Mr Mike's Hippie Love Blog

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.