On the Road in 2000

Monday, July 10 - Monday, July 17 (Back "On the Road" to Wyoming):
We left with the Caldwells and spent Monday night at Petit Jean SP, AR. Tuesday night we were in Branson, MO. It rained and we didn't do any of the tourist stuff. Wednesday, we arrived at a state park, Kansas City and Ft Leavenworth, KS, where our nephew, Maj. James Daniel Roland, is stationed with the US Army. Maj. Roland (better known as "Danny" to us), his wife, Paula, and two beautiful girls, Lauren and Sarah, came out and visited with us for a couple of hours. Thursday, we stopped at the Kansas monument to the Pony Express. Harry slung a tire tread on his trailer and did some damage to the plastic cowling. He got the tire changed, and had only gone about 20 miles and, near Norton, KS, another tread went. We got into a state park there. Kansas State Parks are not the place to go. It was $15/night with electric only.. They charged us extra for being from out of state. Not very tourist friendly. At least the Goodyear tire dealer was friendly. Friday, they replaced all 7 tires, including the spare, under warrenty, and we were back on the road by 11 AM. Goodyear later re-imbursed him for repair of the damage to the trailer. We spent 3 nights at the Mitchell Fair Grounds near Scott's Bluff, Nebraska area, where there are a lot of historical things to see. Saturday, we visited Chimney Rock, several monuments and the wild animal museum. Temp hit 100 today, but almost NO humidity, so felt OK. Sunday, a front came through and the temp is very nice today (79). We drove up to the Scott's Bluff monument, on top of the bluffs. Very interesting and we could see for many miles. Joe drove the car back down and Donna, Sue and Harry walked a paved trail back down and through a tunnel. We drove to the Agate Fossil Beds, to the west of Mitchell and enjoyed looking at the displays. This is an interesting area. We enjoyed sitting out tonight with a light jacket (almost chilly, felt good). Monday, we continued across Wyoming, with a two hour stop at old Ft Laramie, then up through the pretty Wind River Canyon to Thermopolis. We are staying at "Country Campin", a Good Sam park, just north of Thermopolis. We were met there by Harry's old Air Force buddy, Jim Curry and his wife, Darlene. They'll be here for a couple of days. We made reservations for 30 days and got a good monthly rate. The campground is on a working ranch and we're looking forward to our stay, here.