Devils Tower - The Animals

 

We went to a prairie dog town in the wild near Devil's Tower. 

It was fun watching them, some little ones playing, 

and others eating and running about.

Cute Babies

Buffalo and Longhorns

Time for Mount Rushmore! Click here to continue our adventure.

 

You can find our photos around America

on products in our shop called Renderly Yours.

Just click below.

Travels Around America
by Renderly Yours

On To The Grand Canyon

May 13 continued - The second stop was The Grand Canyon! Neither of us had been there. Truly an impressive, majestic, and spiritual experience. We timed it so we would be able to get sunset pictures and there are just no words... Look at the pictures.

 I must say it was amazing, my height issues had me holding onto the railing a lot, but I still loved it. It is beautiful and at sunset was even more amazing.

Even with his rollator, Jonathan had some issues walking on rocks because the unevenness is hard with his balance issues and the rocks hurt his feet even more than usual because of his neuropathy. We got as close as he could and we would sit and gaze upon the magic of nature.

The formation below is what people call "The Duck". 

May 14 - We stayed the night at a travel center in Arizona along with a whole bunch of trucks. After getting supplies at Walmart (a nearly everyday occurrence lol) and propane at Tractor Supply (much cheaper than the travel centers and just as easy to pull up to the fill station). We also visited the "Desert Oasis" gas station right off the highway in the California desert because we were running low. This was the one day Jonathan didn't plan the gas stop and boy did they get us! It was $8.55 a gallon for regular unleaded, I nearly fell over, lol. We finally arrived at the Mountain Valley RV Park in the Mojave desert very late. 

Time to head to the Big Trees! Click here to continue our adventure.

You can find our photos around America

on products in our shop called Renderly Yours, just click below.

Travels Around America
by Renderly Yours

Auntie Helen's

 

May 7 - We left the St Robert Missouri RV park in the afternoon and drove to Tulsa, arriving around 7:30pm.

May 8-11 - Stayed in Tulsa at Johnny and Danielle's, visiting Helen almost daily, seeing most of the family as they came over at different times.

May 11 - Visited Helen one last time and left from her house in the afternoon. We drove through Oklahoma and stayed at a Cracker Barrel in Amarillo Texas. The scenery crossing western Oklahoma was very pretty with the red soil and cattle ranches, but there were A LOT of cattle ranches, lol. The Oklahoma Route 66 Museum was closed but we did look at their outdoor items and took pictures.

It was great to get to Oklahoma and to Johnny (Jonathan's cousin) and Danielle's house. Johnny wanted us to stay in his guest room, but Jonathan wanted to stay in the camper so as to not be a bother. I convinced him otherwise, there was a real bed, shower, and toilet. Jonathan wanted to see his aunt as soon as possible although it was getting late, so the four of us went and surprised her, it was beautiful. Jonathan's cousin Joy and her family were there, it was wonderful meeting Jonathan's family.

Family can message us to see the video, we aren't posting it here.

 

We stayed a few days and by the time we left I had met most of the family, which was great.

Everyone was nice and welcoming.

Johnny took us to a wonderful Mexican restaurant for lunch one day, and another a great place for breakfast.

 

Johnny also smoked some ribs, how awesome that was! 

His dogs are precious. Mika and Freya are so beautiful, Mika is the calmer of the two and just loved being pet. Freya was also a wonderful girl, but a little more high-spirited. Cozy got along well with Mika, I was surprised. We all didn't have her around Freya as much because she so very playful and Cozy is small and playful. But they did meet and did well. 

Cozy can be slow to warm up to new people, but Johnny said he would make her like him and she did.

Mika and Fraya

Mika

Time to let Lisa in on the surprise. Click here to continue our adventure.

Our Journey To Auntie Helen's And Camper Trip Begins: Lake Erie and the St Louis Arch

First Few Days  

It took a week to pack, trying to figure out what we might need in the camper (we watched a lot of videos and it really did help). But the day we left we got it all inside in a few hours, then we were on our way. it was the beginning of May, great weather, and just before the Memorial Day holiday week. The unofficial start of summer.

I have wanted to go see Jonathan's aunt for some time now, but things happened like cancer, COVID-19, cancer again, Jonathan's health with his hernia surgery, neuropathy, Rheumatoid Arthritis, leg issues, money issues, and much more. I am so happy, we (meaning myself and his cousin Johnny) convinced him. I convinced him we would take lots of breaks, even if it took us two or three times longer than most people.

May 3 - Picked up RV, packed it, and then left home at just before 11pm. We then drove overnight through NH, VT, and New York ending in Ohio at 7:30pm on May 4th.  We stop ped several times for breaks, gas, and to eat. We were supposed to spend the night of the 3rd at a Cracker Barrel or Walmart, but got such a late start and we were so filled with excited energy that we drove we didn't really stop overnight, just mini rests.

May 4 - Stayed the night at Sun Retreats Geneva on the Lake RV park in Geneva-On-The-Lake, Ohio. It was right across the street from Lake Erie. 

I had never seen any of the great lakes, it was amazing, like the ocean unable to see the other side. So very big, so very impressive.

 The Lake Erie RV park was a very nice place and you could tell people stay for the entire summer as well. We rode around in a golf cart, our RV site was near a pond. We took the golf cart and rode around the pond and then the whole park. We even saw a pickleball court, a play area for kids with in ground bounce pads and such a play ground, and a mini golf course. Across the street was the Lake Erie. We

loved it, it had everything including laundry mat, store, ice cream parlor, restaurant, and more. My gosh these folks have a great set up, probably the place with the most that we stopped at during the trip.

Things went well, even though the trip did start with some motion sickness on my part, and so I didn't want to go out in the park or go see the lake, but I got a bit better and did enjoy the park. I had medication which helped somewhat, it was nice I could lay down for a bit, and also if I kept my sugar on target with snacks it helped. Empty tummy means a not very happy moving Lisa. But it turned out ok in the end.

We also started learning what might slip around while under way and we did pretty well with rubber nonslip mats under things.  

May 5 - We left the RV park at 11am and drove through only stopping for food and rest. We arrived at the Cracker Barrel at 8pm. No sight seeing along the way that night

May 6 - We got breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and left at 9am. We got their big fruit bowl to take with us for snacks, they make the best one we have ever had. We stopped in St Louis to see the Arch, which neither of us had seen in person. 

When we got out to see the Arch it was so hot we could barely move, 

but we pushed to get out and get pics. I did a little better than Jonathan, 

he just got too overheated and tired and I was more than willing to move on lol.

Then we drove to St Robert Missouri to stay at the fairly new RV park within the town park. It was really nice, surrounded by trees, we had reserved the spot on the end which had a larger area around it and someone only on one side, with full hookups. It was really nice. We did both get to hear a tornado siren for the first time in our lives... at 3am. We both woke up of course and discussed what we should do. Deciding that driving around in the dark was probably not a great idea if there was a tornado, so we went back to sleep.

Time we head to Oklahoma! Click here to continue our adventure.

Leaving For The Second Half Of The Trip (A Surprise For Lisa), And Route 66

 Instead of heading back towards home, Jonathan surprised me with a visit to the big trees, Grand Canyon, and Mount Rushmore. So, it was a longer trip than I had planned. Now I know why he didn't tease me for bringing too many clothes, lol.

May 12 - We ate breakfast at Cracker Barrel (and got another fruit bowl to take with us of course) and hit the road at 11. 

On the road again and I don't want to forget the little stops to take pictures on Route 66, little things here and there, we loved it.

We stopped at some Route 66 spots before leaving Oklahoma and got pics of the cool red clay there, as well as the red rocks throughout the southwest. We were too late for the 66 museum :( but, that was ok because we got out and took some pics around it and a photo of us at the Route 66 sign.

We stopped at the Big Texan Steak Ranch & Brewery, a kitschy, saloon-style steakhouse known for its 72-oz steak-eating challenge (we did not partake), plus a gift shop, a motel that looked like a western town (it was great), and more. 

  

  

We picked up a red rock at a rest stop in New Mexico. The desert landscape in New Mexico is beautiful with all the red rocks. We stayed at the Meteor Crater RV Park in Winslow Arizona near the Meteor Crater Natural Landmark, which oddly enough, is a giant meteor crater in the Arizona desert.

May 13 - Big day as we visited two landmarks. First, we went to downtown Winslow Arizona and "stood on the corner". Taking pictures with the statues of the Eagles, the very cool mural on the brick wall, and the sign that says, "Standing on the corner of Winslow Arizona". There was a fun gift shop, ice cream place, eateries, and more. We loved it, definitely a must-stop for Eagles fans like us.  

It really was a very cool place to stop. 

 

 

On to the Grand Canyon! Click here to continue our adventure.