Mt. Rushmore

June 27^th

Custer, Wyoming at Bar J Ranch is not a bad way to spend the day. Two days ago we left Yellowstone early evening and had all intentions of traveling to Buffalo, Wyoming. When calling to make reservations we were warned by the RV park that coming over the mountains would take much longer than we expected. Upon receiving the advice we stopped in Cody, Wyoming and had a quick stop at the KOA.

 Luckily the RV park had a swimming pool, hot tub and jumping balloon for the kids to work out some energy. After a good night’s sleep and a quick swim for the children we were off again. The weather was very warm that morning and continued to climb as we drove. The cool temperatures we had been enjoying quickly shot up to 96 degrees. As we looked toward the week and the route we were not heading into pleasant temperatures.

The drive across the mountains was difficult to say the least. The winds were gusting at 50+ miles per hour and it was a steep 8% grade. The switch backs and extreme curves allowed us to travel at about 30 to 3 miles an hour at best. The 40 miles over the mountain took about 2 hours. What we had figured to be a 6 hour drive from Cody to Custer, Wyoming became 9 ½ hours. Talk about white knuckling the wheel, Matthew was gracious enough to drive the entire leg since I was not about to take the wheel.

We stopped at a turnout on the top of the mountain at about 9300 feet and the wind was so strong that it felt as if the RV was going to tip even without us driving. The trip down the backside of the mountain was equally unnerving. The wind continued to gust and as luck would have it the wind continued to blow perpendicular to our path of travel almost the entire trip. It took great effort to keep the car in the correct lane.

Finally, we arrived at Bar T RV Resort. I think Matthew had to be the most thankful for our arrival. We headed to bed and Matthew and Ashton hit the pool early to burn some energy. Most of the day has been spent regrouping, checking email, voicemail and balancing the checkbook. It has been a great day to rest and relax. We plan on heading to Mt. Rushmore to see the carvings in the evening as recommended by a family we met in Yellowstone. It has been good for everyone to rest as we are all fighting colds.

Tomorrow we are planning on making an early exit and heading for Kansas City. It is likely an 11 hour drive. We will need to get on the road early to cover the distance. In addition, we want to be sure we are somewhere that we can call Grandma and wish her a happy birthday. We are grateful that the RV has been very reliable and we have not had much interruption in the journey. I think after a month on the road we are all getting to the point we would like to head back sooner than later. We have had a wonderful time, made great memories and seen some of the most amazing natural scenes imaginable.