateful Dead tour - sort of time to shift gears back to tour. We left excited since we were going to venues that we knew better and were going to make a better effort to keep up with tour and to work more. While we were heading East on HWY 14 towards the Interstate we took some time to look at the map logically and realize that St. Louis was way out of our way and would cost more in gas than it was worth. It was an easy decision to skip St. Louis and head right to Alpine Valley in south east Wisconsin - we would have 3 days to get the 6 hours - so we decided to try and sell some hemp and gemstone ear plugs on the way. Also today we realized that we had another propane leak in the RV - this really sucked since it cost another 120 bucks to fix and took nearly all day. We got the RV fixed in Rochester MN and stayed the night at the Wal-Mart. Bought some beer and layed low - went to bed early.
Day 47: July 22
Today we headed out to Winona to try our luck with selling stuff. We got there in the early afternoon and were lucky enough to find a free place to park the RV downtown. We went over to a shop where we had worked before a couple years back - she remembered us and did a trade with Sarah. Next we went down to the tattoo shop and they didn't buy anything - but let us know about a bunch of spots in La Crosse. We stopped in at a local bar for an afternoon beer and then headed to the rest stop. We had also done our shopping for vending in Alpine today and were going to start prepping the ingredients. We pulled into the rest stop and played with Kiko on her new elastic leash and collar. Went to bed early ready to head to La Crosse tommorrow.
Day 48: July 23
We had a quick jaunt into La Cross today and found the downtown area - I never had realized how neat of a city La Crosse is - it has a very artsy downtown feel to it. Sarah found an easy parking spot on the side of the road a little bit away from everything and we took off walking. We hit all kinds of stores but kept hearing the same thing - the buyer isn't in or the manager isn't in - or whatever. We also found out that we just missed The Big Wu playing here a couple days back D'OH! Anyway we did manage to sell one hemp necklace to a clerk at one of the stores, we used the money at the farmer's market that we found and that was it. I found some wi-fi in town when we got back to the rig. And then we headed out to Madison; where we thought about trying to sell more - but didn't. We went to the KOA in Madison and were ready to pull a short drive to Alpine Valley tommorrow and hopefully have a good night.
Day 49: July 24 The Dead @ Alpine Valley
Well we woke up today very excited and optimistic, we were planning on running into Sarah Macho & Chris at this show! We started out happy and good, but it wouldn't last long. We arrived at Alpine at a nice time around noon or so - but since we were an RV we got directed away from the main parking area. They sent us down a line where we were asked how long of an RV we were; we reply 26 feet - she says then I need 50$ to park you. We said WHAT! Come to find out 24 feet and lower is free, but 24 feet and up is 50 bucks - and the cars and everybody else had it free too. What a bunch of shit - this really hurt, but we paid it and then were even more pissed off when they led us way way way away from everybody to the RV parking area. This is already off to a bad start but after pissing and moaning a bit to Sarah on the phone we decided to set up and get to work. Sarah and Chris were about 70 miles away yet. We set up our new EZUP for only the 2nd time and Sarah started getting all her hemp and clothes out. Didn't take long before a parking attendant came over and talked to us. He was actually cool - he said watch for the people in the green shirts and especially those in the red shirts. Those were the security in charge of "illegal vending" the parking guy went on to tell us that they were issuing
$1000 fines for those that are caught vending. We didn't really believe him - but thanked hime for the advice - and continued to set up. We had a lot of people coming around right away - and were starting to have some luck. Our neighbors down in RV land were great! These people are usually very respectful and responsible - a nice change in neighbors. There were some really nice folks that pulled in on a 1955 blue bus from California - Lee was the bus owner's name and he had a daughter named Carly who hung out with us all day before the show. She was 7 years old and had been living on the bus all summer. I remember asking her if she liked living on the bus and she said "It's fun but there is no fridge in there and we have to spend a lot of money on ice" - funny a 7 year old who knows how much cooler maintenance sucks. We hung out together all day and she was a great little girl. While under the EZUP we had everything set up and had made our 50$ back at least when the first green shirts came by - but they were just some young kids and they asked us to pack it up and we said we would. Then they walked away and we stayed up and open for quite a bit longer. Somewhere in here I went running around for a bit and left Sarah at the store - I was just checking out what was going on and found out that no one was set up at all - everybody was shut down - maybe they weren't kidding about the fines - boy Alpine has sure changed. On my way back to the RV I run into Lee who has had some guy following him and taking pictures - this was making him very nervous. Sarah was doing really well now under the EZUP and had had a few more encounters with the green shirts - but they were all different people so she just used the same story for all of them. When I was back Sarah wanted to run up to the road and find Sarah Macho - I said ok but be quick cause I don't know what is going on with the clothes if somebody wanted to buy something - and in the time she was gone the Major Red Shirt Security Man came around - I had seen him busting others while I was out... He snuck up on me and says "Making a lot of money?" and I say no not really - he goes on with the "I can give you a 1000$ ticket, take your inventory, and impound your vehicle" I say really - scared to lose everything - He says "You have 20 minutes to tear down - it is 6 right now and I will be back at 6:20." So I started to tear down right away. Sarah came back and asked what I was doing - I told her what happened - just at that time Sarah & Chris showed up. We were so happy to see them - but they were anxious to walk around since they had just gotten there - we tell them just wait 2 minutes while we tear down... we turned around and they had left?? That made us a little mad - so we tore all the way down (and no Major Shithead never came back in 20 minutes) - and went out on a walk ourselves - Sarah brought her hemp with. We did end up running into them after a while - but they soon went into the show. Sarah had a great day selling hemp - more than we expected for sure. For some reason people wanted new necklaces. We hung out in the lot for a while and then took off during the show. We went up the road to a rest stop where we could hear just fine. Went to bed after the show - didn't stay to risk making food - which would not have worked anyway. We also contemplating skipping Deer Creek assuming that we would have the same trouble and since it was way out of the way.

Day 35: July 10
We were going to try to see the big waterfalls before we left and the natural bridge - but we decided to skip it and head right out of the park - we told ourselves that we would come back to Yellowstone after Dano & Vanessa's wedding in the fall. We had quite a trip to get out of the park anyway - with many miles around the big lake and two monster mountain passes - we were leaving from the east exit heading towards Cody WY on HWY 14. This was the worst mountain pass I have ever driven and especially horrible in an RV - I can't describe it - but it scared me. Many times you could look over to the right and realize there was nothing under us. Sarah had the viewpoint to see the road being supported by 2X4s and smaller pieces of wood - we weigh 15000 pounds - pretty sketchy. We had a pickup behind us the whole time and when we finally got to the bottom and pulled off - they drove by honked and waved as if to say "You made it!". From there we drove through WY and headed towards South Dakota. We made it as far as Sheridan WY and stopped for a beer - we had decided to stay at the Wal-Mart on the edge of town. We made our way downtown and found a brew pub; the place was packed with people going out to eat - brew pub/restaurant - we got a couple beers and talked to some of the locals. They let us know about Ole's pizza -which was down by the Wal-Mart- we were starving and were looking forward to some pizza. We were going out to eat - but the place was swamped - it took along time to get any food - but it was good when we finally got it - we were drunk by now because our pitcher of beer came right away. It seems they burnt our stuff and it took double long - we gave a small tip. We went back to the rig - after eating and decided to go into the Wal-Mart to buy some new kitty toys; but i gotta say it was an interesting trip through wally world - it was late so there was the weird crowd in there ... and we were a little drunk by now. We used the self checkout and got the hell out of there... we got some good stuff for Kikkoman - the twirl and whirl toy that she likes alot and some fuzzy mice.
Day 36: July 11
Today we are heading to the Black Hills - Sarah has always loved this area and we are excited to be able to check it out. We drove a little ways on I-90 from Sheridan to Deadwood and decided to stay at the KOA here. First we went through the downtown area and enjoyed looking at all the old west type of stuff. There wasn't anywhere to park the RV down here though and we needed to buy some beer... so we decided to have me jump out while Sarah circled the RV around the loop. So I grabbed a case of beer and as the credit card slip came up the RV went by - but I figured I could still catch her at a traffic light and started running after the RV yelling for Sarah. This had to have been a site because a lot of people were laughing at me - but there I was running down the old west main street with a case of beer yelling at an RV. I just missed her at a stop sign and ended up running through a wild west shoot out reenactment - I made sure to keep the receipt just in case - but I finally caught up with Sarah and off we went to the KOA. We pulled in nice and early and we were happy that this KOA had alot of amenities; hot tub, dsl internet and a shuttle to and from downtown Deadwood. We had decided we would go out for dinner tonight and take the shuttle down to the casino. We spent all afternoon drinking beers and taking care of house chores (laundry and such). The shuttle took us down to the Mineral Palace Casino where we had coupons from the KOA - we cashed in our free beer and 10% off dinner - this was the only place on our trip where there was really no vegetarian option on the menu - i ended up ordering onion rings and french fries - sarah had a burger that she order rare or something - they made her sign a paper before they could prepare it as she requested. We ate and drank many more beers and then went into the casino for a bit - then we walked the boardwalk for awhile on a nice date. We heard the call that the shuttle was back and we took it home. Tommorow we were to head for the Needles Highway in the Black Hills so we went to bed.
Day 37: July 12
Today we were only about an hour and a half from Custer's State Park which was our destination by way of the Needles Highway - I have never driven this before but Sarah says it is one of her favorite places anywhere - so I was excited. We picked up a Black Hills directory from the laundry room at the KOA and read up on the tunnel restrictions to get to the Needles Highway. We found out that we should be able to make it after checking our specifications - we are 10' 7" high and a little under 9' wide - and that gives us a couple inches each way according to this literature. BUT once we got close to the tunnels we found out that our literature was wrong and we would only have one inch height clearance through the tunnel - the person we talked to suggested going the long way through Custer SD and around. He went on to tell of RVs with their air conditioners ripped off the top because they thought they could make it - too close for comfort. This was very disappointing for us - Sarah was looking forward to driving the Needles but it just wasn't going to happen. We went the long way around and got to Custer State Park - again this was my first time here, but Sarah had been here with her family before. This park was huge! The map showed many many acres - we started off on the wilderness loop which is the best bet for wilderness viewing. We had a great day finding lots of different stuff - female big horn sheep were the first that we saw - with babies! We drove further and pulled off for a little hike - there was a sign at the trailhead telling of rattlesnakes and poison ivy - we found the poison ivy over growing the trail and turned back - then we saw a huge buffalo just through the trees. We found a handfull of diferent antelopes as we continued on and travelled to the spot where the donkeys hang out. These burros are very accustomed to people and eat from the car window or from your hand. We spent some time here feeding them saltine crackers and carrots - but there was a traffic jam when we were ready to leave and were stuck a little longer - people can be so annoying. Next we saw a huge herd of buffalo with babies just off the road in the trees and then right before we left we saw the biggest buffalo of the day - walking towards us down the road. We were scared shitless - you could here the buffalo snorting and grunting and it seemed bothered - we are a big RV and were hoping we didn't make it feel challenged or something. I caught it on video and it was amazing - made the whole trip to the park and a highlight of the summer. This was right before we left the park and headed to the interstate. We got back on I-90 heading East to Minnesota and decided to stop in at Wall Drug. I had never been here either - what a day of firsts for me. I enjoyed Wall Drug, but I spent most of my time looking at historical pictures and reading old articles - lots of native american history too. Sarah found some good deals on crystals and stones and then we hit the road. We continued on and stopped at a rest stop when we got tired.
Day 38: July 13
Today we are cruising home and going quick - it is always hard when we are so close to home - i get an itch to haul ass and get us there; but it wasn't so bad today. We stopped at a Flying J outside of Sioux Falls and used the internet to find all the tattoo shops in town. We hit about 5 of them and made a couple bucks selling the gem ear plugs - but we spent alot of time doing it here. We kept on rolling towards home and it was getting late - we stopped to pick up a case of Premium beer in Windom MN and made plans to stay the night at my Mom's in St. James. We plugged in and mom was happy to see us, also showed off Kikkoman. We stayed up late drinking beers and visiting with mom - Sarah and I made a pizza and watched TV. It was good to hang out with ma and have a sense of stability at her house. We went to bed late and slept out in the RV.
Day 39: July 14
Today we hung out at mom's for awhile and had take out Chinese for lunch. Mom told us to stay as long as we like and do what we need - so we decided to wash our hair today. Wow it has been awhile and it felt good. We let Kikkoman in the house and she freaked out on mom's dog. After all this we headed up to Mankato and were going to drop in on Sarah's folks. We arrived around 5 pm and had plans to go downtown tonite - we were able to park the rig up at the house and walk to downtown. We sure surprised Marion as he was watering the flowers - Barb wasn't feeling well but everybody was happy to see us. We spent a couple hours visiting and drinking beers on the deck. Sarah had been collecting a lot of rocks from all over for her mom's rock garden/pond area. We had a good time visiting and made arrangements to take Sarah's Grandma out to lunch on Friday and to stay at the house on Sunday while Barb & Marion were in the cities for Eric Clapton. We were having a family birthday dinner on Monday to celebrate Grandma's, Matt's and my birthday and Sarah was going to do the shopping and help for this. Barb made mention of the blog while we were visiting and criticized us for sneaking vodka into Bonnaroo - that turned me off from writing for a long time. Anyway we ended up getting downtown around 8 or so and were able to see Jake, Jerry and Jeremy. It was Jerry's birthday and they were knee deep in pull tabs. Macho came down for a minute and said hi. It was all very impromptu and we saw some friends - but made plans with everyone to go out on Saturday for more. We walked back to the house after a sandwich from Erberts & Gerberts and went to bed.
Day 40: July 15 Buckethead's Giant Robot at the Quest
This was the day that I have been waiting for! Tonite we will be seeing Buckethead!! But first during the day we had been running errands - banking, insurance, kitty to the vet... etc. We also had lunch with my Grandma (mom's mom) for her birthday - we went to the Old Country Buffet and i ate way too much. We went to Patrick's after this and had some beers with Minnow and waited for everyone who was going to the show. Rob, Jake and Minnow were riding up and we were going up in the RV with Kikkoman. We found a parking spot by the Fine Line for 20 bucks - not too bad. We went into the show early - but didn't realize there was an opening band - so that kind of sucked. Premiums were 3.75 in here D'OH. We could have stayed out in the RV for another hour drinking our own beer. Anyway - it was a wierd scene since Buckethead was playing in the Avalon Room and the Cottonmouth Kings were playing on the main stage. Quite a different crowd - a bunch of wierdos versus a bunch of young rap fans - plus the only bathroom was through their show. Man it smelt like bad pot in there, but it was quite entertaining walking through that mess. Buckethead was incredible - the room was full of trees and sculptures with a big fountain and the place was packed with Buckethead fans. This was one of the best shows I had ever seen - but it was so damn loud in there that I couldn't hear for a few days. We ran into some friends that we met at Bonnaroo here. After the show we stopped for another beer at a bar; then headed back to Mankato. We stayed at the Wal-Mart and slept well.

Day 26: July 1
We got up kind of early and headed out for Twin Falls - further down I-80 E and then up HWY 93 through Idaho. I started driving and felt great - put on about 170 miles and we only had 70 or so to go when we had stopped for gas at the Flying J in Wells, Nevada. Sarah took over then and we made it to Twin Falls around 6 pm. We had reservations for Friday - Sunday and were going to sleep in Twin Falls' Flying J tonite (Thursday). We enjoyed scouting out the city a little bit and it looked really neat - quaint, but somewhat large. We found a few tattoo shops and thought about selling some of our gem stone ear plugs here. We also found out there were waterfalls near by and other natural attractions. We did the tour for a while and then went up to the Flying J - I used the internet for more info and got a chance to sample another bean & cheese burrito for the website. Was impressed with the Flying J burrito! We drank beer all night in the parking lot and slept well. Tommorrow back to KOA and relaxation.
Day 27: July 2
Today we started off by going right to the Shoshone Falls park just East of Twin Falls. It was a $3 fee to get in and worth it - we spent some hours here! There were two parks in one admission - the falls and a lake park which was on top of the falls. There wasn't a whole lot of water coming down the falls, but they were still quite nice. We found a trail that led us up and around the opposite side of the falls - which gave us a hell of a view of everything. We found a little landing where we sat for a while and there were a few hawks flying around - we were up so high they flew right underneath us. This to me had made the whole trip worth it - I love hawks and big birds and here we were listening to them call while flying just feet from us - wow. We hiked the whole falls and then made our way over to the lake park - which was a busy swimming hole today - people getting ready for their 4th of July weekend. We sat with our feet in the crystal clear water (which was cold) and you could see lots of fish investigating our toes. We saw a German Brown Spotted Trout swim by as well - bigger fish than the others which were mostly sunfish or blue gills. The brochure also told of 3 hidden ponds that were to be nestled in the canyon with glacier blue water and so we decided to try to find them. This was a hike and it was pretty peak sun now - there was a cheese puff trail and we finally ended up finding one. However, it was filled with teenagers and they were all looking at us pretty wierd when we came through to the clearing. Nobody was swimming except for some younger kids - and we really felt like we were intruding - I guess this is their hangout. This pond was amazing though - the gray canyon wall wrapped 3/4 the way around it and the water didn't even look real - but it did look like it was cold in there!! Next we hiked all the way back to the RV - heard some rustling in the leaves and saw a Quail and a bunch of babies running around; and further down the trail we saw a woodchuck running in the brush.
We loaded up and ran to Fred Meyer's for supplies - we bought beer and a Tofurky (we decided to have Thanksgiving on 4th of July) then headed up to the KOA. We had a nice spot at the end of the park - really private. This park had a cable hookup for 2 extra dollars; so we got in and plugged in - cranked up the air and turned on the movie channels. We had some dinner while watching TV, drank beer and went up to the hot tub - but it closed shortly after we got there. So we went home and relaxed after a short soak - I went to bed soon thereafter and Sarah stayed up late watching the TV.
Day 28: July 3
KOA life for an extended stay lets you do whatever you want pretty much - so we slept in late with the air pumping - it is easy. I started drinking beer around noon and was having a blast. Our afternoon was pretty laid back - I was playing playstation while Sarah was exploring around the outskirts of the campground. We went to the hot tub after an early supper and found a little kitty in a plant with a hooded sweatshirt by it - we figured it was some little kids or something. I got right in the tub and Sarah sat with the kitty awhile - then the little girl showed up with her mom. They were surprised to see the cat was still in the fake plant and went on to tell us they had found it and asked at the front office and it was stray. The little girl's mother did not want the kitten and kept telling her daughter that we were going to take care of it. We did bring it back to our campsite for the next couple days and Sarah fed it tuna and cheese. The kitty was very hungry and ate two bowls of this stuff. She hung around all the day long and played with us. Otherwise today was more celebrating of the 4th - I always seem to do it up more on the 3rd of July for some reason - but what does it matter.
Day 29: 4th of July
Today we had planned to make our Thanksgiving feast for the 4th of July - we were going to attempt our first Tofurky. For those that don't know this is the vegetarian alternative to Thanksgiving turky meal - it comes complete with wild rice stuffing and "giblet" gravy. We slept in very late today and were going to take it nice and easy for the 4th - we had expected to be able to see Twin Falls' fireworks display from our campsite. We did realize we were running low on Tecate for the holiday and that we needed to make a run into town for more beer. We have been drinking alot of Tecate on this trip so far - it's a good mexican drinking beer that's for sure. Seems to take care of you in the hot climate pretty well. So we went into town - to Fred Meyer's - and grabbed more supplies. We had a date to play mini golf after we got the beers going a bit. This mini golf course was horrible though - 1.50 a piece just didn't seem right - the course was very warped - the astro turf all ripped up and some of the holes were down right impossible. We put on funny hats and sunglasses and people stared at the drunken weirdos playing shitty mini golf - take that Twin Falls. Yeah it was a good time, but Sarah kicked my ass - oh and while we played the mini golf we had a forum on the status of the cat. We had decided to keep it while we drove home at least (with certain guidelines for travelling) and were going to go to PetSmart the next day to grab everything that she will need - litter and food and etc. We had the tofurky going in the crockpot all day with potatos, carrots and sweet corn all simmering together - and it was starting to smell really good in there. We really had too much food planned though - you don't really eat as much while on the road. Mostly little meals about twice a day or so - definately not big Thanksgiving type meals. So anyway we were pretty well drunk when it came time to eat and Sarah started serving it up - Oh man! It was all so good - but the tofurky was a little weird - kind of like a rubber basketball with turky flavoring - the wild rice stuffing was awesome and the sweet corn that we roasted in the crockpot turned out really good - all very full of garlic. It was great - but I ate way too much (lots of sweet corn) and I got filled up pretty fast. It was so much too much that it made me take a nap. Sarah woke me up for the fireworks and I had a few more Tecates while we watched the show. I guess I had just missed a big owl that was in the tree right outside our RV. The fireworks were visible, but further away than we had expected - there was another display going on to the north and I'm guessing that was Jerome's. It was a nice time - afterwards I went back to sleep and slept a long while. Sarah stayed up with the little kitty - who slept on the picnic table in our blanket.
Day 30: July 5
Well our 3 day vacation was over and now it was time to pack it all up. I got up somewhat early and started putting the inside back together - and needed to fill up water and all that. Went outside to fill up the fresh water and found the kitty playing with the new neighbors - they asked if it was ours and I said yes - wow I am agreeing to taking a cat in the RV. We had decided to head up to Ketchum for the Allman Brothers show (Ketchum was only about 70 miles or so to the north) and today we were going to head up there and get a look at Ketchum. I had been to Ketchum once before when Dano, Deborah and I were following the Big Wu out to the High Sierra Festival in California. The Wu actually had a show in Ketchum - which looking back now seems kind of out of place - but I had remembered the city being rather rich and snooty - and they didn't let us down at all. This is by far the snobbiest city we have hit thus far. We were poking around the city today and trying to find somewhere we fit in. We went down to a city park - which was really just a bike trail - with parking, and i was able to steal some wi-fi internet from a nearby lodge. So we stayed there for awhile - and I used the internet for everything we needed - figured out where the venue is and all that. Next we went to find the venue and it wasn't there at all? There were some risers and things as if they were going to build a stage - but that seemed odd. We also found a place that looked kind of rundown that simply said "Burgers and Beer" which looked a little enticing. It was getting close to sundown so we left town towards the Sawtooth National Forest. We had been passing signs that say "National Forest Access" and we were eager to learn more about our options - so we headed down a winding trail and found a parking lot with trails leading into the forest. We thought this would be a perfect place to stay tonite - there were alot of people on bikes and horses getting ready to go home. We did a quick hike on the trail, but it was getting dark soon. We spotted 3 different species of woodpecker on the hike and a few chipmunks - but it was quick. Then we settled in to the RV and I found out that my little inverter has enough power to fuel the tv and playstation! This was revolutionary because I no longer have to use the generator or have the RV plugged in to play or to watch movies! So I played a game of Madden - my season is almost over and i had finished my NCAA season with winning the championship - but the movies aren't working quite yet (need an RF modulator and the other PS2 cord). Sarah made supper while I played and we retired rather early.
Day 31: July 6 ABB in Ketchum
We left in the afternoon to head back to town and try again to find the venue - which was indeed being built today. We found a parking place close to the show and relaxed with the kitten - we had a couple newspapers to read and found out there was a farmer's market in town today. We were walking around town and window shopping awhile - we went in to an awesome gem store with huge quartz and everything - thousands of dollars of great stones. We tell the store owner he has a great place and try to spark some conversation - but we get the big cold shoulder - i suppose we didn't look like we would be buying his 1200 dollar piece of amethyst so why should he bother talking with us. Then we made it to the farmer's market and find that it is the most expensive market known to mankind - Sarah could give more examples but I remember her being disapointed. We were not received in this town very well at all - most rich people do not like hippies. We did find a nice deal on some cherries that were very fresh. We were sick of getting stared at and having these richies turn their noses up at us. We went back to the RV and checked in on our kitty - who was just sleeping the day away. At this point we didn't know if we were going to stay in town for the show or just hit the road - it was obvious that we were not going to be able to sell any food here - but maybe we could sell a piece of clothing or two. So we decided to walk down to the venue and see if we could find our way onto the guest list or something. We were able to get a good feel for the show and get info on parking our rig in there - but nobody around to try to get in. We finally just decided to go to the "Burgers and Beer" joint and see what's really going on in Ketchum. We walked in and the place was rockin' - full of people getting ready for the show - Jerry Garcia's "Run for the Roses" was playing on the juke box - very good sign. We ordered a couple beers - 32 ozs for 4 dollars and sat inside for a bit - I noticed one of the band's crew was in there waiting for a burger. The bar was called Grumpy's and they had seating outside and along a patio - the sign also said "Sorry we are open" gotta love it. We ended up outside where we saw a couple Phish kids on the patio... we get to talking and all sat at a table. Enter TJ and Sara - they have been on tour for awhile too - his mom lives in Ketchum and they are chillin' up here for a bit - they were on first leg of phish tour and then caught some Dead. We had another round of the 32's and then headed over to the parking lot - but first picking up a 12 of High Life and TJ a 24 of Natural Ice or as the cool kids call it "Natty Ice" the beer of tour kids. We started out having a good time with these two - but as they got drunk it sort of changed. In the parking lot we ran into two other kids that were from Eugene. She was selling pouches that she had made - but he was selling mushroom chocolates - and i think eating quite a few as well. TJ and Sara also ended up eating some of the chocolates - so now we are surrounded with people on mushrooms - again. I don't want to sound off but it seems as we get older we get more annoyed with people on drugs - I dunno - We've just seen way too many kids do way too much stupid shit on tour over the years - a majority of which were drug related. I can't say I am against people using drugs on tour or at the show - but at least know some moderation. Plus now there are different drugs on tour than when we were on tour in the old days - anyway it is always going to happen that you run into somebody on hallucinogens at the show and that is just normal. I know that we couldn't live that way anymore with the responsibility we have - but the tour kids need to be fed and that's where we come in. Sarah and I ended up setting up the boutique and drank some beers - we just stay on the edge of the mess - chilling in our camping chairs. The parking lot was set up as a benefit for a skateboarding park in Ketchum - so it was run by a bunch of skateboarders - a majority of these guys ended up around our RV in the lot. And since TJ grew up in Ketchum he seemed to know everybody - there was one kid called Pigeon who hung out with us for a long while. He borrowed me his black Elvis shades because I told him that I was going to be able to get into the show with these on. So my drunk ass went a-wandering up to the gate with my dark Elvis shades so nobody can see - I was having a good time talking with the security guard who was in charge of the re-entry. His name was also Mike. You see the show has no reentry, but there are all these rich people who need to come and go - you see the rules don't apply to you when you are rich enough to live in Ketchum... so I was watching this gaurd use his discretion on who he should let out and who couldn't go - and i was starting to get sick of these rich bastards thinking they can do whatever they want - i started having some fun with them and giving them a hard time about policy and how policy applies to them as well - man i made a couple people very mad. Anyways after some of this and talking to mike he just says "Hey why don't you go in there and have a good time" and opened the gate and let me in - he gave me a ticket stub and everything!!! Wow i was overjoyed - so I hauled ass inside and started heading towards the front row! Boy the crowd on the inside was mixed - there were a lot of people on mushrooms in there (i wonder how many got them from that kid) and there were a lot of rich fucks standing there and not moving - lots were on lawn chairs with binoculars - so this is how rich people enjoy themselves. I was mixing it up and talking to a bunch of motionless people - "Isn't this great" I would say and they wouldn't even acknowledge me. Whatever I got in for free and who knows how much they paid. I got up front and watched Warren Haynes belt out a few tunes - he was jamming on his guitar at one time and I threw my hands in the air and pointed at him - he smiled back and nodded - Warren Haynes acknowledges me - but not most people in this crowd. I stayed up front for 4-5 songs One Way Out & Ain't Wasting Time No More stand out. Then I wanted to get a beer - but I only had a dollar I went up to the beer line and started talking to these younger guys (30ish) telling them that i was going to try to get a beer and thought if i reused somebody elses cup that they might fill it for a buck. The security golf cart went by as I was talking to these two and the policeman who shut down the boutique in the lot was on there; so I tell these two that the cop is the meanest of the police and security we have met so far - one of the guys then says to me "You just let me know if you are having trouble with them, I'm the Assistant District Attorney" OK I say - and I tell em I am going to go get my dollar beer. There was a blondie serving the beers and charming big tips out of the guys - next was my turn and I say will you please sell me a beer for a dollar - and she looks disgusted at me "Honey I am getting more than that in tips for these beers" then I say well I will reuse this cup here - nope - well how bout half a beer for a buck - nope - then I finally say well can I ask those guys that are filling the beers - while I was asking one of those guys was already bringing me a beer and says he'll pay the rest. I thanked him and smiled at her - then walked away and say HA to the Asst. DA him and his buddy applaud me and I take off back to the show. I finished this beer and then went back outside to be with Sarah - I had enjoyed my time inside and now it was time to get back to mama. The scene out here was pretty chill, but kind of odd. The kids were really full of shrooms now and Sarah was sitting with the kitty on her lap talking to normal people. We had made plans to go to the Craters of the Moon with TJ and Sara the next day, and then they invited the shroom boy and his girl. I dunno - these kids were all loaded now too and turning into goofballs and I didn't want to hang out with them anymore. The kitten jumped off Sarah's lap and went for a run under cars; it took us awhile to get her back and once we did we packed up and got out of there - by ourselves. I gave TJ our cell number but he never called it. We drove 20 miles down highway 75 and stayed at a rest stop. Good night.
Day 32: July 7
Today we only had a short drive to the Craters of the Moon National Monument. We woke up at the rest stop and went walking along a little creek - saw a lot of little moles going in and out of holes on the bed of the creek. We noticed it was very windy today as we hit the road - we got to the park and they told us there was a wind advisory with winds reaching 50 mph! So we decided to camp at the park for 10 dollars and spend the day exploring it - our plan was to leisurely travel home to meet with friends and family. Sarah's grandmother's birthday was coming up and mine and my brothers - so we had a lot of celebrating to do! Craters of the Moon was quite diferent - it was so ugly but very interesting. Lava flow from 2000 years ago has made all these formations and caves - we were happy to be able to spend a day exploring here. It was just too bad that it was so windy - we missed out on two trails because they seemed too dangerous in the wind. The caves kind of spooked me - but Sarah enjoyed them also the Devil's Orchard was neat; that was the area that had the most green growth - growing in the cracks of the lava and the trees here were so wind whipped and sand blown that they took on a diferent sort of personality. We took alot of pictures for the website. We did the park and went to bed pretty early in the campground. That's that.
Day 33: July 8
Today we were heading towards Yellowstone National Park through Idaho Falls. We had decided to go out for Chinese for lunch and I found The Great Wall in Idaho Falls. Sarah also had the great idea to try selling some of our gem stone ear plugs at the tattoo shops and looking for head shops to sell hemp in. So we made it up to Idaho Falls in about 2 hours and had a great lunch. Then found a few shops and sold a couple pairs of ear plugs. We stopped in at a bar and had a tap beer in the middle of the afternoon. There are no head shops left in Idaho, however, they have all been shut down. We stopped at Albertson's on the way out of town and stocked up on groceries. We spent quite a few hours in Idaho Falls finding everything and we had no plans of where we were sleeping. We left town towards Yellowstone and found a campground in Targhee National Forest around dusk. This was a nice place with a raging river (Henry's Fork) I haven't been able to find this campground on the map - but it was awesome. All for 10 bucks again and it was such nice sleeping weather because it cooled down quite a bit at night. We made a fire and drank some beer - went to bed after a long time at the fire.
Day 34: July 9
We got up pretty early and took a long hike down by this river. Sarah had hurt her knee - shmacking it on the cupboard in the RV - she walked with a walking stick. She was checking out the driftwood and things by the river. After that we left expecting to be in Yellowstone later this afternoon; we were still about 3 hours away. We went up through Montana just a bit - past the earthquake of 1959 - and we also saw a horse that had gotten out of it's fence - very confused and didn't know what to do. We stopped in West Yellowstone to buy some beer and were able to add it to the map in the parking lot. Next we were in Yellowstone! Sarah was driving us inside the park and I was watching for wildlife - we spotted a younger moose in a creek within 20 minutes!!! Awesome! but we weren't able to get a photo. Next we saw two female elks wading in a marsh and were able to pull off and watch them for a bit. People sure drive like crap even inside National Parks - we were finding out. Sarah and I weren't sure what we were doing today but we knew that we didn't have enough time to spend here. We weren't sure yet if we were going to camp here or leave or what. Very unorganized. But we made it to the geyser trail on the lower basin - man those things stink. And then to Old Faithful with it scheduled to go off in about an hour. In that time we found a campsite at Grant's Village (18 bucks) and got a good seat to watch Old Faithful. Man was that cool I was happy to be able to see it very magnificent and huge. We were leaving Old Faithful and there was a huge buffalo right on the side of the road - eating grass WOW - we can't wait to come back with a week or more time to spend here. We made it to our campsite and settled in - drank some beer and went to bed early.