Fort Peck, Montana July 28 and 29

We arrived here yesterday and found a great Corp of Engineers Campground right in the center of the dam region. For people that are interested in dams, Fort Peck is the large hydraulically-filled dam in the world, the largest earthen dam in the U.S, and the 3rd largest earthen dam in the world. Impressive, yes? We took the tour of the power plant which was interesting. A little history about Fort Peck. Construction of the Fort Peck Dam started in 1933 when Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the project as part of the New Deal during the Great Depression. More than 40,000 people flooded to the area looking for work, creating 18 boom towns featuring businesses and schools. The work force peaked in 1936, with 10, 564 workers directly linked to the dam. Workers overcame a massive earth slide in 1938, affecting a quarter of the dam. The dam was completed 2 years later, seven yrs. after it was authorized. The original purpose of the dam was flood control and navigation. Fort Peck later became a Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Project which was authorized in the 1944 Flood Control Act. Authorized purposes include flood control, navigation, hydroelectric power, fish and wildlife, recreation, irrigation, public water and water quality. Exploring the area was fun. We went into the town of Fort Peck and discovered a beautiful theatre which was their only entertainment in those days. The workers put on their own shows. There is a museum of fossils which were plentiful in this area. Also we visited a fish hatchery and many recreation areas. This is, by far, one of the most interesting areas we have visited. So much to see and we are going to try our best to see it all! We will send pictures as soon as we get a faster Internet connection. Love to you all

Theodore Roosevelt Nat'l Park, South end July 27

Today is our last day here. We have really enjoyed the beauty and colors in these beautiful badlands. The vistas are extroadinary. The views cannot be captured by picture. We saw wild horses in the street while we were driving the 35 mi. loop. Hundreds of prairie dogs. The only bison we saw was in the North end. Oh, I forgot to tell you about the bison. Sunday night we were watching T.V. and we heard loud snorting. We looked out our door and we saw a herd of huge bison walk right past our door. They were inches from us. What a sight! They are magnificent, strong animals with a charm of their own. That was exciting.
So, thank you President Roosevelt for signing The Antiquities Act for the preservation of our
parks and forests. You have made a huge contribution for the preservation of our beautiful lands and forests.

Theodore Roosevelt Nat"l Park, July 25 and 26

Hi folks, We arrived at the North end of the park yesterday. What a place! Roosevelt said that this park inspired him to conserve natural resources and the animal population. He came here to hunt Bison and fell in love with the land. When he arrived the last herds of bison were gone having been decimated by hide hunters and disease. When he became president, he pursued his interest in natural history. As a conservationist, Roosevelt was a major figure in American history. Here is the North Dakota badlands, Roosevelt is remembered with a national park that honors the memory of this great man. Today we arrived at the South end of the park. It is busier than the North end, because of the vastness of the area. Also, a cute little town, named Medora makes it a great tourist attraction. We are now eating pizza in town enjoying the ambiance of this little western town. Tomorrow we will take the 35 mile tour of the park. See you tomorrow.

July 23 and 24 Driving Rt. 2

Hi friends and family. I wasn't going to post, but the drive from the Upper Penninsula, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota was breathtakingly beautiful! Remember the moments that take our breath away? We had plenty of those. This is God's country, for sure. Colorful fields of wheat, barley and wildflowers are abundant everywhere you look. And the quaint little towns! So pretty and unpretentious. I don't like all day drives, but this drive for the last 2 days was wonderful! We are staying at Devil's Lake tonight and tomorrow we are headed for Teddy Roosevelt National Park. Love to you all.

Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, July 22

We took a boat tour of Soo locks and found it very facinating. We locked through with the largest freighter on the great lakes. It was 1,000 ft. long. We could not get it all in the picture. Hugh! The locks consist of two canals and four locks. We rose 21 ft. between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. What a neat experience! And coming back through, we dropped 21 ft. We went over to the Canadian dock and saw the sail boat that was in the movie Mutiny on the Bounty and Pirates of the Carribean. Movie buffs would appreciate that little piece of trivia. Unfortunately, we could not download it on the computer. See you tomorrow, maybe in Wisconsin.

Mackinac Island, July 21

Hi folks, Today is the first day that we feel like we are really on vacation. Totally fun and relaxing. We took the ferry over to Mackinaw and had a wonderful time. We took our bikes and rode the whole island. Then lunch at an Irish pub. We saw Fort Mackinaw which was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution. We then visited the Grand Hotel which is the largest summer hotel in the world. Mackinaw is one of a kind victorian community where all motor vehicles are banned. We enjoyed the pristine beauty and the beautiful flower gardens. The weather was perfect with temps in the 70's and blue skies. Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but the moments that take our breath away. See you at Sault Ste. Marie tomorrow.

Mackinac Island, July 21

Mackinac Island, July 20

We left this morning for Mackinaw and arrived around 2:00 at the Straits campground. It is located right across Mackinaw Island. The ride across the bridge was awesome! We had spectacular views from our motor home. I walked all over the campground and saw many pretty sights. We drove into St. Ignace, which is only 5 minutes away. A quaint little town with a charming small town atmosphere. We had a nice dinner at a really great seafood place overlooking Lake Huron. Tomorrow we will ferry over to the island.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST, July 19, 2010

Today is the first day of our trip and are we ever excited! We started out at 8:15 a.m. and headed North on 75. Our first campground is in Bay City, Michigan. Before we settled in, we stopped at Cabela's to look around. We arrived in our campground around 3:30 and explored the area on our bikes. We rode around Lake Huron. It was lovely!

Mackinac Island, July 20